{"id":1099394,"date":"2026-01-26T20:14:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=511187"},"modified":"2026-01-26T20:14:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T20:14:05","slug":"ill-miss-you-nintendo-labo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/ill-miss-you-nintendo-labo\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ll miss you, Nintendo Labo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A
Our family\u2019s Toy-Con House, home to Monster Cat. RIP to a real one.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nintendo revealed the Nintendo Switch 2 yesterday<\/a>, but beyond showing off the console \u2013 which I can safely describe as a bigger and presumably better Switch<\/a> \u2013 it didn\u2019t say much about what the Switch 2 can do. But there is one line in the press release about what the Switch 2 can\u2019t do<\/em> that has me \u2026 well, not worried, but perhaps a bit crestfallen. \u201cCertain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2,\u201d Nintendo says<\/a>. I don\u2019t know about you, but my immediate thought was they\u2019re talking about Labo.<\/em><\/p>\n

&lpar;˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥&rpar; <\/p>\n

Nintendo Labo<\/a> didn\u2019t set the world on fire, but it remains one of the most fun, weird, creative, playful things Nintendo has ever done, and yes I will die on that cardboard hill. For those of you who didn\u2019t get the pleasure of assembling a Labo kit yourselves, here\u2019s a brief description of what it was like.<\/p>\n

Each Labo kit was a collection of so-called \u201cToy-Cons,\u201d which would be assembled out of flat-packed cardboard following an interactive instruction manual not unlike IKEA furniture. Once assembled, you\u2019d insert the Switch Joy-Cons into your cardboard creation, and through some combination of motion sensors, the all-important IR sensor on the right Joy-Con, and a hefty sprinkling of software<\/em>, that cardboard would be transformed, alchemy-like, into something that felt unusually playful. Those tactile Toy-Cons \u2013 a piano, a steering wheel, a camera \u2013 could be used in simple games, and users could even create their own experiences, not unlike Nintendo\u2019s later Game Builder Garage<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

In short, it was amazing<\/em>. <\/p>\n

In our 2018 game of the year list<\/a>, I called it \u201cone of the most \u2018Nintendo\u2019 projects ever made\u201d and now, four years after it was quietly taken out back, behind the box store, and shot, I find myself somewhat emotional reflecting on what Labo did and how ephemeral it was. Nintendo hasn\u2019t so much as glanced in Labo\u2019s direction in years, and the omission of the IR sensors<\/a> in the Switch 2\u2019s new Joy-Cons is another reminder that this product is well and truly dead. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But for a moment, if you will, I\u2019d like to reflect back on what it was like when it was alive, and I\u2019d like to take a moment to thank the \u201cMonster Cat,\u201d as my then four-year-old son dubbed him, the inhabitant of the Variety Kit\u2019s Toy-Con House. The House accepted the right Joy-Con in its chimney, the Switch display on its front, and then a collection of adapters that would slot into the left, right, and bottom of the House. The combination of adapters would create different scenarios on the screen. It was simple, funny, and genuinely novel. <\/p>\n

While the arc from paper to plaything constituted much of our enjoyment, the Monster Cat was different. My son would take him out regularly, his House a permanent fixture of our living room for years. The House itself has been fixed several times over, and the adapters \u2013 which took more of the physical abuse \u2013 are literally held together with tape, glue, popsicle sticks, and stickers. It\u2019s an incredible physical testament to the kind of play that Labo enabled, and one I sadly didn\u2019t share with our second son, who was born in 2018. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t really process that Labo was being liquidated in 2021 \u2013 Nintendo was characteristically cagey about its abandonment<\/a>, removing its website entirely before saying it was still available. You know what retailers love? Storing large boxes that aren\u2019t selling, and whose manufacturer won\u2019t even maintain the most basic of marketing surfaces.<\/p>\n

By the time I clocked what was happening, I followed some stock trackers and hurried to the usual box stores, where inventory had unsurprisingly been liquidated. I managed to snag an additional VR Kit \u2026 when what I really need is an additional Variety Kit. Our Monster Cat needed a new home. Sure, Nintendo has released the files<\/a> so users could figure out a way to get them remade \u2013 admittedly, a very welcome preservation effort for this most unusual of games \u2013 but some searching hasn\u2019t resulted in anything that seems reproducible. (Other nerds, if you can point me in the right direction, my email is here<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

I know people are bummed that the Nintendo Switch 2 seems to be playing it safe<\/a>, and the reveal video didn\u2019t do much to disabuse anyone of that notion<\/a>. The Switch is a hit! And I think we all hope the Switch 2 is another hit \u2026 but I hope that some of that outside-the-cardboard-box thinking that resulted in a product like Labo isn\u2019t being left in the recycling bin. Who knows, maybe that optical mouse sensor<\/a> could get us into some trouble. A next-generation Monster Cat might like a mouse. <\/p>\n

(I love you, Monster Cat).<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our family\u2019s Toy-Con House, home to Monster Cat. RIP to a real one. Nintendo revealed the Nintendo Switch 2 yesterday, but beyond showing off the console \u2013 which I can safely describe as a bigger and presumably better Switch \u2013 it didn\u2019t say much about what the Switch 2 can do. But there is one line in the press release about what the Switch 2 can\u2019t do that has me \u2026 well, not worried, but perhaps a bit crestfallen. \u201cCertain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2,\u201d Nintendo says. I don\u2019t know about you, but my immediate thought was they\u2019re talking about Labo. &lpar;˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥&rpar; Nintendo Labo didn\u2019t set the world on fire, but it remains one of…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1099395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1099394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nI\u2019ll miss you, Nintendo Labo | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our family\u2019s Toy-Con House, home to Monster Cat. RIP to a real one. 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