With its DIY cardboard models Nintendo Labo is a toy that undoubtedly encourages creativity and curiosity in those that use it. But it’s the the Toy-Con Garage that shows the true range of the product (and perhaps justifies those relatively expensive bits of kit).
Toy-Con Garage is a section within Nintendo Labo which allows players to reprogram what their cardboard models are capable of or create entirely new ones; in our hands on time with it we saw footage of everything from a fishing rod being used to play a tune to an entirely new working cardboard vending machine.
Of course, it can be kind of hard to explain the basic cause-and-effect programming nature of Toy-Con Garage which is probably why Nintendo has started showing it off in its series of ‘invent new ways to play’ videos on its YouTube channel.
Hitting all the right notes
Up until now, these videos have shown how you can customize and tweak your existing Toy-Cons to do something else, but the latest displays how, with the help of a few rubber bands, you can create your very own electric guitar.
Remember when you used to stretch rubber bands over a tissue box to make a guitar? It's that but a million times better.
By setting up a range of buttons on the console’s touchscreen which emit a guitar sound when touched and lining up the rubber bands over the screen to hit the relevant button as you strum, you actually get something pretty impressive. Plus, you can program your Joy-Cons to adjust pitch when you move them or press certain buttons.
You can watch the video for yourself below:
