Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/07/27/nintendo-announced-new-labo-ve.html
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I got my 10 yr old a switch last Christmas. He has a handful of games…he rarely ever plays it. He much prefers to play on the XBox One or his iPhone. I’ve tried everything to get him interested in his switch and it just bores him.
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That’s the best “bad” review of the Switch I’ve read “it just bores him”
everything else aside, that’s all that really matters.
When I was a kid, I didn’t need a $300 gaming system to play with cardboard.
Of course, when I was a kid there wasn’t even a $200 gaming system, until the Atari 2600 came along.
I guess that’s just a long way of me saying I’m old and do not get the appeal of Labo. Also, keep your cardboard vehicles off my lawn, you darned kids!
You still don’t. This is just a video game system which allows you to play with cardboard, as well as Breath of the Wild, which is sort of orthogonal to the whole experience. (Possibly other games, but I’m not playing those at this time, so I take it on faith they’re real.)
You never made robots or RC vehicles as a kid? This is just a way to do that (and more). Sure, there are many ways, some cheaper, some more expensive, too. It’s just a way to use a Nintendo console to make some nifty stuff.
I, too, am old, but the appeal is immediately apparent to me. Literally, the video game system lets you make stuff.
Maybe this is no big deal, but I personally find it more interesting than trying to discern the difference in 1080p and 4K video on a screen after a few seconds.
No, I was a kid through the 70s, and we never had a whole lot of money. I do recall that my first experience with an RC type vehicle was a tank my dad bought for me from Radio Shack. It was okay. It could go forward, slowly, and backward even slower. It could turn left or right as long as it was going forward. The controller was attached by a wire. It wouldn’t get stuck as long as you kept it on basically level ground, much unlike a tank.
That… doesn’t quite counter my point about not needing a gaming system to play with cardboard when I was a kid. Unless you are saying I could still play with the new Labo Vehicle Kit without the gaming system. Which, yes, sure, I suppose I could.
If you are trying to convince me that the Switch is worth getting so I could also play Breath of the Wild, as well as with cardboard; I’m good. I’ve had enough of Nintendo’s shtick after the first Wii. If I go back through my gaming system collections, after the first Playstation came along, the number of games I have for all non-Nintendo systems grow larger with each generation; after the SNES they decreased with each new Nintendo system. I have fewer Wii games than N64, fewer N64 than SNES. Looking at the Switch, I don’t see that changing.
Hmm. So does just going ahead and making stuff.
Maybe if I actually tried a hands on play of it, my mind could be changed. But my kids are grown, and the odds of me ever having grandkids is minuscule. If I feel the need to create something within a set system, I have a bathtub sized bin full of LEGOs just sitting in the basement.
I’ve yet to upgrade to a 4K TV, so I haven’t experienced that. While I do appreciate the amazing graphics in games these days, I can also still appreciate the old stuff too.
Just the other day I broke out Bushido Blade 2 on the PSOne and lamented the fact there hasn’t been a newer game to incorporate that formula well since then (or at least not one I’ve found).
It’s not a counterpoint. I even said: “You still don’t,” kind of near the beginning.
I couldn’t afford RC toys when I was a kid, either. That’s why I made my own. Typically out of wood or cardboard, and a cable connecting to the “remote,” which also held the battery. They looked terrible, and worked rather less well than your example, but I had some fun with it. And I learned I wasn’t going to be a toy designer.
I apparently expressed myself poorly/lazily. I was talking about what I do with it, not what you should do with it. I definitely don’t recall suggesting I sell you a Switch.
It is possible to enthuse about a thing without having an ulterior motive.
Yes. But I don’t see how having options is problematic. And my enthusiasm for this option isn’t exclusive. (Cf. my childhood.)
No, you don’t need a Switch to have fun or even play games. But I thought this was what the post/thread was about, so I thought I’d participate. Is that weird?
I squint mostly in stores. Squinting is cheaper, and affirmed my disinterest for 4K. I was opining I’d rather play with the cardboard box than have super hi-res video for whatever reason.
See, you do get me. This is exactly why I only have the three Spyro games for the Spyrostation or Ratchet and Clank 1-3 on the PS2.
I do think it’s all pretty neat, however. I’m thinking about getting a Labo myself, in part because of my own history with making my own toys.
Sad testicles…
… this looks, um, dope.
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Nope, it’s not weird and I apologize for coming off antagonistic. I was in a less than even mood yesterday and should have probably stayed off the internet.
That’s awesome! I’m not kidding. I feel like it’s that kind of creativity that gets dulled by gimmicks like this. But I also have only skimmed the surface of Labo. This could be a case where I look into it again down the road and then start kicking myself for not looking deeper earlier.
I had a friend who was living with his grandparents. They wouldn’t buy him a SNES, so he made his own out of wood. He made cartridges and everything. From that he developed a desire to continue making things. Something that may not have happened if they had just bought him the SNES.
I’m certain (as much I can be certain of anything these days) that there have been studies that show the more options you have, the more problematic it is. It leads to indecision; I’m hit by that all the time. But if you want toys that interact with your gaming system, there really aren’t many options at the moment (discounting Amibo, Skylanders*, LEGO Dimensions*, and Disney INFINTIY* *pretty sure all but Amibo are dead and done). At least this one also encourages actual building.
I absolutely agree, as also shown by the fact they are coming out with a new kit. My attitude about it is 100% my problem/issues.
Tying back to the earlier comment about options, my own personal experience is that I have way too many gaming options. It used to be the thing I enjoyed doing the most. But now it’s a case of, do I want to play a game? Which game? If I spend time playing this game, would I regret not having spent time playing a different game. Would I rather skip gaming altogether and just read a book? etc.
So I guess another part of me is thinking, for myself, do I need more chaff at this point?
Of course, my problems are my problems and that doesn’t mean I should crap on anyone else enthusiasm for it. I apologize again for that.
I am interested in eventually upgrading to 4K, but it’s low on my list. My biggest issue is that you can’t seem to get it without it being in a “SMART” TV… I prefer my TV to be stupid.
Way back when the Dreamcast came out, I told myself I wouldn’t buy any new gaming system unless/until it had at least five games that I couldn’t play anywhere else.
If you do get it, let me know what you think.
Oh, I certainly get that. Apology accepted!
Thank you! It wasn’t anything special, except for maybe the action-figure-enableable cardboard AT-ATs I made, and the Star Destroyers I folded out of cardboard and detailed with magic marker.
I do think that Labo isn’t any less a gimmick than video games themselves (seriously, any video game device could be represented as such). If Labo is a gimmick, it’s a good one.
Look at the environment we have now. Radio Shack doesn’t even exist any more. Most of the hobby shops are vanishing. Then along comes Labo, and while, yeah, you have to have a NS to mess with the electronic and programmable aspects of it, you still get to mess with cardboard. Any cardboard. That pushes my buttons in ways the plastic toy offerings never really seem to.
(Seriously, the first amiibo we picked up was a posable one. I apparently require that at least. I hadn’t even really heard of some of the others you mentioned. Now we have a few of the Zelda ones to go with the game. This still seems like the only good use for NFC tech, but my interest remains limited.)
Whereas I never really became a toy designer, in spite of those conditions. Conversely, I met a ton of people at GDC this year who became video game makers because they had SNESes growing up.
Double-conversely, I went to GDC this year IN SPITE of never having access to any Nintendo when I was younger. I guess I was always a C64/Atari2600 sort of nerd back in the day. Now that I’m older, I’m trying to look back and make sense of a lot of the stuff I never paid that much attention to, because now it seems sort of important/culturally relevant. Some of that is embarrassing, given I lived in Japan during the Famicom years, and I even started a blog to talk about what I do vs. don’t know.
Your point about an overabundance of options is interesting, in part because I actually feel like there is somehow less diversity and there are fewer options now than there used to be. But I’m still getting past my own biases and ignorance here, and a lot of the older stuff is completely new to me, so I might tend to feel like things must have been better in the old days—there is so much of it. Nowadays I feel like Sony and Microsoft are largely indistinguishable, given the relatively few exclusives there are between platforms that hit my interests. If I had time+money I’d still explore both.
But I also have had to focus out of necessity, and it turned out Nintendo happened to have the best Scott Gets to Explore Mountains and Stuff game. (And my wife helped.)
Do 4K computer monitors suffer from the same or similar “Smart TV” afflictions? I’ve not paid much attention to this issue, and don’t have either. (I’m even typing this on an ancient Apple Cinema display, from the G4 tower era.)
Ah. And your results for the Dreamcast?
I had a long dip in interest in video games—so Spyro the Dragon (and the PSX) pretty much are the only reason I even have a Nintendo now. I think I can safely say I had finally 5 games for the PSX back in the day, but it was the GameCube I went all out for. I think the PS2 eventually got 4 games. I felt that was enough back then, but as toys and entertainment go, it’s expensive to get into more than one platform any more.
Will do! It’s not for reviews, but the blog I mentioned will probably see a write-up.
That still sounds like a lot of fun.
True, however 3D Printers are now a thing, and I would have loved to have access to those when I was a kid. I’m just waiting on them to become more affordable, so I can get a hobby one now. We have a public library in our area that will let you use their printer for free; you just have to pay for the material.
Change is inevitable, and Radio Shack was a bit of a mess in its final years. At least the maker scene is a thing.
I knew I had to pick one, so I went with the PS4 for the latest generation of systems; because like you said a lot of the same games end up on both. And overall I preferred the Sony exclusive games to the Xbox exclusive games. I try not to follow what’s happening at Microsoft as much because I don’t want to be tempted.
That I don’t know. I haven’t looked into monitors. My issues with the Smart TVs are the insecurity and way too much data collection. But I’m paranoid when it comes to that.
I ended up getting it not too long after it came out, as I recall. I have a very low impulse control, as it turns out.
The games I played the most were Armada with my kids, San Francisco Rush 2049, Jet Grind Radio, Phantasy Star Online, Powerstone (which I traded off like a moron and would have to pay far too much to get back), and a number of other games. So it was worth it.
If you want to message me the blog URL, I’m interested in checking it out.
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