Nintendo lays out its long term plans for Labo

Nintendo Labo launched back at the end of April to generally positive reviews. Folks who tried the cardboard toy turned game were delighted by Labo’s creativity and knack for imaginative play. But what’s next for Labo, now that the initial excitement has died down somewhat? Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, laid out some of the company’s expectations for Labo for the future in an interview with The Verge.

Nintendo is hoping that Labo will be the next Wii Fit or Brain Age, titles that moved millions of copies over a period of many years.

“. . . It’s a game that’s going to sell for a very long time at a very steady pace, which is a different curve than a traditional video game,” Reggie says. “And so from that standpoint, our focus is on how we can continue to support it, how we continue to help consumers understand the proposition.”

It looks as though Nintendo has plans to support the Labo for the next few years, so fans can likely expect new kits and updates in the future. For now, though, Nintendo wants to focus on building an audience outside of the core gamer-space. Reggie noted that right now, most Nintendo Labo users are Nintendo fans or general video game enthusiasts. Nintendo wants to move beyond that. “There’s a lot of activity happening with Labo around the summer, especially as kids are out of school, we think it’s a prime opportunity. Labo is off to a strong start and in our view is going to continue to get a lot of support.”

It seems as though Nintendo will have to take a creative approach to this conundrum, potentially marketing the Labo as a toy rather than a video game. It will be interesting to see how things develop as time goes by.

What are your thoughts on the Nintendo Labo? Do you think it has legs, or is it just a passing sensation?