54 AUGUST 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 378
SPECIFICATIONS
AVAILABLEFORMATSNintendoSwitch•HARDDISK
SPACENotstated•DETAILSlabo.nintendo.com•
PRODUCTCODENintendoLaboVRKit
EVENIFTHEbuild-it-yourself cardboard
contraptions of Nintendo’s Labo platform
(Shopper366) are now cluttering up your
living room, the newest expansion kit might
well be enough to rekindle your interest.
Nintendo is finally re-entering the world of
virtual reality with the aptly named Labo VR
–awell-priced window intovirtual reality
that uses nothing but aSwitch console,
some folding card and just alittle bit of
sticky-backed plastic.
The Labo VR Kit is somewhat like Google
Cardboard, and not just in the sense that it’s
literally built around deceased trees. Both
systems make VR simpler and cheaper by
placing an existing displayinfront of aset of
goggles; with the Cardboard, it’s your phone,
with Labo VR, it’s your Switch.
This particular package contains five
different DIY models that affix to the
Nintendo console,each one designed fora
distinct set of mini games, from an on-rail
tank shooter to an endearingly imaginative,
physics-based puzzler in which you push
around objects with an elephant’s trunk. You
can also make your own VR games with the
surprisingly complex game creator software.
HOUSE OF CARDBOARD
Like Nintendo’s other Switch construction
kits, what makes Labo VR so good is that it
uses relatively simple construction materials
in unique and interesting ways, each time
creating aone-of-a-kind experience.The sorts
of contraptions you createafterjust acouple
of hours of simply folding cardboard and
adding elastic bands are mind-blowing,
filled with intriguing building
techniques and fun features.
Thankfully,while some of
the finished products might
look rather complicated
and intricate, Nintendo’s
NINTENDO
LaboVRKit
★★★★★
£70•From store.nintendo.co.uk
VERDICT
ThisbuildableVRheadsetistheperfect
accompanimentto yourNintendoSwitch
VR HEADSET AND GAMES
clear-to-follow instructions are terrific,
providing many helpful tools to prevent you
from getting stuck. Each step is detailed,
allowing you to fast-forward and go back a
fewsteps, with a3Dreconstruction of your
current stage that can be viewable from
multiple angles and zoomed with the
Switch’s right analog stick. The instructions
are also filled with humour and colourful
characters; anice touch when you need to
keep younger builders with short attention
spans entertained.
Speaking of little hands, it’s worth
mentioning that you can also restrict the use
of the VR mode forchildren under six years
old (Nintendo recommends that VR is used
only by players aged seven and above). Enable
this and it prevents the Switch’s screen from
splitting intotwo separatelenses. This 2D
mode still allows you to playthe various mini
games on offer,using the Switch’s gyroscopic
functionality,but without the VR-inducing
headaches you might get from pushing the
console’s screen against your face.
The VR goggles –which consist of two
circular lenses in aplastic housing,
surrounded by cardboard –are very simple to
build (taking roughly 30 minutes to complete)
and slot nicely intothe other,larger models.
The Switch itself fits nice and snug
in the cardboard housing, and can
be locked in place with some of
the attachments foradded
peace of mind that it won’t fall
out and clatter to the floor.
HEAVY BUILT
One thing that Labo VR has in
common with Nintendo’s first
forayintoVR, the ill-fated Virtual
Boy, is that it can’t be worn as a
conventional headset –you need to
hold everything up with your hands.
This can get tiring during long sessions,
so it’s luckythat the included mini games can
be played in short bursts.
These games are both numerous and
varied. Depending on which model you’re
using, you might find yourself soaring above
an island as abird, competing to take the
best underwater pictures, driving in a
Thunderdome-like vehicular battle arena or
simply feeding some hippos. Each game
stands out from the last, and it’s genuinely
very enjoyable discovering what’s on offer,
finding out how these unique Labo kits that
you’ve constructed take full advantage of
these experiences.
Labo VR also enables the newly added VR
modes in Super Mario Odysseyand The
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, both
killer apps forthe Switch; you hold the
headset with one hand and control the game
through asingle Joy-Con in your other.Don’t
expect implementation quality to match the
likes of the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, however.
Forexample,Breath of the Wild normally runs
at 720p in handheld mode; in VR mode,this is
split in half,soyou’re effectively seeing it at a
heavily pixelated 360p foreach eye.
CREATIVE FORCE
Letting your inner child run free is amantra
that’s been at the heart of everything
Nintendo has done since the very beginning.
With experiences that leave you grinning
from ear to ear,Nintendo’s family-friendly
games whisk you awayfrom the stresses of
adult life, and the Labo VR is quiteobviously
acontinuation of this legacy.
Most importantly,the sort of otherworldly
adventures that Labo VR provides are
unmatched. Not only do you construct these
intricatecreations from scratch, but you also
get to use them as fun playthings in-game.
Even if there are farmore powerful virtual
reality platforms, with better AAA game
catalogues, Labo VR is unique and quite
often more fun than any of them.
NathanSpendelow
BESTBUY
Letting your inner child run free is amantrathat’s been
at the heart of everything Nintendo has done
