Nintendo has made their goal for the Labo very clear since launching the cardboard-creation kit back in April: Appeal to a wide range of people, especially those who traditionally don’t play games. And it seems as though the company is satisfied with their trajectory so far.
In an interview with The Verge posted earlier today, Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aimé and general manager of Nintendo EPD Shinya Takahashi both discuss the Labo’s start so far, and their objectives for the future.
While Takahashi points out that the Labo has generally sold to the circle of game fans in general, Nintendo’s desire is to reach an even broader demographic. “We want to get to a demographic that’s not traditionally reached by games at all,” he explains.
“I think the case with Nintendo Labo right now is that there are some people who know about it, and quite a lot of potential still for us to explore,” he goes on to tell The Verge.
“The people who are aware of Nintendo Labo right now I think are still in the circle of Nintendo fans and game fans in general. We’re really interested in how we can go beyond that, to people who aren’t really in the loop of game news.”
As for those who have already invested in the Labo, Fils-Aimé believes that the cardboard kit will have a longer lifespan than other Nintendo games that tend to have strong sales immediately after launch like Breath of the Wild or Super Mario Odyssey.
“Labo is the type of game, much like Brain Age for the Nintendo DS, much like Wii Fit, it’s a game that’s going to sell for a very long time at a very steady pace, which is a different curve for a traditional video game,” says Fils-Aimé.
“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. Labo is off to a strong start and in our view is going to continue to get a lot of support.”
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2018