Photo-A-Day 2.0 #00130
The folks at Nintendo provided us with the new Nintendo Labo VR Kit for free to play with and review. Opinions expressed are our own.
I enjoy Virtual Reality games. I’ve played on big systems and small. However, I have never built my own VR system. That is what the Nintendo Labo VR Kit lets you do, create your VR googles but also several attachments for them so that you can do a number of fun games. The first thing that I built with the kit was the Elephant. This is an interesting Toy-Con, they are called Toy-Cons because the controllers on the sides of the Nintendo Switch are called Joy-Cons. You put the Joy-Cons inside the Toy-Cons to play the different games. With the Toy-Con Elephant you can do some painting, use the trunk to cut things with scissors and also grasp and move things to make virtual reality marble runs. Andrew enjoyed using that one a lot.
The second thing that I made was the Camera Toy-Con. This thing is amazing. You use it to go deep sea diving and take photos of fish underwater. You can zoom in and out and the camera even makes a clicking noise when it zooms. I watched more about how this works on the game to learn that the Joy-Cons communicate with the main screen of the Nintendo switch and they know the relative position of each other so if you wanted to hold the camera sideways it would not zoom, only when you rotate the lens does it zoom. It is a very cool bit of technology.
The Blaster Toy-Con is my favorite because it is one of the most fun ones. Using rubber bands and more you can actually pull the blaster back to set it and then push the trigger which makes the blaster shoot.The games for that are interesting. In one you are blasting aliens and in another you are shooting pieces of fruit into the mouths of hippos. The games are set up so that you can take turns with another player in order to compete for the most hippos. This is Andrew’s favorite game and one that we have had the most fun playing. I go into more detail in the video below.
I also featured this new kit heavily in my most recent article on The Toy Insider Parent Panel Blog which was about STEM and video games. This kit certainly has awesome STEM benefits and it isn’t just the building of the Toy-Cons but also the ability to code your own games with the Toy-Cons. You can purchase the Nintendo Labo Kit on Amazon.com through our Affiliate Link below. It costs you nothing extra but helps out our blog. Then after that you can read all about the Nintendo Labo VR Kit from the latest Nintendo Press Release.
Enter the Family-Friendly World of Nintendo Labo: VR Kit, Now Available Make, Play, Discover and Even Create Your Own VR Games
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Battling aliens, feeding hippos, painting like an elephant, flying on the back of a bird and so many other fun and family-friendly virtual reality* experiences await in Nintendo Labo: VR Kit – now available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch system.
Available at a suggested retail price of $79.99, the complete Nintendo Labo: VR Kit, now available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch system, includes the Nintendo Switch software and materials to build all six Toy-Con projects – the Toy-Con VR Goggles, Toy-Con Blaster, Toy-Con Camera, Toy-Con Bird, Toy-Con Wind Pedal and Toy-Con Elephant – as well as a Screen Holder and other accessories. (Photo: Business Wire)
Combining the physical and digital gameplay of Nintendo Labo with basic VR technology, Nintendo Labo: VR Kit introduces virtual reality in a unique and approachable way for kids and families. After making a variety of Toy-Con creations – like the Toy-Con VR Goggles, Toy-Con Blaster, Toy-Con Elephant and Toy-Con Wind Pedal – out of the included materials with the help of the included Nintendo Switch software’s interactive instructions, you can play a variety of simple VR games and experiences by combining your creations with the Nintendo Switch system and its pair of Joy-Con controllers. Many of the Toy-Con creations also provide sensory feedback, like a blast of air produced from the Toy-Con Wind Pedal or a satisfying “click” of the Toy-Con Blaster, to add to the overall VR experience. You can even design your own bite-sized VR games and experiences with the included programming tools.
“Nintendo Labo: VR Kit is another unique Nintendo Labo experience that further blends the physical and digital worlds to bring the gameplay to life,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Many of our young fans – and even some of our older ones – have yet to try virtual reality, so this is an approachable way for kids and families to get introduced to this new world.”
All the games and experiences in Nintendo Labo: VR Kit are designed to be shareable, fun and social. By alternating turns, everyone in the room can watch and enjoy each other’s reactions and join in the fun. Some games even allow players who aren’t looking into the Toy-Con VR Goggles to interact with the on-screen experience. For example, if you are enjoying the in-game ocean and taking photos with the Toy-Con Camera, another person in the room can wear the Toy-Con Snorkel and step in front of the Camera to make a bug-eyed fish swim quickly toward your face.
Two programming tools are included with the Nintendo Labo: VR Kit software. Toy-Con Garage is the tool that is returning from previous kits and optimized for this kit’s Toy-Con creations. Toy-Con Garage VR is a new tool that allows you to create your own VR games and experiences. In fact, Toy-Con Garage VR is the tool that the development team used to create everything in VR Plaza, where over 60 more bite-sized games and experiences await. It’s easy to go “under the hood” to see how the development team put everything in VR Plaza together. You can use what you’ve learned to start new projects from scratch, or even open VR Plaza games in the Toy-Con Garage VR programming tool and use them as a starting point.
Two primary configurations for Nintendo Labo: VR Kit are now available in stores – one that includes all Toy-Con creations and one that includes a smaller selection of projects to get started:
Nintendo Labo: VR Kit: Available at a suggested retail price of $79.99, the complete Nintendo Labo: VR Kit includes the Nintendo Switch software and materials to build all six Toy-Con projects – the Toy-Con VR Goggles, Toy-Con Blaster, Toy-Con Camera, Toy-Con Bird, Toy-Con Wind Pedal and Toy-Con Elephant – as well as a Screen Holder and other accessories. It’s a good option for kids and families who want to dive into the full experience.
Nintendo Labo: VR Kit – Starter Set + Blaster: Available at a suggested retail price of only $39.99, the Starter Set includes the Nintendo Switch software, plus all the components to build the Toy-Con VR Goggles and Toy-Con Blaster, as well as the Screen Holder and other accessories. The Starter Set is a great entry point into the world of Nintendo Labo VR.
If you pick up the Starter Set, you can also purchase the following optional expansion sets exclusively at https://store.nintendo.com/:
Nintendo Labo: VR Kit – Expansion Set 1**: Available for $19.99, Expansion Set 1 includes the components needed to build the Toy-Con Elephant and Toy-Con Camera.
Nintendo Labo: VR Kit – Expansion Set 2**: Available for $19.99, Expansion Set 2 includes the components needed to build the Toy-Con Wind Pedal and Toy-Con Bird.
Soon the Toy-Con VR Goggles from the Nintendo Labo: VR Kit will allow you to enjoy bonus experiences for two of the most popular Nintendo Switch games in a whole new way! On April 25, free software updates for the Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild games will add compatibility with the Toy-Con VR Goggles from the Nintendo Labo: VR Kit, giving owners of the software some simple and fun bonus experiences to enjoy. In Super Mario Odyssey, you can play three new mini-missions in three familiar kingdoms. You can also experience the adventure of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild like never before by exploring the vast world of Hyrule with VR visuals and gyro functionality.
For more information about Nintendo Labo: VR Kit, please visit https://labo.nintendo.com/kits/vr-kit/.
Remember that Nintendo Switch features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit https://www.nintendo.com/switch/.
*The VR mode should only be used by children ages 7 and older. Parents should restrict the display of VR mode for children 6 and under by accessing the in-game settings using the goggles icon. Users can easily turn off the VR feature and use the included Screen Holder instead of the VR Goggles to enjoy any of the included games and experiences in 2D.
**The two expansion sets do not include the Toy-Con VR Goggles or Nintendo Labo: VR Kit software.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Nintendo Switch™ system and the Nintendo 3DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.7 billion video games and more than 740 million hardware units globally, including Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS™ family of systems, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™, Wii™ and Wii U™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda and Pokémon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Americas. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at https://www.nintendo.com/.