Nyko PixelQuest Arcade Kit Transforms Your Nintendo Switch With Cardboard

You kinda had to figure this was going to happen. Remember when the Nintendo Wii was inundated with innumerable plastic accessories from just about every accessory maker under the sun? Prepare yourself for the onslaught of cardboard thanks to the ingenuity of Nintendo Labo. Over at E3 2018 in Los Angeles this week, Nyko is demoing its PixelQuest Arcade Kit.

And it is exactly what you think it is. They’ve taken the basic appeal of Labo’s cardboard creations and put something together that mildly resembles a mini arcade cabinet. But, as the Verge’s Chaim Gartenberg points out, it lacks the educational aspect of the Labo.

He says it feels like Nyko “just jumped on the bandwagon” with the PixelQuest Arcade Kit, but hey, “it’s certainly a cute idea.”

As you might imagine, this kit will ship as a flat-packed cardboard set (8 sheets) that you’ll need to put together yourself. What’s neat is that it comes with these clip-on joysticks that attach to the thumbsticks on your Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons. This helps to deliver a slightly more authentic arcade experience, if only in miniature, though I imagine pressing on those tiny face buttons might not be quite the same thing.

And since you’ve only got those four face buttons, playing a six-button game like Street Fighter might prove a little awkward. They say there’s mechanical button remapping, but that places the two shoulder buttons at a rather awkward location. Even so, Gartenberg says the PixelQuest Arcade Kit “seemed sturdy enough” and is cheap enough at just $20.

The Nyko PixelQuest Arcade Kit lists for $19.99 on the Nyko website and it’s expected to ship this fall. And it comes with stickers for personalization.