New trailers show off the depth of the Labo software
Nintendo dropped Labo out of nowhere last month, surprising the world with the announcement of something fresh and unique. In the initial announcement, we saw all the things that the cardboard could do. Since then, we’ve gotten a few details here and there about the software, but nothing really concrete or in-depth. Today, Nintendo changes that, with the release of two new trailers, each showing off the software included with each Toy-Con.
We’ve detailed some of the highlights below, but you can watch them in full by clicking here to visit the official Nintendo Labo website.
The Variety Kit seems to have a tonne of depth, which each of the Toy-Cons having their own little game. The RC car has a very neat Predator-style infrared video feed allowing you to see what it sees, and if you have two sets of Joy-Cons you can compete against your friend in a robot sumo match. The fishing rod is packed with features too, with dozens of fish to catch, and a mode where you can even scan a paper cutout to make your own fish. The house is a little more passive, with most of the interaction controlled by blocks. By inserting these blocks into the sides or bottom of the house, you can create a bunch of different objects for the fuzzy little monster inside to interact with.
Things get even more in depth with the Motorbike Toy-Con, which is again included in the Variety Kit. In the motorbike game, you can lean left and right to steer your bike through obstacle courses, or take to the grand prix mode to race against bots. The coolest part here is that you can scan an object, like your hand, using the IR Camera in the Joy-Con, and the game will turn whatever you scanned into terrain in the game. You can even create your own tracks, by affixing a little mini-motorbike to one of your Joy-Cons and drawing the track out in the air; the game will take the creation and turn it into a track you can play with the full-size motorbike set.
The Piano Toy-Con features a tonne of… frankly weird customisations, allowing you to change the sound of the piano to be cat meows, a choir, or even groaning grandpas. That said, it does feature an acoustic mode, which plays sounds through the other Joy-Con’s vibration, meaning you can just place a Joy-Con on top of a cardboard box and instantly make a speaker, which is just about the coolest thing ever. Of course, it goes even deeper, with a recording studio mode, allowing you to edit the sound envelope, adjust reverb, change the octave, and all sorts of other modifications. You can even cut and scan your own waveforms and make your own sounds, and make a little rhythm card to turn your Toy-Con into a player piano. There’s even a composer mode where you can make full songs by overlaying different instruments. It’s seriously cool, and a great way to introduce someone to the depths of music.
The Robot Kit, sold separately from the Variety Kit, seems to be an incredibly in-depth game too. After strapping in, the robot fully matches all of your movements, from every punch to every stomp. You can fly, stomp, or speed (as a tank) around the city, or lower the visor to enter first person mode, to really get immersed in the action. The game also features a challenge mode, which is a series of neat little challenges in different environments designed to teach you more about what your robot can do. Of course, you can also customise your robot with a variety of different options, or, if you have two sets, you can face off against a friend in the coolest version of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots I think I’ve ever seen.
This only scratches the surface of what Labo is capable of, but it’s looking to be a very cool experience, both for children and those of us who are young at heart. Make sure you watch the videos, and let us know what you think of these massive games in the comments below!
