Popular Mechanics (South Africa)
NINTENDO CHANGES THE GAME
In lieu of 4K graphics, ridiculously powerful hardware and a big push into 3D, Nintendo is reshaping the reality of gaming.
We thought we had the Nintendo Switch figured out – until we played with Labo.
Pushing out cardboard cut-out shapes and folding them into innovative new structures is an interesting idea for engaging gameplay. But it’s nothing surprising for the company that has revolutionised gaming many times in the past. And, amazingly, the cardboard structures aren’t even the star of the show. That honour instead goes to the Joy-con controller, which has now emerged in its own right as one of our generation’s most innovative pieces of technology that was hiding in plain sight.
We called out the awesomeness of the tiny controllers in our initial review of the Nintendo Switch. We were awestruck by the peripheral’s intricacies as was displayed in 1-2-Switch, and we were convinced we had the hardware figured out. It took one demo of Nintendo’s Labo to confirm our ignorance.
NNINTENDO ALREADY HAD motion controllers figured out way back in 2005. The Wii remotes used a complex combination of built- in ADXL330 accelerometers, a Pixart optical sensor and an infrared (IR) Sensor Bar you centred above or below your TV screen to calculate distance and resolve your position in space.
These sensors were then combined with controller- based speakers and vibration motors that engaged the lion’s share of a player’s senses for a truly immersive experience. You could also augment the Wii Remote with an additional accelerometer ( Wii Motionplus) or, later, the Wii Nunchuck using its 400 khz interintegrated circuit ( I2C) expansion BUS. The Philips- manufactured (now NXP) port made it possible to interface with other accessories such as the Wii Wheel and the Zapper.
But we digress. Joy- Cons have long eclipsed those then-revolutionary innovations, integrating a linear vibration motor (HD Rumble) from pioneers Immersion Corporation – a design Apple also used to develop its Taptic engines – alongside ngside a shiny new enhanced accelerometer ometer and gyroscope, while the right ight Joy- Con gains a depth-sensing IR camera.
And it’s that IR camera ra that’s at the heart of the Labo experience. rience. You see, the cardboard structures res would be nothing without the reflective eflective tape that will cause you to pull your hair out. All the moving parts rts get some reflective bits stuck on them that the IR camera reads. Hell, the camera can actually see shapes.
We found that through all of the frustrations of buying a R1 000 game (you must buy the full kit to get the software), spending a couple of hours assembling everything was pretty fulfilling. With traditional console games, you finish the single- player campaigns and then move on to online multiplayer, but with Labo, you’ll feel as if you’ve participated in something greater than merely buying a game. You’ve built something that will last at least a month before it gets wet or you accidentally sit on it.
Our favourite is the remote control cars (each car uses a set of Joy- Cons, there are two car bodies in Labo and two people can race using one Switch). Not only does it require a new skill – balancing the Joy- Con vibrations to move in the direction you want can be difficult – but it gives you a window into the mysteries of the technology.
There’s a view you can select that shows exactly what the IR camera sees. It looks almost like night vision, with a green tint to everything, except for the yellow parallelograms that appear on objects the camera recognises.
To call the Nintendo Switch an impressive console would be a gross understatement at this point. And like the Switch built on the technology that came before it, Labo is the culmination of tomorrow’s vision for immersive, allencompassing gameplay that melds the game world and reality like nothing before. It’s yet another Nintendo entry into the annals of gaming history.