Nintendo Labo: Creativity Unbound

One of the many complaints about video games we have all heard over the years is that they are a toy, a distraction, and ultimately harmful to children’s creativity because “all you do is push buttons.”

Well that argument has officially been validating by Nintendo, and the opinion that games are toys may have just created the best peripheral accessories for any console, including Nintendo’s own Wii Fit.

In short, Nintendo Labo is the best thing since sliced Jesus.

Last week Nintendo surprised everyone with the reveal of their new Nintendo Labo system. I say system as if it’s a new gadget, but it is as basic as you can get. You see, when you buy a Labo, you get 25 sheets of cardboard. These sheets of cardboard contain pop-out segments to construct new peripheral accessories for the Nintendo Switch. No need for glue, as everything is designed to fold and slot into place. Some elastic bands might be needed, however, because of the cool stuff.

Some of the components are designed to move, with a Joy-Con controller interpreting the movements and translating them to actions in game. One example shown is a Joy-Con in a steering wheel, with the other in a cardboard gas pedal for use with a racing game. In another demoed possibility, a Joy-Con is placed into a cardboard backpack and another in a visor. The player's wrists and ankles are connected to the backpack by elasticated strings and the Joy-Con interprets the movements for a robot fighting game.

Labo is not just focused on motion controls, but the overall ability of the Joy-Cons. One sheet of cardboard has the plans for two remote control robots that can have two Joy-Cons attached. The touchscreen of the Switch’s handheld device then becomes a controller itself, moving the robot by vibrating the Joy-Cons.

Nintendo, 2018

All of this comes together to demonstrate one thing: Nintendo are incredibly clever. Labo demonstrates the amazing power and technology within the Joy-Cons; their ability to interpret small movements, from understanding the turning and pulling of a fishing rod to reflecting and tracking infrared light off of piano keys, shows how far ahead of the curve Nintendo continue to be in terms of motion control and new forms of input.

What’s more, this latest development shows that Nintendo are still committed to providing fun and thinking outside of the box (pun wholly intended) to do it. Any other company would have simply made all of this stuff out of plastic and sold it in a box for well over £50. Nintendo instead elected to make it out of the simplest, most interactive, and kid friendly toy available.

Using cardboard in this way also does something that I haven’t heard video games being praised for since Minecraft became a huge hit: Labo encourages creativity. The cardboard peripheries have outlines printed on as a guide for colouring in. The material too allows for the accessories to be painted, covered in stickers and anything else a kid might want to add on. What to make a whole robot suit made of tinfoil and bubble wrap to go with the robot fighting backpack? Well what is stopping you? It is like a corporately sanctioned cutting and sticking session, and it is fantastic.

Making this system out of cardboard is also pretty eco-friendly, what with cardboard being totally recyclable. It also means Nintendo isn’t having to produce the same myriad of niche accessories out of plastic and silicon. If one of the Labo items breaks, it can simply be taped back together, not thrown out and replaced at great expense to the environment. If it breaks beyond repair, Nintendo have you covered there too, as they will be selling replacement sheets. I’d love to know if the sheets are already recycled, or if they are getting rid of unused WiiU boxes, which would add even more to Labo’s green credentials.

Now you might be put off by the idea that you’re “just buying some cardboard”, but the starter packs also include some games to go with the accessories, along with interactive instructions if you or your children get stuck making it all. So getting a decent collection of console accessories and a handful of games for approximately £50 sounds pretty alright to me.

After the nightmare that 2017 was for the games industry, with big publishers competing with one another over who has first dibs on your wallet, Nintendo Labo is the most refreshing idea I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a cheap, considered, and genuinely fun way of making games more than just an ominous black box in the living room, and part of a child’s playroom. Labo is a toy.

A T-O-Y; toy!