New Nintendo Labo Trailer Released Today
Nintendo revealed today a new trailer of the Nintendo Labo called “Make, Play, & Discover”, showing all the different minigames that can be played with the cardboard toys.
Check out the gameplay trailer of Nintendo Labo, showcasing all the game’s features:
https://youtu.be/vBJzjIv5LME
“Nintendo Labo is a gaming and construction toy platform developed by Nintendo to be used as an extension to the Nintendo Switch gaming system, which will be released in April 2018. The platform uses kits that include cardboard cut-outs and other materials that are to be assembled in combination with the Nintendo Switch console display and Joy-Con controllers to create “Toy-Cons” that can interact with game software and vice versa. Nintendo designed Labo as a way to teach principles of engineering, physics, and basic programming.
Toy-Con Garage
The Nintendo Labo software will come with a feature called “Toy-Con Garage”, which allows users to create and program their own Toy-Cons using simple programming commands, either starting with the available Labo kits, or with their own materials. Toy-Con Garage is based upon creating simple commands by connecting input and output nodes. When an input is performed, it will trigger the connected output event. Additional middle nodes can be added to modify the input. For example, an input node can be a specific button press or a controller movement, while the middle node can set a required number of presses in order for the output to occur. Output nodes range from vibrating the Joy-Con to lighting up the Console’s display. Toy-Con Garage provides multiple options for customizing each node, such as adjusting the sensitivity and direction of the control stick as an input node. Multiple input-output commands can be in used combination to create more complex creations.
Labo Kits
Two Labo Kits, Variety Kit and Robot Kit, were announced for launch in North America, Australia, and Japan on April 20, 2018, and in Europe on April 27, 2018. An accessory set containing stencils, stickers, and tape will be available separately. While Nintendo did not confirm any additional Toy-Con kits at launch, journalists observed that other Toy-Con configurations were shown in the announce trailer, suggesting that additional kits may be announced at a later date.
Variety Kit
The Variety Kit contains kits for five individual Toy-Cons:
- A remote-controlled car, where the vibrations from the Joy-Con serve to provide momentum and steering to the car. The game software allows the player to control the car like a normal remote-controlled vehicle using the console itself as the controller.
- A fishing rod where the Joy-Con sit in the reel and the handle of the rod. The game receives motion input from the Joy-Con to simulate a fishing game.
- A toy piano with a full octave of keys; the console sits atop this to serve as a music stand.
- A motorbike with Joy-Con inserted into the handlebars on either side of the Console for steering.
- A house containing a slot to insert different components that can interact with the game software on the Console’s display.
The kit comes with a game cartridge that contains interactive instructions of how to assemble each Toy-Con, and at least one software package to use the Toy-Con. Some Toy-Con have multiple programs; for example, the motorbike handles allow the player to race along a track in stunt bikes, and gives the player the ability to create new track layouts, or to use any object detected through the IR sensor to create a track based on that object. Similar IR sensing abilities allows the player to create new fish to catch in the fishing rod Toy-Con, or to create new waveforms to use on the piano Toy-Con.
Robot Kit
The Robot Kit includes parts to make a mecha suit that includes a visor which holds the left Joy-Con for motion sensing and a backpack that holds the right Joy-Con to read hand and feet swings. This allows the player to rampage through a virtual world presented on the screen. The software includes multiple game-modes: Robot, VS, Challenge, Robo-Studio, and the Hangar. Robot mode gives the player the ability to control the giant robot as it attacks targets across a cityscape, to control the robot as it flies over a city, and to transform in a tank. The two-player VS mode allows players to fight with their giant robots, though both players need a separate Robot Toy-Con for this mode. In Challenge Mode, the player can complete missions to unlock special abilities that can be used in the game’s other modes. The Robo-Studio mode allows the player to insert the Console into the Toy-Con and play sound effects based on the player’s movement, while the Hanger allows the player to customize the color and appearance of their virtual robot.
Journalists noted similarities between this Kit and Project Giant Robot, a software title for the Wii U that had players use the motion sensing of the Wii U GamePad to control a robot and rampage through a city. Project Giant Robot was teased during E3 2014 and believed to be tied to Star Fox Zero, but was ultimately cancelled by Nintendo.”
For more information on Nintendo Labo, visit its official website.