The Nintendo news and discussion thread

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Suits
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by Suits »

From what I have seen it looks as if there are a few sets of cardboard sheets per box (so it's not a one and done set) for each particular model.

I'm interested in how accurate the pieces will be (although I'm confidant in it's design) how many times will you be able to play the piano instrument and get what you want it to do until you have to use another cardboard set.

Also, I'm looking forward to seeing what the applications are for the each model and how Nintendo make them fun.

It's just a shame Charles is only 8 months old really :lol: .
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KSubzero1000
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Like others, this absolutely isn't for me. But even then, I do have concerns about the durability of the set. Cardboard isn't exactly the most solid and resistant material. I can easily imagine entire sets quickly being rendered useless through wear and tear, users stumbling around, pieces coming into contact with fluids or even something as seemingly innocuous as the wrong fold somewhere.

The utopian examples shown in the trailer of kids patiently assembling the model by way of carefully following the instructions and later using them with perfectly disciplined movements inside an empty white room are unlikely to correspond to any real world implementations.

I don't know, this seems like a lot of frustrated consumers waiting to happen. Am I missing anything obvious here?
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by hazeredmist »

Yep, I am absolutely not going to be laying a £300 console on a cardboard cradle tethered by string to a cardboard controller for a child to play fishing, and inevitably yank too hard when they get a bite and send said console smashing into a nearby wall. It looks like it will either last two minutes, or put your console at fairly serious risk in the hands of the target audience to me. The whole thing seems quite ridiculous, lovely in a CBeebies way but it might be one of those situations where the concept is almost crazy enough to work.

This is kinda what Nintendo are when their R&D department are let loose with a few quid. So we shouldn't be surprised. I hope it is a success for them, but I'm not going to pretend it's even remotely of interest to me I'm afraid.

Here's hoping we get a decent Direct soon with some fresh games!
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Craig
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by Craig »

Love the idea, but as with others it's not for me. Although most folk probably thought "ah that'll be great for kids", I actually immediately thought of my Dad who loves to make and play with toys like this. In retrospect, it was a smart move to release the Nintendo direct last week to assure folk that yes, there are still games coming for "core" gamers.

What this is most comparable is DIY science kits you often see around. It looks like it'll show you how it works, which is neat. It does seem a little on the pricey side, but if you grab 4 or 5 of those science kits together, you'd probably arrive at a similar price.
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Suits
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by Suits »

I'll more than likely pick up a Variety Pack and see what it's all about, not the Robot one mind as that will involve too much commitment but the piano and other things will be fun enough to build and try out.

It's great to see how generally positive reception on the internet has been to all of this though.
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by ratsoalbion »

Labo has certainly impressed somebody because its reveal added $1.4bn to Nintendo's market value:

David Gibson (of investment firm Macquarie) made the prediction that Nintendo Labo would initially sell somewhere between 1m and 2m units - which is around $45m-$90m in operating profits.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/0 ... ndos_value
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KSubzero1000
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by KSubzero1000 »

...What the hell?

I... I feel old and out of touch.
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Whippledip
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by Whippledip »

Seems like Nintendo actually has some decent long term plans this go around. Maybe time to invest long term?

Also I think people vastly underestimate how strong cardboard can be. I worked in a shipping warehouse a few years back and (depending on type) those fuckers can take an almighty beating. We used to have cut them down to fit in a compactor and it was tough. The end of the day my arms would feel like concrete tubes attached to my shoulders.
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by ratsoalbion »

Also you don't have to use the provided cardboard. The templates will be available online for free.
Obviously you'll still need the game card(s) though!
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KissMammal
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by KissMammal »

I think people might be missing the point a little with this - isn't the whole point that these things are disposable? You build a few things, play around with it, then maybe upload a video of your creation to Youtube before chucking it all in the recycling. Certainly beats wasteful limited-use plastic peripherals.

As many others have said - Labo doesn't interest me and I certainly won't be buying any of it, but then it really isn't aimed at me - it's for kids.

I'm not convinced it will end up being anything other than another Nintendo folly, but I find it heartening that they can still come up with this stuff that's completely out of left field. They've spent the last year falling over themselves to win back traditional gamers - fair enough if they want to branch out for a bit.
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by hazeredmist »

KissMammal wrote: January 19th, 2018, 1:44 am I think people might be missing the point a little with this - isn't the whole point that these things are disposable?
These kits are £59.99 / £69.99, if they're supposed to be disposable there is something drastically wrong here - or I simply don't get it. Either is possible I guess.
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by kintaris »

hazeredmist wrote: January 19th, 2018, 9:07 am
KissMammal wrote: January 19th, 2018, 1:44 am I think people might be missing the point a little with this - isn't the whole point that these things are disposable?
These kits are £59.99 / £69.99, if they're supposed to be disposable there is something drastically wrong here - or I simply don't get it. Either is possible I guess.
Isn't £59.99 the RRP of most Switch games anyway? And this comes with some sort of software? So you're paying a bit extra for the official cardboard, after that you could replace using printables if the first one gets wrecked (and we don't know how durable they are yet).

I had LEGO Star Wars kits back in the day that came with software that allowed you to program it. Cost a little more than an average PC game at the time. I immediately lost some bricks that my parents had to replace with whatever they could find. But they were paying mainly for the software.

This is innovation in terms of the concept, but the potential costs involved don't seem any more or less mind boggling than my experience in the 90s!
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KissMammal
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by KissMammal »

Yeah, could be wrong but I was under the impression that most of the initial cost is for the software part of the package, and you can purchase (or apparently create your own) replacement cardboard sets at a much lower cost?

What intrigues me is how much leeway there is for true creativity. Like, are all of the creations in the promo preset 'recipes' with instructions to build (like a Lego set), or can you really freestyle and create your own unique creations? And if so, how does this work with the software?
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by ratsoalbion »

Yeah, I don't believe that creativity in that sense of the word is part of the equation (at this point anyway).
It's more of a 'buy and make' experience like a model kit, than a load of Plastiscene or something (or even LEGO I guess).
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by seansthomas »

I love Labo. Watching that unveil was probably the most excited and happy I've been by a gaming presentation since the E3 when Nintendo announced Other M and Goldeneye and I thought they were *maybe* getting their mojo back.

It looks so delightful. I reckon just as an inquisitive adult, I'd buy it. But factor in my daughter's face when I showed it to her and it's a no brainer.

The Nintendolife and Guardian write ups suggest it's a fascinating experiment, with some very sophisticated tech behind it and more thorough games than you might imagine. I'm sure bits will tear and it'll end up in the bin in 6 months but who cares? If I have fun for a few days and we learn something, I think that's brilliant.

Nintendo would have got crucified for this on previous consoles but a good launch line up, core first party titles, decent third party support and some decent marketing mean that it's been greeted far better than it may have a year back.

I think it could be very popular too. The designers in the industry I work in all love it and the potential for crossover is huge. Imagine letting Disney make a Star Wars droid unit or Konami do a Metal Gear tie in with Snake in a box and a stealth game tie in? Price is a tad steep for what you get in the box, but people pay £150 for Lego sets and you're always paying for the man hours that went into figuring this stuff out rather than the raw materials anyhow.

I love Nintendo when they do odd stuff. Nintendoland, Wii Sports Resort, 1-2-Switch, Starfox Zero... all a bit crap in some way but also all totally brilliant in others and full of idea no one else would bother even fully drawing up. Great to see them doing stuff like this I reckon and, if you don't like it, Dark Souls is out a few days later anyhow...
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

While I don't think I'll personally invest in Labo (then again... never say never), I find the direction that Nintendo go in to be refreshing. Fail or succeed, it's interesting.

It's a nice alternative to Microsoft's "lets just beef everything up and worry about games later" approach. And I have to assume that Sony's dedicated PSVR audience are still patiently waiting for more content.

When comparing what the big three are doing, Labo seems like a much more measured and thoughtful risk. If it fails (un-bloody-likely), it's only cardboard - it wouldn't be a big loss for Nintendo.
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by ThirdDrawing »

I *finally* managed to get ahold of the Switch ports of Syberia 1 and 2.

I've had a real itch to play these again, since my original Xbox red ringed a few years ago.

I hope we see some more cool ports like this.

I would love to see more adventure games on the Switch.
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by hazeredmist »

Has anyone played This is the Police?

Sounds interesting and a 7/10 game most places I've read. Considering it...
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by Flabyo »

I watched a few people playing it on twitch when it launched in steam many moons ago, seemed ok.

Be aware that it’s going to be way more expensive on Switch than anything else, I’ve seen the XBO and PS4 versions down to around 6 quid already.
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Re: The Nintendo news and discussion thread

Post by DomsBeard »

hazeredmist wrote: January 22nd, 2018, 2:58 pm Has anyone played This is the Police?

Sounds interesting and a 7/10 game most places I've read. Considering it...
Waiting for it to go sub £10 before picking it up. Pretty sure it was mentioned on TCGS as being good but not brilliant
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