@ghost_cat: I fully agree. I love when Nintendo goes full Nintendo. It is such a simple idea but so far out of left field only Nintendo can pull it off. I have kids and it looks like a fun project we can do together. But even if i didn’t have kids I would still buy it. I expect that this will sell out of its first printing and be super hard too find when it comes out.

But how much of the piano can Jeff fit in his mouth? I mean how else are we supposed to know how this cardboard tastes.

@bedouin: If it takes two hours too build the piano I looking foreword those streams. I want too see Dan make that robot suit by himself.

Also is the robot thing a pseudo VR thang? it has a Google Cardboard-esque visor thing...

Holy shit. Folks. If you don’t have kids, don’t post before thinking. The market for STEM Toys is exploding. This is right in that wheelhouse. It’s not about the games. It’s not about accessories for other games. Christ. It’s a STEM robotics kit. They will sell a literal billion of these.

I’m laughing out loud at people asking what games will support this or if the games with just be trash mini games. Their primary press photo is a Dad building one of these with his son. Ask yourself, why?

If you don’t have kids and don’t understand what this thing is, google STEM toys or robotic kits. If you end up on tested.com don’t be surprised. “Oh yeah. These guys. Makerbot. I remember that.”

This seems really cool and unique thing. My favorite version of Nintendo is the weird, creative Nintendo. This seems perfect for kids and parents to play together. If we could get a video series of Vinny and his child playing with this, then it would all be worth it.

EXACTLY THIS. I don't have kids, but I have a nephew, and he and his friends in school are WAY into STEM toys. We're definitely too old for this, but kindergarten and elementary school kids will eat this up. Now, whether or not Nintendo will stick around with this idea long enough is going to be interesting. I hope they stay in this STEM toy market for the long haul, on top of what they're doing with traditional video games.

I'm saying this as a single dad of a very energetic, very play-obsessed three year old:

This is fucking brilliant.

Like said above, STEM toys are absolutely blowing up right now. So are DIY/craft toys. Look at Melissa & Doug. Look at LEGO. Amazon has a whole STEM toy subscription service. Entire aisles at toy stores are dedicated to toys like these already, but without the awesome Nintendo Switch hook. These companies have become gigantic because of the appeal of building toys, craft toys, etc.

Nintendo has a potentially huge driver for Switch sales here. These are pieces of reinforced cardboard, y'all. They're not breaking the bank in production like they would be with awful plastic peripherals.

Someone keeps repeating that the cardboard will be destroyed by kids. First off, give kids a little credit. My three year doesn't obliterate fragile craft toys already and this is intended for older kids. And if you have a kid who is prone to destroying a sturdy cardboard object then maybe this isn't a great toy for your kid. So be it. But a lot of kids aren't destructive like that. You just explain to them not to destroy the toy. It's not that hard.

But also... it's fucking cardboard! Of course it's going to get destroyed eventually. And that's fine. That's good. You wouldn't want some plastic monstrosity around all the time. Once you're done with this, you can do the same thing you do with the billion other arts and crafts your kid puts together over the years.

Yeah, that press photo? That's me and my son right there.

This looks insane

And great.

Please don’t let what happened to the vitality sensor happen to this ?

@blackblade500: Or Papa Vinny and Son Dan. As was mentioned above.

Man this looks weird, insane, crazy & cool all at the same time.

It’s geared towards kids, don’t have, but this seams really cool for those that do.

i hope this is not 2018s e reader.

I actually really hope this sells. Anything that encourages kids to play more and spend less time staring at videos/TVs is A-OK in my book.

I don't think i'll ever purchase this thing and my chances of using it are slim to none, but i also went from 'this is really stupid and i don't really care' to 'this seems kinda rad' over the course of the trailer. Good job Nintendo, be weird for me.

I'll probably never buy this, but this is the most interesting thing I've seen come out of video games since, well since the Switch reveal trailer I guess. It is legitimately rad and is probably gonna be huge with the parents with 6+ kids. Don't know what it's like in America but DIY build-y toys are a massive market here in Asia.

this thing is not for me but i hope it sells and bet it will.

Perfect.

I want it but I know my cats will destroy it and I don't want cardboard junk around my house.

This is madness. And genius.

...and totally not aimed at me. Like, at all. I don't have kids, don't want kids, and if I want to learn to play the piano, I'll buy a keyboard. Same goes for anything else this thing does.

But for the parents of budding kids? That's great! Say your six year old is fascinated by music. You give him or her the Switch, put them in front of the piano, and see how they do. If they play it for five minutes and then never touch it again, you've spent far less than you would have on a real keyboard or something. If not, your kid has taken a way better step towards learning music than, say, a little plastic turd that sounds like shit and barely helps. Same goes for robots and everything else this Labo thing could teach kids.

I'll second a comment earlier, Nintendo Getting Weird is one of my favorite things and this seems crazy and rad. Also I need to see someone on the GB crew wear the robot thing.

I helped out with a STEM things (MakeyMakey/Edison bot stuff among other things) presentation last year at a library and those kids seem to really dig that type of stuff. I hope this is a hit for Nintendo.

This is really crazy and interesting and some of the designs seem brilliant. That said I'm skeptical of how well most of this stuff actually works. That video especially gives me flash backs of the early Wiimote demos. If everything works as well as advertised and the cardboard holds up, this could be pretty awesome.

This is legitimately brilliant and could be a huge market for them, especially because their brand is so "hot" these days.

I hope it becomes a bit of a platform where people can open-source some designs, maybe with some kind of simple visual programming language to code for it. If it would happen it would probably be more than a year down the line though.

I think I finally understand why they included that IR sensor and HD rumble!

I'm excited to watch GB staff put this shit together on an extended livestream someday, but other than that I can't say I'm all that interested.

Let's hope Nintendo don't price gouge parents like Activision and Disney.

This isn't for anyone in this thread, it's for children below the age of 10. If Nintendo makes this work, it's gonna print them so much money(profit margins on selling cardboard). If they swing and miss, no big deal, cuz now way they dropped tens of millions developing cardboard gizmos. This might be the weirdest idea in gaming since the Kinect.

Also is Nintendo officially the most creative company in gaming now?

That's the coolest shit. I know I said it's aimed at children, but I'm halfway sold by this explanation. I might just want to put cool gadgets together and feel like a mad scientist.

To hell with VR, cardboard is the future!

Also, THIS:

Yes...

*sees tiny functioning piano*

The . . . children . . . will love this...

*manically hunts for pre-order*

Love it they will...

This is dope as hell and I want a goddamn cardboard piano.

Also: for those hoping for a Switch redesign, this pretty much locks them down hardware-wise. I mean, they could do minor hardware revisions like Sony's done with the PSP and Vita which don't change the form factor, but for those that are waiting out for a completely new Switch 2.0 or whatever to be announced, maybe kill that dream?

I get the sentiment behind this idea, but if the video game parts are one note then the incentive to build all of this crazy shit flies out the window. Like, the robot punchy one. "Yay I built this big-ass suit and now I can punch stuff for 15 minutes before it gets boring." Not to mention the space all of the contraptions require, the sturdiness of the cardboard and the reliability that it work all of the time with the Switch.

Is this what it feels like to be on a drugs? cause I think im tripping right now.

Only Nintendo.

So sat back from afar in various communities.

Gaming communities. Full of people missing the point entirely, being hyperbolic, a few people make g valid criticisms of design and a handful of people being positive.

Communities I visit with a largely passing interest in video games. Mostly positive. Think this is the neatest idea to come out to the gamersphere in ages. Not many of the non parents are remotely interested in buying it.

Facebook. Full of comments about how lil Johnny is getting this for his birthday with the odd snark remark littered in there.

Conclusion. It's not for us. Alos i showed my friend whose a teacher and their eyes lit up and they went into hyperactive about what they could do with it if it's robust enough. Either way it's getting a reaction and a decent chunk of that reaction is setting off a giddiness I've not seen from people in regards to console hardware in.... well since the Wii.

@yesiamaduck: I used to teach kids robotics using Lego Mindstorms. This new Nintendo thing is great. I hope that Nintendo keep making updated versions of it, releasing new packs of cardboard construction and maybe DLC instead of splitting the games up. Whatever is the easiest method of continuing the product and teaching kids.

This is a half step towards getting kids into something more advanced like a Pi kit.

huh. this looks neat!

as a non-parent- i'm not sure why i would buy this ($80 for cardboard experimentation seems expensive), but cool nonetheless! although the pricing does seem a lil weird- you take a cheap material like cardboard- charge $80 for a kit- and then also require an expensive ($300) buy-in with a required switch? seems like a cheaper set of interoperable components (like little bits) is the move. and if a kid is old enough to own their own switch, they're probably old enough to start screwing around with a raspberry pi, etc. no? those things were kinda purpose-built for experimentation and getting kids into gadgetry.

@mellotronrules: Keep in mind, the $80 kit also includes the software (the game) to go along with the stuff you make. And while I haven't seen it myself I've seen people saying that Nintendo intend to give away the designs if people want to use their own cardboard and strings etc.

This is something that people can get as an add on for something they already own. They've probably already bought their kid a Switch at Christmas or their birthday or maybe they have a family one. Now they can get this and they don't need anything else.

A Raspberry Pi is a step too far for some. This is more "fool proof" than that. You don't need knowledge of coding or GPIOs or sensors. I know there's tonnes of kits out that to help make it super easy, but they're also likely not in places parents are looking. This will be in toy stores and Walmarts. Can you buy a pi kit to make say a weather station in a Walmart?

I think this will lead more people down the route of finding Pi kits once they're done with this and that's great. But as a first step I think this is much easier for people to get behind.

yeah- fair points all around. viewed from the lens of this is primarily a value-add for existing switch owners- this all makes sense. i suppose i had a knee-jerk reaction of "who is going to buy a switch to get a kid building with cardboard?"...especially when the cost of a pi is so low and tutorials are so abundant. yet that clearly isn't the play here.

but you're right- anything that can get a kid a semblance of the specific satisfaction that comes from building something with their hands- that's a good thing. but i DO hope you're right and nintendo provides a platform that encourages the open sharing of plans and designs...otherwise it's somewhat antithetical to the existing community that this is clearly riffing on.

@mellotronrules: I doubt they'll let others muck around too much with it and I hope Nintendo continue to release stuff for it, but it would be brilliant if they put out some sort of creation kit that let designers make ideas for others to use - even have something like the Lego Ideas stuff.

Yep. And I see a lot of people saying the same thing: this seems expensive for a bunch of cardboard. They're ignoring that these are kits that come with software. These aren't meant to support other games, this is the "game." And being cardboard allows kids to customize the hell out of these things.

I don't have kids myself, so I wouldn't buy this for myself, but I would buy this for my nieces and nephew. I've bought them plenty of STEM toys in the past.

Nintendo are at their worst when they're bogged down in manufacturing limitations and making safe company decisions, and at their best when they're doing things that come from a place of experimentation and child-like wonder, so as far as I'm concerned this is fantastic. This is certainly for a particular kind of kid, but I do think there are a lot of children who can be careful with their toys; I know I always was. Also, being mainly cardboard, I think there's a good chance that Nintendo will dodge their usual distribution problems with this product. Still, $70 does seem a little steep for this and however careful anyone is with these, they're going to be subject to wear and tear which sucks when they're going to be pricey to replace. Overall though, very good vibes.

Nintendo was founded in 1889 as a playing card company. Playing cards are very thin cardboard. They're just going back to to their roots.

However, I will concede that this is really weird, but it's a very Nintendo kind of weird, so I will wait and see what it ends up like. I super hope that Vinny and Jeff both try this out in either Quicklooks or Playdates or UPFs. Dan is, of course, going to try it out, but I feel like Vinny will be funnier with a robot backpack on.

This may not be for me at this point in my life, but I know I would have been waaaay into this idea as a kid, so this seems like a cool idea.

That seems really cute and childfriendly (for children at the age of 8-12).

I would've loved to see that stuff back when I was like 10 Years old.

Seems fun to have stuff to build and play with. The part of physical interactability is just so much better to kids to relate to the stuff they play. The digital game becomes part of the real world. I can see this working on adults also who perhaps also enjoy this thing but this really seems to be catering 90+% towards kids.

Prom a professional standpoint I fully endorse this. "Build" the game and then play it! Building the stuff does seem a little bit difficult for kids though, but the tutorial seems to guide though people really nicely, from the promotion video it seems rather detailed. And I would've loved to build the stuff for like an hour than to play it. However this attachment is not everlasting but its a great start for these type of game because the stuff you create actually seems to be mandantory in order to play the games with.

I cant wait for people to start modding them, making their own cardboard parts or even better. If anything, this is going to be good PR for Nintendo when people start uploading videos and pictures of their own Labdo custom builds. I love it.

That being saif, can we get some Virtual Console?!

Man, Nintendo needs to get into 3D printing business.

I would maybe get this if I had a kid who was like 8. As an adult I could care less about this but its neat it exists, I guess.

I believe I literally said "What the fuck" out loud, but I think it's a cool idea.

Perfect description of how I feel about this. I raise a glass to you, sir.