 Nintendo's getting into VR with its latest kit for Labo, the DIY cardboard accessory line for the Switch. But in true Nintendo fashion, it's not like a typical VR experience. VR can be isolating and the hardware is daunting, but Labo is trying to change that. The games are meant to be shared by passing the headset around, so you get these bite-sized bursts of VR. And it doesn't take itself too seriously. For starters, one of the controllers is a bird. The whole thing feels like a fresh take on VR gaming, and I'm here for it. Just like the first Labo kit, this comes with a bunch of flat sheets of cardboard and Toy-Con software. It took me and our production manager Meg about half a day to build all the creations, with the Blaster taking the longest to build at around three hours. But keep in mind that Labo is aimed at kids, and building is supposed to be part of the fun. The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow, and I feel this with every Labo kit that I build, but it's pretty astounding how well designed it is. Every fold has a purpose, and there's a reason for every aesthetic choice. There's no strap for the headset, and that's intentional. A lot of the games that are included are multiplayer. They're turn-based games meant to be played with a friend. So the point isn't really to isolate yourself in this immersive VR environment, but to share these VR experiences. You wouldn't necessarily want to play for a long time anyway. You're basically sticking the Switch's 720p screen right up in your face, and you have to hold it up the entire time you're playing. Plus, the resolution is not great, and the display is a little blurry. There is an option to play some of the games in 2D mode, but the games are so short anyway, the display isn't too big of an issue. There are six total creations, which Nintendo calls Toy-Cons. There's the VR goggles, a Blaster, a camera, an elephant, a bird, and a wind pedal. Each creation has a few mini-games attached to it. The Blaster, for example, can be used to play a game where you fend off an alien invasion, or a turn-based game where you shoot food at hippos to lure them over to your side, away from your opponent. The elephant, to me, is the best representation of how the Labo works. There's a little camera on the controller here, which picks up the IR stickers on the elephant's mask. So I'm here with my friend and Vox editor, Allegra Frank, and we're gonna play a game of Pictionary, basically it's gonna give me a prompt, something to draw, and then I'm gonna hand it over to you, and you have to guess what I drew. So it's giving me a couple of choices, and I can choose to skip the ones that I don't feel confident drawing. I don't wanna hit you, just feel free to duck. I don't feel confident in what I've just drawn, but hopefully you can figure this out. Okay. I feel safe now that this is not in your hands. Jeez, this is big, dude. Mm-hmm. So what are some of the choices? What the heck is this? Okay, I don't know what this is. Oh, you know what, maybe I do. So the choices are a roller coaster, a merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel, and a haunted house. I see the house, there's definitely a house here. Thank you. This very noodly looking. Noodly? Yeah. Oh, noodly. Yes. This very spaghetti looking dude coming out of the chimney of this house. This is going to be a haunted house. You got it. Oh, you can actually sink it through the floor. Oh, okay. It's a haunted house in hell. So it's completely gone now. I'm just burying. So now there's just nothing. Oh, okay. It's hard not to feel like a kid as you're holding these cardboard creations up to your face. You can use this oversized camera to be an underwater fish photographer, and it even makes a clicking sound as you focus the lens. Now, before you ask, no, you can't play Pokemon Snap with the camera. It's a huge missed opportunity, but I'm not ruling anything out. Nintendo recently announced that Zelda Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey will be getting free updates to be compatible for a level VR. Now all Nintendo has to do is just bring Pokemon Snap to the Switch, and they'll sell like a million of these. In addition to the games attached to the creations, there's a VR plaza with 64 mini games that were actually created by Nintendo developers with Toy-Con Garage, Labo's coding platform. Toy-Con Garage is an extremely open-ended platform that can be used for everything from building your own instruments to now making your own games. You can set up actions for input nodes, customize middle nodes with counters and timers, and connect them to the output nodes, which trigger different effects. With the first Labo kit, I made a makeshift guitar and recorded a song, and that honestly took all of my brain power to figure out. Three, four. ["Midnight Sunset"] Imagine what that could have done for me if I was a child. I would be so smart now. If you don't feel like creating something from scratch, you can use games that are already made as a blueprint, like this two-player soccer game, and play around with customizing it. You can change the soccer ball to an apple, for example, and it'll change the physics of the kick along with it. Some of these aren't VR games, and they're not even really games, as they are just activities. The entire VR kit costs $80, or you can go with the $40 starter set, which just comes with the VR goggles and blaster, and buy more expansion sets later if you want. It's also one that bridges the gap for Labo, taking it from an educational toy for kids to a VR accessory that can be integrated with actual Switch games like Zelda and Mario Odyssey. Yes, you have to hold it up the entire time while you're playing, but if the DIY spirit of cardboard moves you, you can always create your own makeshift strap or helmet. The point of Nintendo Labo is to be creative with the tools they've given you, and that's the main difference Labo has over other existing headsets. It's quick, portable, shareable, customizable, and it changes our notions of what VR can and should be. It's virtual reality as only Nintendo could see it. So you know how Beyoncé doesn't go anywhere without her fans? Now I don't go anywhere without my wind pedal. It's just like, my feet are getting tired. It's hard work.
 Nintendo's getting into VR with its latest kit for Labo,
 the DIY cardboard accessory line for the Switch.
 But in true Nintendo fashion,
 it's not like a typical VR experience.
 VR can be isolating and the hardware is daunting,
 but Labo is trying to change that.
 The games are meant to be shared
 by passing the headset around,
 so you get these bite-sized bursts of VR.
 And it doesn't take itself too seriously.
 For starters, one of the controllers is a bird.
 The whole thing feels like a fresh take on VR gaming,
 and I'm here for it.
 Just like the first Labo kit,
 this comes with a bunch of flat sheets of cardboard
 and Toy-Con software.
 It took me and our production manager Meg
 about half a day to build all the creations,
 with the Blaster taking the longest to build
 at around three hours.
 But keep in mind that Labo is aimed at kids,
 and building is supposed to be part of the fun.
 The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow,
 and I feel this with every Labo kit that I build,
 but it's pretty astounding how well designed it is.
 Every fold has a purpose,
 and there's a reason for every aesthetic choice.
 There's no strap for the headset, and that's intentional.
 A lot of the games that are included are multiplayer.
 They're turn-based games meant to be played with a friend.
 So the point isn't really to isolate yourself
 in this immersive VR environment,
 but to share these VR experiences.
 You wouldn't necessarily want to play for a long time anyway.
 You're basically sticking the Switch's 720p screen
 right up in your face,
 and you have to hold it up the entire time you're playing.
 Plus, the resolution is not great,
 and the display is a little blurry.
 There is an option to play some of the games in 2D mode,
 but the games are so short anyway,
 the display isn't too big of an issue.
 There are six total creations, which Nintendo calls Toy-Cons.
 There's the VR goggles, a Blaster, a camera, an elephant,
 a bird, and a wind pedal.
 Each creation has a few mini-games attached to it.
 The Blaster, for example, can be used to play a game
 where you fend off an alien invasion,
 or a turn-based game where you shoot food at hippos
 to lure them over to your side, away from your opponent.
 The elephant, to me, is the best representation
 of how the Labo works.
 There's a little camera on the controller here,
 which picks up the IR stickers on the elephant's mask.
 So I'm here with my friend and Vox editor, Allegra Frank,
 and we're gonna play a game of Pictionary,
 basically it's gonna give me a prompt, something to draw,
 and then I'm gonna hand it over to you,
 and you have to guess what I drew.
 So it's giving me a couple of choices,
 and I can choose to skip the ones
 that I don't feel confident drawing.
 I don't wanna hit you, just feel free to duck.
 I don't feel confident in what I've just drawn,
 but hopefully you can figure this out.
 Okay.
 I feel safe now that this is not in your hands.
 Jeez, this is big, dude.
 Mm-hmm.
 So what are some of the choices?
 What the heck is this?
 Okay, I don't know what this is.
 Oh, you know what, maybe I do.
 So the choices are a roller coaster,
 a merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel, and a haunted house.
 I see the house, there's definitely a house here.
 Thank you.
 This very noodly looking.
 Noodly?
 Yeah. Oh, noodly.
 Yes.
 This very spaghetti looking dude
 coming out of the chimney of this house.
 This is going to be a haunted house.
 You got it.
 Oh, you can actually sink it through the floor.
 Oh, okay.
 It's a haunted house in hell.
 So it's completely gone now.
 I'm just burying.
 So now there's just nothing.
 Oh, okay.
 It's hard not to feel like a kid
 as you're holding these cardboard creations up to your face.
 You can use this oversized camera
 to be an underwater fish photographer,
 and it even makes a clicking sound as you focus the lens.
 Now, before you ask,
 no, you can't play Pokemon Snap with the camera.
 It's a huge missed opportunity,
 but I'm not ruling anything out.
 Nintendo recently announced that Zelda Breath of the Wild
 and Mario Odyssey will be getting free updates
 to be compatible for a level VR.
 Now all Nintendo has to do
 is just bring Pokemon Snap to the Switch,
 and they'll sell like a million of these.
 In addition to the games attached to the creations,
 there's a VR plaza with 64 mini games
 that were actually created by Nintendo developers
 with Toy-Con Garage, Labo's coding platform.
 Toy-Con Garage is an extremely open-ended platform
 that can be used for everything
 from building your own instruments
 to now making your own games.
 You can set up actions for input nodes,
 customize middle nodes with counters and timers,
 and connect them to the output nodes,
 which trigger different effects.
 With the first Labo kit,
 I made a makeshift guitar and recorded a song,
 and that honestly took all of my brain power to figure out.
 Three, four.
 ["Midnight Sunset"]
 Imagine what that could have done for me if I was a child.
 I would be so smart now.
 If you don't feel like creating something from scratch,
 you can use games that are already made as a blueprint,
 like this two-player soccer game,
 and play around with customizing it.
 You can change the soccer ball to an apple, for example,
 and it'll change the physics of the kick along with it.
 Some of these aren't VR games,
 and they're not even really games,
 as they are just activities.
 The entire VR kit costs $80,
 or you can go with the $40 starter set,
 which just comes with the VR goggles and blaster,
 and buy more expansion sets later if you want.
 It's also one that bridges the gap for Labo,
 taking it from an educational toy for kids
 to a VR accessory that can be integrated
 with actual Switch games like Zelda and Mario Odyssey.
 Yes, you have to hold it up the entire time
 while you're playing,
 but if the DIY spirit of cardboard moves you,
 you can always create your own makeshift strap or helmet.
 The point of Nintendo Labo is to be creative
 with the tools they've given you,
 and that's the main difference Labo has
 over other existing headsets.
 It's quick, portable, shareable, customizable,
 and it changes our notions of what VR can and should be.
 It's virtual reality as only Nintendo could see it.
 So you know how Beyoncé doesn't go anywhere
 without her fans?
 Now I don't go anywhere without my wind pedal.
 It's just like, my feet are getting tired.
 It's hard work.