[Tech] Nintendo is bringing Zelda and Mario into virtual reality

Nintendo’s Labo VR kit may just be a little cardboard experiment, but Nintendo is taking a chance on throwing its most beloved titles into the headset. Today, the company announced that they will be adding support to play two of the Switch’s flagship titles.

Though Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild seems to just be gaining VR viewer support, Super Mario Odyssey is actually getting some new content alongside the updates which adds a trio of new mini-games. Both games are getting this update for free later this month on 4/25.

This is a very strange choice for Nintendo to make, given what an assuredly cruddy experience this will surely be. It made enough sense with the Labo experiences, because those are designed to be fast and fun, tech specs be damned. But when Nintendo suggests tossing yourself into a 50-hour epic like Breath of the Wild, they’re offering you a tacit endorsement that you’ll be able to play these games in VR for a while.

I doubt this will be the case. That being said, I haven’t tested out virtual reality Breath of the Wild but something tells me that Mario or Zelda in glorious 360p per eye resolution doesn’t make for the game of a lifetime.

There’s also no evidence that you’re going to have any sort of different point-of-view perspective that they’ve enabled gameplay for so you’ll still be playing in third-person which is likely going to be a bit uncomfortable if the camera is automatically shifting while your head remains stationary.

It’s hard to rake Nintendo over the coals for giving users this experience for free, but I hope people don’t rush out to buy the Labo VR kits just for this, because I’ve got some doubts they’ll like what they get.