Richard Kain
CAGiversary!
In the quasi-stealth Nintendo Direct that they put out today, Nintendo announced a new line of hobby-game things they are releasing this year called "Labo." Essentially, it is going to be a series of construction sets made from corrugated cardboard with designs perforated into them. Apparently, instructions for constructing these things will be available as interactive guides on the Switch itself. Once constructed, the Switch will slot into them in various ways, while the Joycons and their motion/vibration sensors will allow for limited interactions.
I imagine most hard-core gaming enthusiasts are going to turn their noses up at this particular initiative. It is definitely not in keeping with what the "hard-core" demographic is generally into.
At the same time, from both a business and marketing standpoint, this is pure genius. An arts-and-crafts initiative is a really easy sell for parents. Look at this! You can get your kids into arts-and-crafts and focused construction with a fun digital toy! And this sort of thing is also the kind of product that will look really good on day-time talkshows and mass-media outlets. It makes for a great pitch.
From a business perspective, it is a very low-cost, low-risk venture that could easily translate into a lot of money. The actual production for these things is going to be extremely low. It's just a matter of printing and perforating sheets of cardboard. All of the actual construction is done by the end-user. That cuts out a huge amount of expense in manufacturing. It is also a better way to appeal to retailers. Flat sheets of cardboard in a box are going to take up a lot less space on shelves as opposed to pre-assembled plastic accessories. And accessories made out of recyclable cardboard are going to let Nintendo brag about how much more environmentally-friendly they are being. (no mountains of plastic accessories clogging up landfills)
I don't expect this thing to be "the future" of videogames. But as a clever diversion with potential long-term sustainability, it's actually pretty great. The cost per-unit is low enough that they can continue coming up with new, different versions indefinitely. Almost no risk, and way less up-front investment in terms of production and stock.
I imagine most hard-core gaming enthusiasts are going to turn their noses up at this particular initiative. It is definitely not in keeping with what the "hard-core" demographic is generally into.
At the same time, from both a business and marketing standpoint, this is pure genius. An arts-and-crafts initiative is a really easy sell for parents. Look at this! You can get your kids into arts-and-crafts and focused construction with a fun digital toy! And this sort of thing is also the kind of product that will look really good on day-time talkshows and mass-media outlets. It makes for a great pitch.
From a business perspective, it is a very low-cost, low-risk venture that could easily translate into a lot of money. The actual production for these things is going to be extremely low. It's just a matter of printing and perforating sheets of cardboard. All of the actual construction is done by the end-user. That cuts out a huge amount of expense in manufacturing. It is also a better way to appeal to retailers. Flat sheets of cardboard in a box are going to take up a lot less space on shelves as opposed to pre-assembled plastic accessories. And accessories made out of recyclable cardboard are going to let Nintendo brag about how much more environmentally-friendly they are being. (no mountains of plastic accessories clogging up landfills)
I don't expect this thing to be "the future" of videogames. But as a clever diversion with potential long-term sustainability, it's actually pretty great. The cost per-unit is low enough that they can continue coming up with new, different versions indefinitely. Almost no risk, and way less up-front investment in terms of production and stock.
