You may remember that Nintendo recently shared details surrounding its Nintendo Labo Creators Contest, asking players to come up with the greatest inventions they could muster to earn some fantastic prizes. Well, the North American winners have now been revealed and we're seriously impressed.
The contest was split into three categories - Best Decorated Toy-Con, Best Toy-Con Mod, and Best Original Invention - with an emphasis being placed on musical instruments and game ideas when the contest was first announced. Some of the winners included an RC car that was decorated like a dinosaur and a beautiful The Legend of Zelda-inspired Toy-Con Piano, but these next two designs really caught our attention.
First up is a 'solar-powered' accordion. Instead of using Nintendo Labo's reflective stickers to trigger inputs, this creator uses sunlight to generate the sound. The right Joy-Con's IR camera picks up on which holes have been covered thanks to the sudden lack of sunlight, allowing the Switch to register a note change. It's seriously impressive, and really nicely put together. Check it out below!
Secondly, we have a teapot. - well, four teapots actually - all being used in a minigame that wouldn't seem out of place in a Mario Party title. It essentially acts like a time management game, tasking you with filling and pouring four different types of tea for thirsty customers. Each teapot has a Joy-Con under the lid to detect when the teapot is open or pouring, and it even has both single-player and cooperative multiplayer modes.
The level of creativity here is mind-boggling and goes to show yet again just how powerful the Nintendo Labo software can be in the right hands. If you want to check out the full list of winners, you can find them all here.
Would you be able to dream up something like these contest entries? As ever, share your thoughts with us down below in the comments.
[source labo.nintendo.com, via engadget.com]
Comments 30
Amazing! I'm using Labo as rainy day activities with my daughter, so we've not even finished building all the base toys. Garage looks awesome.
Well done to these folks.
Super impressed. That teapot game is ingenious ... and makes me thirsty
That’s fantastic
Wow, both of these are awesome. Especially the solar powered accordion, that's just cool on so many levels.
Wait, so the bare Switch unit itself, without Joy-Con attached also has gyro controls inside? I didn't know!!
Just..... WOW
Oh, man. I would KILL for a new WarioWare D.I.Y. with customisation as cool as this. A new WarioWare D.I.Y. that utilises the advanced motion controls of the Joy-Con and the IR cameras would be absolutely brilliant. In addition to a standard WarioWare game of course. The more the merrier. The multiplayer modes in Smooth Moves (especially the 12 player and rope cutting games) was some of the most fun we've had with the system.
What...?
WHAT...?!
Man.... that Tea Pot Mini games looked Interesting !
I have NEVER Expected LABO can did such a thing like that.
I can see Toy Con 03, 04, 05 & Beyond will coming next.
Oh, and for All Blind LABO haters, just Shut Up !
LABO = Work of Art, Math, Entertainment and Science.
@ROBLOGNICK What? Where did you get that idea?
Just got Variety Kit at the weekend. It is brilliant. Cant wait to dig deeper into how these things work.
@HobbitGamer In the teapot game, when he flips the Switch unit on its front to reset everything. It doesn't have a Joy-Con attached. Or is that a brightness sensor being pressed against the surface? Only other thing I think that could do that.
@ROBLOGNICK Ahhhh, I see that! (I was thinking of the accordian). Yeah it must have something. There's no LABO input node for any of the buttons on the tablet itself, just joycon inputs/wiggles. So either the cardboard face is tapping a node hidden under it, or there is an internal Gyro. I just don't remember any tablet input nodes other than the screen.
Now I wish I brought my LABO cartridge to work today instead of Aces
@Anti-Matter I really like my Variety Kit (I passed on the Robot, but maybe at Christmas), and wish they would make some more.
Creative
Wow! Thats some awesome design work, this is actually tempting me to go get Labo. It looks so much fun, but I am worried it'll gather dust after a short while
@Nukuleardawg
"but I am worried it'll gather dust after a short while."
Just cast Aeroga spell on it (Oops.. it will destroy the LABO by a Strong Wind).
Eh... just dust your LABO if dirty.
Pretty awesome stuff. I love the accordion!
That's impressive... I wouldn't even know where to begin creating something as cool as those. Then again, I'm not actually sitting around, fiddling with a Labo kit either, so...
That's just amazing. Loved both but was impressed with the Tea Pot Game. It is a great thing when people make good use of their avail time and invest in creativity!
Powerful?
If a tea pot game is one of the big winners, it just shows it can't do anything.
Heck I wish I was this good at Toy-Con Garage.
And most other things.
The accordian is amazingly inventive.
Labo is such an amazing move
I don't get how can people call Labo a rip off among other things. Labo is an amazing platform!
@BigKing you are not seeing the big picture. First of all, the teapot game works pretty well like a tabletop game for children. It would entertain even adults when trying to run from table to table. It's not Doom, Fortnite, Splatoons or anything but it is a start. I have seen people doing laser tag games with it, I have seen all sorts of instruments, the labo has alot of possibilities.
It can do alot, people just have to figure out what. Labo is just like every game or program, it is not for everyone. I myself will probably nerver buy Labo since its not my kind of thing. But I acknowledge what it can do, and with the right mind it can be a powerful tool.
@Edgarmtanaka I do see the bigger picture. As a coder(and as somebody who has been coding since 6 years old on a Commodore) I can ensure you that there isn't much more to labo. It's a toy.
You can configure some basic 'if this then that' things but not much more. That's why you see all those instruments... If sensor this then play sound X.
@BigKing duh... Of course it is a toy, what did you expect? You can use a sphero to make WiFi remotely driven coffee brewer if you know how too, it is still a toy. Also the labo is not only about programing, it's about engineering to.
So as a tool to help kids and even adults to form their creativity it is a really powerful tool. Not only that but it is easy to share your creations and usually quite easy to replicate them. What do you suggest is better for foremost kids to use instead of labo to help them with their creativity and also activate them?
@Anti-Matter Your nerd strength. ITS OVER 9000!!!!! I could indeed i dust, do you have one yourself? Do you find you get a lot of use out of it?
That teapot game is a PRIME example on how people can take ideas from the past and make them fresh again without remaking them. It's simply a new take on the TAPPER arcade game. Very very similar gameplay with different mechanics. Kudos to him for taking an idea from the past and making it fresh.
@Edgarmtanaka If it's severely limited, it's not really powerful. I'm pretty sure most kids will get bored very quickly.
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