Labo VR - worth it just for the elephant mask! No really!

Did anyone else pick up the Labo VR kit? Having played through all the games now, I'm a bit disappointed that it seems to have been a flop here in the UK. The only person I know who also got it is ol' ibbsters, and retailers have been reluctant to stock it (despite sellouts it only just scraped the UK top 40 on release).

Anyway, I think it's excellent! Particularly the elephant mask. That seats two Joy-Con, one looking at a pattern of reflective stickers, to precisely track your hand in 3D space. There's a game called Marble Run which is the best experimental game to come out from Nintendo in years - I felt I got my money's worth just from playing through its 100 levels. It's basically a physics laboratory where you look around, grab and manipulate various objects to get a marble through rings, or to the goal. These objects get more and more interesting, from platforms to fans, to long sticks (two sticks = a rail for the marble to run across) and trampolines.

It's always coming up with new ways to surprise you - like the ability to manipulate gravity and underwater challenges which completely change the rules because of the different physics at play. The physics are really convincing too - making it super immersive. It's just excellent.

The other games aren't quite so good. The Blaster game is great, but lacking in variety (there is one level set in pitch darkness at a mine or subway track that was superb) across its six stages. The camera game is relaxing and immersive, but more of a fun activity you return to every now and again. The bird game gave me motion sickness because the flying didn't match my stationary appearance, and it wasn't anywhere near as interesting as Pilotwings anyway. Even the 6 Bird Dash courses were trivially easy to get gold medals on. The Wind Pedal game is just too simple and shallow.

Merging the unique Toy-con controllers with Virtual Reality is a genius idea. The Toy-Con are each clearly made for a specific purpose, and when you've got the headset on it really does heighten the immersion. The Toy-Con camera sports this huge, twistable lens, which makes these satisfying clicks when you use it to zoom in and out underwater. The elephant mask has a flimsy looking cardboard trigger but it feels very tangible when you use it to grab things. The blaster looks ridiculous because it's cardboard, but the hefty feedback you get from firing out of it feels extremely convincing when your eyes are seeing another world. It really sells the idea that VR is about immersion and not just Goggles - these games would not be the same played with more abstract controllers.

So yeah, I've had a lot of fun building the controllers and playing around with them - how about you?

It's... a game (game?) that I feel a little guilty about not picking up. Nintendo trying new things is a Nintendo I'm very on board with, much though I also like it when they consolidate certain good recipes (and wish they'd give up certain new things (looking at you Paper Mario: Sticker Shart/Colour Trash)).

It's not the VR aspect that puts me off, but the Labo aspect. I never got around to building the Variety Kit, which I was also a bit sceptical about and primarily bought to support Nintendo trying new things. It just didn't hook me like Lego did back when I used to love that, and felt like an imposition on my time. I think I may have 'grown out of' construction toys, and that's not a good thing. Losing a sense of childlike wonder at something is rarely a good thing.

So I'm really glad someone's bought it and is enjoying it... but that someone won't be me any time soon. Sorry Fronk. Sorry Nintendo.

Nintendo actually trying something risky is exactly why I picked this one up at launch! But I can understand why you didn't, and it's great to know you gave the variety kit a go.

For what it's worth, I got a lot more out of this one than I did the Variety Kit. It might be because you're building these cool, abstract video game controllers. It kept me wondering how they would work both technically and physically, and the best two controllers (the elephant and the camera) only took me an hour and half an hour to build.

The VR is great if anyone's wondering about that. It's low res, sure, but the immersion makes you forget that within seconds. I was pretty impressed having tried high end VR before with the Vive. The minimalist Labo world art style probably helps a lot too, as does having games designed specifically for Labo VR.

I do like the look of it and LABO in general but Mini-games aren't really for me as I've got bored with likes of Nintendo Land and VR Worlds quickly. Zelda and Mario look cool but I need more than just that to get me to buy, though.

A proper game or lot's of games getting little VR extras would get me to buy though, Captain Toad anyone?

Captain Toad is one of the games that would work better in VR, agreed. That diorama style.

From the brief time I've spent with VR headsets in the past, I don't think the platform will be for me. I get headaches very quickly using a VR headset, so as neat as SMO or BotW in VR look, it won't be for me sadly.

Is the VR functionality out for those two games yet, out of interest?

I think SMO is out but not BotW also with VR you need to ease yourself in which is one of the issues with the platform.

Maybe so, but I don't fancy putting myself through an indeterminate period of getting headaches playing games!

Also we have this 'glowing' appraisal of BotW VR from Nintendo Life.

What they're saying is why I said something like Captain Toad would work in VR.

I've heard mixed opinions on BOTW in VR so it might depend on the person, I guess that's the risk of VR though, it's not for everyone. I want very interested in this but decided against it as it's another big object that'll take up space I don't have, when Lyla is a bit older I'd be well up for getting all the Labo and making them with her but I can't justify the purchase right now.

Balladeer wrote:

Also we have this 'glowing' appraisal of BotW VR from Nintendo Life.

Oh lord, I was getting queasy imagining that! I did think that the BotW VR might not be up to scratch compared to the Odyssey section which seems to be a standalone experience. The article does mention that the VR isn't intended for combat or anything and is more a way to appreciate scenic areas, but surely the hit to resolution would hurt that experience too? The framerate looked choppy too in the footage they used for their video. A shame, really.

Yeah, BotW is *awful* in VR. The problem really just stems from how they didn't bother to reprogram the camera for head tracking. Every time you move your head the camera physically moves around Link when it should really be looking about a central point (think about when you hold L in the 3DS Zelda games). Makes me feel sick.

The framerate is okay, 30fps is pretty playable as far as motion sickness goes. But the game can't keep up anyway, dropping to 20fps a lot in busy areas.

masofdas wrote:

What they're saying is why I said something like Captain Toad would work in VR.

It would be pretty great peering into those worlds, though you have to remember that the game relies on constant camera rotation which isn't something head tracking can do.

Yep, hard pass from me!

Super Bunnyhop made a video about the Dolphin emulator's VR capabilities - something like this looks like a great application of VR and would be an interesting route for Nintendo to take in regards to their back catalogue.

While that might seem like a good idea, I got a lot of headaches from playing Nintendo 64 and other old games back in the day because the frame rates weren't up to scratch. I suspect getting them running on 60fps to avoid that, but worse, would require some redesigns of animation for quite a few games - that sounds like a lot of effort for old rope!

He did mention in the video that changing the framerate and overall game speed in OoT rendered the boss in Jabu Jabu's belly impossible to defeat. So yeah, it wouldn't work for all games, but seeing how he could pan the camera around and get new perspectives on areas was cool to see.

I don't know if you've seen but Spice and Wolf is getting a VR game, which is coming to Labo.

Also some sort of FMV game might be getting it.

What game did I say would be good with VR
THIS GAME

It's also pretty great that NSO subscribers are getting the entire game... and a kick in the teeth that it's Japan-only.

Just seen it's a sort of a week trial but you can play the whole game, get that often we the other two.

Strange only Japan but there's a way round it.

Odd though I was recently played Cap Toad on WiiU.

I noticed SSBU was advertising some VR mode in its menus - anybody heard anything about that?

It's rather basic, you can view one on one's only I believe.

Still nice Nintendo are adding these things in, which I said elsewhere about the Lite, Labo VR has done well.

Yeah, they're nice little curios for those that own the Labo VR kit. I do wonder if they'll go and release a full VR game, though.

If the spice and wolf game does well enough, then maybe Nintendo will do something.

I did see a tweet earlier today about where's the weird stuff like NES Remix, Pocket Jockey and everything has sort of been save from Nintendo part from Labo but VR game surely wouldn't be.