To the surprise of nobody, enterprising Japanese online retailers are already offering their own off-brand Nintendo Labo kits. Website TMall is offering the foldable cardboard "Arcade Bracket" for 98.00 yen, and they're already popping up on eBay in the west. There's even a suspiciously Nintendo-esque video for the product.
Cheeky. pic.twitter.com/LuboAJHjbD
— Damien McFerran (@DamienMcFerran) March 19, 2018
It's unlikely that this offering will dent sales for Nintendo's own Labo kits, of course. This just folds into a rudimentary arcade cabinet to house the Switch screen, with slots for both controllers. It doesn't offer any of the ingenious interactions that the official Labo toys have demonstrated, but may appeal to those who have stocked up on retro two-player fighting games from the Nintendo eStore.
It's also doubtful that Nintendo didn't anticipate copycat products, and the company is clearly hoping people will latch onto the potential of homebrew cardboard peripherals. Only last week, it revealed that the Labo software include the Toy-Con Garage, where users can create their own games and experiences. Building new toys out of old cornflakes boxes is surely the next step.
