Nintendo Labo VR Kit Wrap-Up
Well all the Labo VR things are built and all my articles about each one are written, so I figured I’d put them all into one place for easy reference if anyone is interested in reading about them. Enjoy!
The first and most important thing you should build are the goggles, as every other thing you build requires them. It’s not the best VR in the world, but for $70 to $80 bucks, as compared to other VR options that cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, it’s not bad at all.
I really liked the VR Camera. I imagine kids today probably wouldn’t even know what an old camera looks like or how it works, so this one may be lost on them in today’s cell phone society. With the camera you can play a neat underwater photography game and another one where you take pictures in a weird house. I just wish they’d make a Pokémon Snap game with this. Come on, Nintendo, everyone wants that game. Make it already!
The cardboard you fold for this one kind of looks like an elephant, but you really don’t do any elephant type things in the games you play with it. It’s just an apparatus that allows you to manipulate objects in 3-D VR space. It just so happens that the device they made kind of looks like an elephant. Or maybe the Labo folks are Alabama fans. Roll Tide! Anyway, you can play a game where you move objects around for a marble to roll to a goal, and the other game is just a 3-D painting and drawing tool. I had the hardest time with this one, though, because since I’ve been blind in my left eye since birth, I can’t see the 3-D effects. Normally that’s not such a big deal, but these two games require a bit more depth perception (which I don’t have) than the other games.
You make a bird and flap its wings to make it fly in the game. You can play a game where you fly around an island, hatching eggs and then feeding the baby birds. Very fun. And in the other game you just race through rings.
Of all the things you can build in the Labo VR Kit, the Wind Pedal is the largest. And the most gimmicky. It’s just a modified gas pedal from the Labo Vehicle Kit, and fans wind in your face when you step on it. You can play one game with it, or use it with the Labo bird to fly faster. But I don’t think the wind aspect really makes it more immersive. The only game that I can remember that used wind to feel more immersive was the arcade snowmobile racing game Arctic Thunder. The cabinet blew cold air in your face. It was nice on a hot summer day.
And last is the Blaster. It’s the most complicated thing you can build here, and they even made a VR set that just let you build the goggles and the blaster. I guess to keep the price down for those who didn’t want to spend as much money. I imagine some parents may not like that you’re building a gun, but it really feels more like a Super Soaker or a cartoony bazooka or one of those t-shirt cannons you see at sporting events. You can play two games with it. One is a shooting gallery style game where you fire at silly one eyed aliens in a city setting. It’s a bit generic, but still fun, and reminds me of Point Black, which would make an excellent VR game I think. The other game is an awesome two player game where you shoot fruit at hippos to feed them!
Bonus Article!
Nintendo Labo Customization Set
When Labo first came out, Nintendo released a little customization set with stickers and stencils for you to decorate your Labo creations with. I didn’t get it because it was ten bucks, but a close relative found it on clearance and bought it for me so I figured since I wrote about all the other Labo stuff, might as well write about this one, too!
My other Labo articles
And that’s all for now! In the comments section, let me know what you think of the Labo VR Kit. Do you think there will be any more Labo sets? I don’t think there will be, as I don’t think they sold very well. Here are links to my other Labo articles as well if anyone would like to read them. One good thing is that many of these older sets are now on clearance as well, and you might be able to find them cheaper. They’d make a great activity for a bored kid over the summer!
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment