Image: Nintendo
This alarm clock is no Nintendo Switch 2, but it’ll do for now.
Nintendo has announced an all-new, and very unexpected, addition to its lineup of gaming hardware in the Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo. This is a motion-sensing alarm clock that detects the movements users make while getting up to play sounds lifted directly from Nintendo games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, all in an effort to make them feel like they’ve woken up in “a world of games.”
Here’s the announcement trailer:
Nintendo reveals Alarmo, a motion-sensing alarm clock
Waking up is the least favourite part of anyone’s day, and Nintendo is here to fix that. The company’s newly-revealed Nintendo Sound Clock is called Alarmo, and it’s been designed specifically to “make waking up fun,” as impossible as that sounds. The Alarmo plays 35 different alarms from five Nintendo games, each one equipped with unique visual themes, sounds and “wake-up experiences.”
Here’s how the device works: before going to sleep, users can select a game title, pick a “scene” from that game and set a wake-up time. In the morning, the alarm will begin to ring at the set time, playing unique music and sound effects from whichever scene the user has chosen. So far, so alarm clock - but this device also has a sensor that reacts to the movements a user makes in bed.
This allows it to start playing specific sounds if a user stretches their arms or rolls over in bed, growing quieter if they continue to move around. The alarm will automatically stop when they’ve gotten up and out of bed - but there’s also a more traditional Button Mode available for people who don’t want to deal with its motion sensor. You just hit the button when you're ready to start the day.
This alarm clock comes with a pretty hefty price tag, however: $99.99. It also comes with a Steady Mode that gets louder the longer users stay in bed (which is a likely thing for them to do) and a Gentle Mode, with a more “consistent intensity level.” The alarm clock can also play lullaby-like tunes to help users sleep at night. Its featured game titles are Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4, and Ring Fit Adventure.
Future scenes from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons can also be downloaded for free later on, but users will need to link their Nintendo Account to the Alarmo to access them. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can buy the device online right now, but regular users will have to wait until early 2025 to buy it at retail stores.