Nintendo Labo VR Lets You Build Your Own Headset

Nintendo Labo VR Lets You Build Your Own Headset

By the auspices of Nintendo's imagination and ingenuity, it's made the Nintendo Switch a true jack of all trades. And the console's latest trick has thrown everyone for a loop. The company just announced that starting on April 12, it's getting into the virtual reality game by the most unconventional means -- Nintendo Labo. That's right, instead of launching an expensive headset, you'll be making your own VR headset starting at $79.99 and that might be exactly what the industry needs.

MORE: What Nintendo Labo Tells Us About Switch's Future

Previously, you could transform your Switch into a variety of things with Nintendo Labo including a fishing rod, piano and even a robot -- all you needed was time, patience and a little dexterity with cardboard. Those skills still apply here as you'll need to build your VR headset. The newly launched Nintendo Labo: VR Kit will come at two price points. The $79.99 version will feature six kits including one to make your makeshift headset, as well as a blaster and a few outlandish things like an elephant. Don't want to spend that much money? There's the $39.99, which has the headset, blaster and googles. 


Nintendo hasn't really specified what kind of VR content consumers can expect, but it wouldn't be a far-off guess that it will be a series of minigames. Although if they could find a way for me to eventually play Metroid or any Mario game in VR, Nintendo can take all my money. But for now, I'm eager to see how far Nintendo can take Google's Cardboard concept. For all of OculusVR, Google, HTC, Sony and Samsung's efforts, VR has yet to really move beyond the enthusiast crowd. But perhaps with a major assist from Nintendo, the industry can finally become a permanent fixture in mainstream homes. If not, it'll just go the way of the Virtual Boy before it. 

And now that Nintendo has joined the VR club, that just leaves Xbox as the odd system out with no VR headset to speak of. 

Originally Posted On
Telegraph.com