WEBVTT - Hands on with Nintendo Labo

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<v Speaker 1>Nintendo Labo is making cardboard fun again. I'm rich Jmiro.

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<v Speaker 1>This is rich on Tech Daily. So if you're a parent,

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<v Speaker 1>you've probably known this scenario. You buy your kids a

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<v Speaker 1>new toy and what do they end up playing with

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<v Speaker 1>the cardboard box that it comes in. Well, maybe this

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<v Speaker 1>is what inspired Nintendo's latest creations called Nintendo Labo. This

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<v Speaker 1>is a toy kit that harnesses the power of the

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<v Speaker 1>Nintendo Switch but also uses cardboard to bring toys to life.

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<v Speaker 1>I know it sounds like a head scratcher, and it

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<v Speaker 1>kind of is. Nintendo put a teaser video out on

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<v Speaker 1>YouTube a while back, and lots of people were saying,

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<v Speaker 1>Oh my gosh, this looks so cool, but you really

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<v Speaker 1>have to try it out to see what it's all about.

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<v Speaker 1>That's probably the reason why Nintendo brought me and my

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<v Speaker 1>son up to San Francisco to test it out. We

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<v Speaker 1>were there at a special Nintendo Labo lab with a

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<v Speaker 1>bunch of other parents and kids, YouTubers, bloggers, all handpicked

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<v Speaker 1>to play with Labo before anyone else. All right, so

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<v Speaker 1>what is It's a toy kit that comes with big

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<v Speaker 1>pieces of cardboard and they're all kind of pre scored,

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<v Speaker 1>so all you have to do is punch out the

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<v Speaker 1>pieces and fold them together to create things. But here's

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<v Speaker 1>the brilliant part. You follow on screen instructions on the

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<v Speaker 1>Nintendo switch, which are really kind of elaborate. You can

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<v Speaker 1>kind of rotate, zoom in and out see how things

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<v Speaker 1>should look and what you should be doing. Think about

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<v Speaker 1>like if you ever play with Lego, how you follow

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<v Speaker 1>those instructions, except these are much much easier to follow.

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<v Speaker 1>So what do we built. We built a radio controlled

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<v Speaker 1>car and here's how it works. You build like kind

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<v Speaker 1>of the cardboard part, but we built the two Nintendo

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<v Speaker 1>controllers into it. Those became the wheels of the car,

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<v Speaker 1>and then when you press the buttons on the Nintendo switch,

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<v Speaker 1>the little RC car would actually go and it went

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<v Speaker 1>by the two controllers sort of vibrating and on a

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<v Speaker 1>smooth surface that would cause the cardboard to move forward.

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<v Speaker 1>I know, it's ingenious and this is the kind of

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<v Speaker 1>stuff that you get with the labbo. So once you're

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<v Speaker 1>done building your creations, kids are gonna love decorating them. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Because we were at the Nintendo event, they had all

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<v Speaker 1>kinds of cool stuff at our disposal. Today, decorate with

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<v Speaker 1>like little stickers and colored tape and markers and crayons

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<v Speaker 1>and all kinds of neat stuff. None of that comes

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<v Speaker 1>in the box, But if you don't want to find

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<v Speaker 1>that stuff in a place like Michael's, you can buy

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<v Speaker 1>these special accessory kit Nintendo's gonna sell for ten dollars,

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<v Speaker 1>which includes a bunch of that stuff. We also made

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<v Speaker 1>a cardboard fishing rod and this was really ingenious as well,

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<v Speaker 1>so it took a while to put this thing together.

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<v Speaker 1>It was quite elaborate. And then it has like rubber

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<v Speaker 1>bands in it that simulate pulling fish out of the water.

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<v Speaker 1>So I know, again tough to explain, but the Nintendo

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<v Speaker 1>switch slides into like a little cardboard base which shows

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<v Speaker 1>images of fish on the screen, and when you pull

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<v Speaker 1>the rod up, you feel the tension from the rubber

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<v Speaker 1>bands as you try to catch fish, and I thought

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<v Speaker 1>that was really cool. Nintendo really puts some thought into

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<v Speaker 1>these toys. Now, we didn't build the rest of them,

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<v Speaker 1>but we did see all the various Labo toys in action.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a house, there's a motorcycle, a piano, a robot

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<v Speaker 1>suit and they're all elaborate and quite interactive. So with

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<v Speaker 1>the house, for instance, you can play games on the

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<v Speaker 1>screen like the Nintendo Switch. Screen becomes the front of

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<v Speaker 1>the house, and then you insert little cardboard plugs into

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<v Speaker 1>sockets on the side, and when you switch those sockets out,

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<v Speaker 1>you can play different games on screen. It's really weird

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<v Speaker 1>but really fun. So in addition to making and playing,

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<v Speaker 1>there's another aspect to the whole labo thing, and that's learning.

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<v Speaker 1>Each kind of toy gets its magic through interactions with

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<v Speaker 1>the Nintendo Switch. So, for instance, on the RC car,

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<v Speaker 1>all of a sudden, you realize there's a little ir

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<v Speaker 1>camera on the controller that can follow you around and

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<v Speaker 1>you see yourself on the screen on the Nintendo Switch,

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<v Speaker 1>So that was cool. In the piano, for instance, it

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<v Speaker 1>can change its tune by sort of seeing different reflective

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<v Speaker 1>tapes that are on the cardboard plugs that you insert

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<v Speaker 1>into that It all sounds a little confusing, Well, you

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<v Speaker 1>just kind of have to play with it to understand,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think kids will really get the hang of

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<v Speaker 1>this as they figure this out. We had lots of

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<v Speaker 1>fun building, decorating and playing with the creations, and I

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<v Speaker 1>think that's worth the experience of these toys. But your

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<v Speaker 1>kids can also take it to the next level and

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<v Speaker 1>really understand how they work. And they can also code

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<v Speaker 1>them to do their own commands, so that's kind of

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<v Speaker 1>cool too. I think this is a really unique way

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<v Speaker 1>to use the Nintendo Switch to play more than just

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<v Speaker 1>standard video games. But it's also kind of hard to

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<v Speaker 1>grasp the concept, so I think that could make or

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<v Speaker 1>break the commercial success of this. So if you think

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<v Speaker 1>back in Nintendo's history, They've had a lot of ups

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<v Speaker 1>and downs. They're famous for making these sort of unique

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<v Speaker 1>accessories for their game consoles. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

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<v Speaker 1>Virtual Boy not so much, Light Zapper awesome, power pad awesome.

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<v Speaker 1>Then there was that little gyroscope guy. I always thought

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<v Speaker 1>that was really cool, but I don't really think it

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<v Speaker 1>was very successful. Bottom line, if your kid is into

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<v Speaker 1>video games and building things like Lego Creations, I think

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<v Speaker 1>you should give Labo a try. It launches April twentieth

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<v Speaker 1>with two kits. There's a Variety kit which is seventy

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<v Speaker 1>dollars that includes the part for the RC cars, the

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<v Speaker 1>fishing rod, the house, the motorbike, and the piano. Then

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<v Speaker 1>there's the Robot kit that's eighty dollars and that includes

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<v Speaker 1>everything you need to build this pretty elaborate interactive robot suit.

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<v Speaker 1>There you have it. If you want to see the

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<v Speaker 1>story on my Nintendo Labo feel you can go to

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<v Speaker 1>my website. Just go to Rich on tech dot tv

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<v Speaker 1>for the link. And if you enjoy this podcast, please

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<v Speaker 1>review us and rate us on the Apple Podcasts app.

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<v Speaker 1>That way more folks see the podcast and experience it.

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<v Speaker 1>And thanks to everyone who has done that so far,

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<v Speaker 1>I really do appreciate it. I'm Rich Damiro. Thanks so

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<v Speaker 1>much for listening. Rich on tech dot tv. I'll talk

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<v Speaker 1>to you real soon.