Alarmo Is the Latest in a Long Line of Weird Nintendo Hardware — and Some of It Failed Hard

Nintendo is weird and I absolutely love it for that. In addition to releasing generation-defining games like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Odyssey, the company isn’t afraid to take wild turns and release hardware no one could have ever predicted beforehand.

The latest of these out-of-left-field products is Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo, the $100 alarm clock Nintendo revealed this week that will wake you up with sounds and songs from Breath of the Wild, Odyssey, Splatoon 3, Ring Fit Adventure, and Pikmin 4. It’s not the hardware reveal we’ve been waiting for (even if Nintendo did hint at Alarmo as long as 10 years ago) but it’s certainly a fun addition that maintains Nintendo’s reputation as the video game industry’s crazy toymaker.

The Alarmo reveal inspired us to compile a list of some of the other weirdest devices, gizmos, and gadgets Nintendo has put out over the years. It’s worth noting, we’re only highlighting products that actually came out – so you won’t find the Wii’s vitality sensor here. And, this list only includes hardware that’s directly related to Nintendo’s video game business, so we’re not discussing its history with playing cards and love hotels. Finally, we’re only counting products Nintendo developed internally, which eliminates officially licensed accessories like the infamous Power Glove. With all that said, let’s dive into some (but definitely not all) of the weirdest releases in Nintendo history.

Virtual Boy

Nintendo tried to release a virtual reality headset decades before the technology was ready for it. The Virtual Boy launched in 1995 and is far and away the biggest flop in Nintendo history, failing to cross one million units sold in its lifetime. Its infamous red and black display is known for inducing painful headaches after just minutes of playing, and the console saw just 22 games before Nintendo stopped supporting it. I’ve never had the privilege of playing Virtual Boy myself, but I hear the Virtual Boy Wario Land game is actually pretty fantastic. Nintendo is using a Switch to emulate Virtual Boy games at its new museum in Kyoto, Japan, so maybe someday we’ll see a virtual console library for the Virtual Boy on Nintendo Switch Online.

R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy)

Long before we had AI teammates who supported us on the battlefield, Nintendo created an actual buddy who you could play games with. Back in 1985, the Robotic Operating Buddy – or R.O.B. as he was affectionally known – released for the NES and was effectively player two in a game. But as great as that sounds, R.O.B. only worked with two games – Gyromite and Stack-Up – and unfortunately the tech didn’t match the ambition; it was tricky to set up properly and, according to Nintendo execs at the time, R.O.B. moved so slowly it was like “watching grass grow”. It was quietly discontinued a couple of years later but R.O.B. still lives on as a character in Smash Bros.

Game Boy Camera / Printer

Before we all had high resolution cameras in our pockets at all times, Nintendo took a shot at creating a portable camera with the Game Boy Camera. This accessory plugged into the Game Boy (and its various hardware iterations) to take low resolution photos, and was designed to be used in conjunction with the Game Boy Printer, which would let you print out your photos.

e-Reader

Sticking on the handheld side, the Game Boy Advance was compatible with the Nintendo e-Reader, which scanned barcodes on compatible e-Reader cards to unlock content in GBA games. It’s an early version of a concept Nintendo would revisit a decade later with amiibo, where physical items unlock otherwise walled off content within games. While very niche outside of Japan – the e-Reader didn’t even come out in Europe and was discontinued in America after less than two years – there were some legitimately cool uses for the technology. Most notably, the GBA port of Super Mario Bros. 3 had e-Reader-exclusive levels that have been preserved in the Nintendo Switch Online version of the game.

Circle Pad Pro

The original 3DS only launched with one circle pad, so Nintendo’s patchwork solution for twin-stick control support was the clunky and hilariously large Circle Pad Pro. Often described as a boat for the 3DS to rest in, the Circle Pad Pro made the 3DS much bigger to hold, adding a second circle pad and an additional pair of shoulder buttons. It was designed to make action-heavy third-person games like Monster Hunter and Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater more comfortable to play, but was quickly improved upon when Nintendo released the New 3DS with a built-in second analog stick a few years later.

Delicious amiibo

While most amiibo are figures or cards and some are adorable Yarn Yoshis, the strangest amiibo Nintendo ever released is the Delicious amiibo. Nintendo partnered with Kellogg’s to produce Super Mario Cereal: a Lucky Charms-like cereal with shapes inspired by the Mushroom Kingdom. The twist? The cereal box itself contained NFC functionality and could be used as an amiibo in all compatible Nintendo games. It’s a bizarre one-of-a-kind amiibo that we’ll likely never see again.

GameCube Microphone

Nintendo systems like the DS, 3DS, and Wii U have built-in microphones, but that wasn’t the case back in the GameCube days. So what did Nintendo do when it wanted to create voice-controlled minigames for the next Mario Party? It bundled a microphone in with the game! The GameCube microphone was primarily used with Mario Party 6 and Mario Party 7, and plugged into the console through the secondary memory card slot. The microphone minigames could be very unresponsive at times, but I can’t deny that the big button on the GameCube microphone is extremely satisfying to press.

Home Gym Equipment

Nintendo has made a fortune off of its fitness games, and each iteration has launched with a different iconic piece of hardware. Wii Fit is responsible for bringing the Wii Balance Board into the world, which ended up being supported by over 100 different games. More recently, Ring Fit Adventure introduced the Ring Con, which sadly hasn’t seen the same amount of love from other software. Still, both exercise games were huge successes for Nintendo, even if initial reactions to the accessories had us scratching our heads.

Nintendo Labo

I never thought I’d be convinced to buy a $70 box set of cardboard but that was before Nintendo Labo entered the picture in 2018. Nintendo developed four different Labo sets for Switch, including cardboard creations like a fishing rod, giant robot, steering wheel, piano, and more. The piano was actually pretty satisfying to assemble, as it came with rubber bands to create tension in order for the keys to work. But similar to the feeling I’ve always had after completing a LEGO set, actually playing with the Labo Toy-Con after building them was just never that compelling.

One Nintendo Labo set was even a cardboard virtual reality headset, and Nintendo updated several Switch games with very minor VR support that forced you to hold the Switch’s 720p screen mere inches from your face. It was by no means a fantastic virtual reality experience, but it’s far from the worst attempt at VR the company has ever made…

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit

Yes, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is an enhanced port of a Wii U game, but that doesn’t mean Switch didn’t get its own original Mario Kart… Technically. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit launched back in 2020 and it remains one of the strangest products the company has put out in the Switch generation. Home Circuit comes with a remote control kart featuring either Mario or Luigi and a handful of cardboard gates to set up around your living room, which you use to play a mixed reality version of Mario Kart. It’s fun for a time – especially if you have a pet that likes to chase the kart around – but I’m mostly just shocked that Nintendo took one of its biggest franchises in such a strange direction for this spinoff.

What’s your favorite weird thing Nintendo has made over the years? Are you planning to buy the new Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo? Let us know in the comments.

Logan Plant is IGN’s Database Manager, Playlist Editor, and Super Ninfriendo on Nintendo Voice Chat. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

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