Rumours come true in cardboard form.
Nintendo has officially unveiled its fourth Labo Toy-Con kit for the Switch console, and in doing so has finally confirmed the long-standing rumour that the console would receive a virtual reality (VR) add-on.
Nintendo’s last venture into early virtual reality didn’t end well: The Virtual Boy was a clunky single-colour device which needed to be used on a table stand – plans to have a strap which turned it into a true headset having been ditched over concerns that users would injure themselves if they were free-roaming. While originally envisioned as a true virtual reality device, cost and health concerns would see it scaled down over its four-year development period: Head-tracking capabilities were removed, a colour LCD display was switched out for a red LED display, and by the time the device launched in 1995 – in an unfinished form its creator Gunpei Yokoi had hoped would never see the light of day but which was pushed out so Nintendo could concentrate on development of the Nintendo 64 – it was destined for a short life.
