Each package includes a game, or many games. It’s not just a box of cardboard, folks. Sheesh.
Crazy ass Nintendo, reaching back to their toy-making past. As a Nintendo collector my very first thought was about durability. Some nerds are gonna put these together and lock them in a glass case.
I’ll probably get this to play with my kids. They’re 5 and 3; the older one will like it. And so will I!
Cardboard is really cheap. I buy a truck load of it for a few hundred bucks every few months. The fact that it’s $1 over $60 is freaking insane. Just like 1-2 switch should have been a pack in and MK8 Deluxe lead to people paying full price for zero value added port of DKC TF.
I’m going to admit I’m part of the problem but this is akin to a pet rock in terms of cost to profit ratio. Every penny over the development cost of the “game” is profit. I know it might be unpopular opinion but I feel like this is going to be fun for 2 minutes until the card board wears out. I’m still waiting for a game that actually does something good with Amiibo. I love Nintendo games but their accessories are often just a waste of time.
That’s not how costs work, the physical cart, retail cut and shelf space allocation, distribution of large boxes alone give it a higher distribution cost than a regular game. What materials it is made of are is (pun intended) semi-immaterial to final retail price.
And R&D on this is both physical and software too, and clearly would not be nothing.
But in the end if you don’t like it. don’t buy it. I have a feeling this thing will be a megahit though, ironically held back only by the Switch itself (price and stock availability).
I know how retail works. I’m a wholesaler. Charging $80 for a cardboard toy. No matter the cost of R&D, printing, shipping, etc is brilliant because people lost their collective minds.
Honestly though, I think it’s cool I just think it’s kinda bs too. Also I had a horrible Amiibo addiction that I might be a little butt hurt about.
Some Switches are going to get jacked up along the way as well. Seems like a recipe for disaster.
No question, Amiibo was a waste of money (if you bought them for their application as a gaming peripheral).
But this isn’t really like that. This will go down in history as more akin to a Gameboy Camera or Mario Paint or maybe even the Wii balance board. It’s experiment of admittedly limited utility that people will fondly remember. Cardboard is everywhere so even if a piece breaks, it’s replaceable. And the 2 hour experience of putting it together with your kid will likely make your kid respect how delicate the finished product is.
It’s not meant to be some timeless addition to gaming like the motion controls or the analogue stick.
By the way, I’d argue that Wii Fit was a massive success in all aspects. I’m not sure what point you were trying to make with that one.
I think labo looks great. It looks like a wonderful tool for kids to build, tinker and have fun all while learning.
The ultimate goal here would be Nintendo creating an intuitive development software to allow kids to modify existing kits and even build their own!
Imagine if Nintendo ever does something like release a programming app for the Switch like they did on the Famicom…
Along with the ability to make your own contraptions for the joycons (be it in cardboard or any other material), we could in theory see some extremely interesting project emerge from the modding community.
?
Q2 2018, apparently
According to Nintendo back in April 2012. The Wii Fit balance-board bundle, sold 37 million World Wide. Way more than I thought. Anyway… I’m really excited to see what creative contraptions people come up with using Labo.
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I thought for sure it sold more then that. There’s at least 37 million of them in every thrift store I go in.
Showed the trailer to my daughter. Yeah, she wants me to buy it.
I preordered both packs for myself. I’m more than thrilled at the opportunity at 30 years old to come home from my fancy law job to dress up in cardboard box + string to play “robot” in my PJs in a room by myself.
Sure, it’s dumb and impractical and I have no where to store such cardboard contraptions in my bachelor pad. But dammit, I’m going to do it anyway, and it’s going to be awesome. And if anyone comes over and judges me for it, I’ll don the robot suit and kindly escort them out.
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haha, that sounds great. I mean, I do admit I would love to see all of this built myself and give it a go - but my daughter immediately was amazed by the fact she would be able to build a piano…from cardboard! Many people would assume this is overpriced, but the amount of effort and creativity it provides easily matches other construction sets in the UK which aren’t anywhere near as advanced (because duh, there’s no switch) and easily retail for £40 or so which isn’t far off Labo’s price.
Even if the cardboard gets trashed after (which is unlikely, my daughter takes care of everything she has), it’s still worth spending for the amount of fun we’d get from it.
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When I was single, I hid my games in boxes so they remained out of site. My PS2 was the “DVD player”. Yup, that’s the ticket. My now wife caught on when the XBOX and Gamecube found themselves a permanent home after a few months of dating. If I was into Retro then like I am now, I would still be single.
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I’ve never shied away from games with relationships. My last girlfriend was really into her games, but my current one isn’t - doesn’t stop me from playing games though. She’s perfectly happy for me to play, for example, Nier Automata whilst she works on her degree dissertation, or reads her latest book. We both need our own time and we can spend it however we want.
My daughter’s mum (obviously my ex) also comes round every so often and we play Mario Kart or Smash Bros together with my daughter, or Goldeneye (without my daughter). It’s just how it is.
I wish my wife was into gaming, but I’m ok that she’s not. I’ve never tried to steer or, lure her in, in some way. I don’t complain about her books, she doesn’t complain about my games. But when I was younger, I never tried to hide that I liked video games. I didn’t care back then, I don’t care now.
My videogames have never been a negative factor for me when trying to seal the deal. Some girls I’ve brought to my place loved it, and the vast majority of others didn’t care either way about my collection and seemed to be into me anyway. 
Generally, if you’re comfortable with yourself, they’ll be comfortable with all that entails (if you’re compatible).
Also, On more than one occasion, girls have wanted to come to my place to “challenge me in a game of Mario Kart” only as a pretext for other activities.