Nintendo Turns the Switch Into a VR Headset With New Labo Kits
Nintendo has seen huge success with the Switch, which has become the fastest selling game console of this generation. Nintendo has brought its traditional “try anything once” attitude to the Switch with accessories like the cardboard-based Labo. Now, Labo is evolving into a VR headset. It’s like Google Cardboard for your Switch.
The set comes with accessories that act as bizarre controllers for upcoming VR games. There’s a blaster, camera, elephant, bird, and wind pedal. You plug a Joy Con into each one to control the action. For example, the controller plugs into the barrel of the blaster, utilizing the motion controls for aiming.
The Labo VR kit goes on Sale April 12 in two variants. There’s an $80 version that has the main VR goggle apparatus, as well as all the add-on components. The cheaper $40 bundle comes with the goggle section and the blaster only. You can buy expansion sets later that add the other accessories to your goggles, too.
The Switch won’t be the only modern console with VR capabilities, but it’s the only one that can do it cheaply. For example, Sony’s PlayStation VR headset costs $200, and that’s after several significant price cuts. We don’t know what sort of software experience Nintendo has in mind, though. The kits are listed as ages 6 and up, so the games will probably skew younger.
Continue reading
Apple’s Mixed Reality Headset to Cost $3K, Could Include 8K Displays
Rumors of an Apple-designed AR/VR product have rumbled around for years now, with nary a launch to show for it. New data, however, shed more information on the hardware than we've seen before.
Microsoft Wins $21.9 Billion Contract to Supply AR Headsets to the US Army
Microsoft has signed a 10-year, $21.9 billion contract with the US Army to provide augmented reality technology based on its HoloLens devices.
Valve Appears to Have a Standalone VR Headset in the Works
The prototype is suspected to be able to operate without a companion device or tracking boxes—perfect for a type of gaming that's never been exactly spontaneous.
HTC Announces Smaller, Lighter Vive Flow VR Headset
The lightweight headset is styled more like a pair of glasses, making it easier to pop them on to watch some Netflix or play a simple game. However, you're going to need an external power source, and the Flow headset isn't cheap at $500.