Nintendo is adding new virtual reality kits to its lineup of cardboard Labo accessories for the Switch, doubling down on the surprising initiative first announced last year.
The foundation of the new kits is a set of VR goggles that have a slot to lock in the Nintendo Switch console. There are several attachments that can be combined with the goggles, including a blaster, camera, bird, elephant and wind pedal.
The new VR kits launch April 12. Nintendo is offering a starter kit with the goggles and blaster for $40, and a full kit with all the accessories for $80. There are a pair of expansion sets priced at $20 each for those who want to upgrade from the starter pack.
“This new kit builds on the core tenets of Nintendo Labo – Make, Play and Discover – to introduce virtual reality in a way that’s fun and approachable for both kids and kids at heart,” Nintendo of America Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Doug Bowser said in a statement. “We wanted to design an experience that encourages both virtual and real-world interactions among players through passing around Toy-Con creations.”
Nintendo has been known to march to the beat of its own drummer among gaming companies, and Nintendo Labo is no exception. The Switch’s tablet-like screen and Joycon controllers are dropped into the cardboard contraptions, bringing the player closer to the game, without taking them out of the physical world. Nintendo offers a variety pack, as well as robot and vehicle Labo kits.
Total lifetime sales of the popular Switch hybrid home/mobile console, which debuted in March 2017, hit 32.27 million units at the end of last year. Nintendo announced late last year that the Switch is the fastest-selling game console in the United States among the current generation of consoles.
Nintendo sold 9.41 million Switch consoles during the holiday period, its best quarter yet. But the company brought its full-year Switch sales forecast down from 20 million units to 17 million for its fiscal year, which ends in March.
