NerdBeach

Nintendo Labo Is A Welcome Kind Of Bizarre

The Nintendo Switch had already eclipsed the Wii U in sales, and its momentum appears to be building. The flexible design is probably its greatest feature, and it can switch (pardon the pun) from a handheld and mobile game system to a full console in moments. This makes the Switch a device one that you can really get your hands on. And now Nintendo is taking that to the next level with the Nintendo Labo.

Nintendo Labo Piano
Nintendo

What is Nintendo Labo? Basically, it is a cardboard project kit that allows the user to create gaming accessories for the Nintendo Switch. By clever use of the device’s Joycon controllers, the cardboard creations can come to life while feeding an app playing on the console.  The Joycon controller’s ability to sense movement and position is used in clever and creative ways in the cardboard kits, allowing imagination to soar.

Suddenly the Switch becomes a piano or a motorcycle, complete with handlebars, thanks to Nintendo Labo. The build instructions play right on the switch itself, and kits of varying complexity enable imagination to go into hyperdrive. The goal here is to extend the play into the physical world, and perhaps even get the user thinking about other possibilities. Currently, there are two kits planned, the Variety Kit and the Robot Kit.

The Variety Kit looks amazing, with such items to construct as a working piano, a fishing pole, motorcycle handle controller, and more. The Robot Kit, which looks more involved to construct, is a backpack unit that you build that allows you to control a robot using your arms.

I love the idea that the young user can get their hands on a project and really build something tangible. I would love to see more projects come out like this for other platforms, but Nintendo has really impressed me with approaching it now. The kits will start appearing at your local retailer starting in April.

The Halloween Asteroid Is Coming Back

Do you remember or know about the freakish Halloween Asteroid that did an Earth flyby on Halloween three years ago? Well, we’ve got some good news, if you like that kind of thing – it’s coming back. And it’s going to be just as ugly this time around.

Halloween Asteroid
Artist’s illustration. Credit: J. A. Peñas/SINC

Asteroid 2015 TB145, otherwise known as the Halloween Asteroid both for its first appearance and creepy visuals, streaked by the Earth on Halloween 2015, coming only 300,000 miles of our planet. This put it almost as close as our own moon, which in astronomical terms is a close shave (okay, that’s not really an astronomical term, but it was close).

Extinct Comet

Researchers now believe that the Halloween Asteroid is really an extinct comet that has lost its fiery interactions and now is mostly a black mass (which does nothing to make it seem any friendlier). The asteroid laps around our Sun once every 3.04 Earth years, making mid-November 2018 its next appearance date. This probably means that it will miss the Halloween celebrations this time around, but its ghoulish visage (all 2,100 feet of it) will be showing in the sky for everyone to enjoy.

Halloween Asteroid
Credit: NAIC-Arecibo/NSF

The skull face may have to be timed since the asteroid rotates once every 2.94 hours, and its black surface only reflects roughly 5 percent of the light that hits it.  The Halloween Asteroid won’t be as neighborly this time either since it is expected to be at a greater distance from the Earth. Researchers are still looking forward to its approach since it will be a good chance to obtain new data. This data could help improve our knowledge of not only this spooky asteroid but also other masses that come close to our planet.

Yes, this time around there won’t be a close shave from a large asteroid that looks like a skull face. I’m okay with that.

Tesla Roadster Preps For Mars Trip

It looks like Elon Musk is following through with his plans to launch his personal Tesla Roadster into a Mars orbit. At first, it was thought that the claim was merely a lot of grandstanding, but now we have pictures of Musk’s beloved red roadster being prepped for its trip into infamy as it arrived in Florida for the launch.

The vehicle payload will be used to test the new SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which utilizes two additional Falcon 9 first stages as well as other multiple stages. As to how Elon Musk feels about launching his car into space, he states,

I love the thought of a car drifting apparently endlessly through space and perhaps being discovered by an alien race millions of years in the future.

Could First Contact be done through a bright red Tesla Roadster? Well, I can think of worse ways to make a first impression on an alien species. And you know that some future episode of Star Trek is going to find the interstellar Tesla, only by then it will be artificially enhanced by an advanced robotic race. Or maybe it will be the Borg that finds it, and soon everyone will be assimilated by bright red robotic Tesla Roadsters.  Resistance (and gas) is futile!

Either way, this sounds like a Heavy Metal cartoon that has come to life, and I can’t help but feel downright giddy at the idea of such a thing actually happening. Here’s hoping that everything works as expected and the Telsa Roadster is launched into space and beyond.

Netflix’s Erased Is Entertaining Live Manga

Another month, another binging of a time-traveling series on Netflix. Last time we checked out the German made adventure Dark. This round we look at Netflix’s Erased,  an original time-traveling series which finds its roots in Japanese Manga.

Netflix’s Erased Is Based On Manga

The show is based on the manga series Boku dake ga Inai Machi , which was published from 2012 to 2016. At that point, it was made into an Anime series, and now for 2017, we have the live-action version on Netflix. The big question, though, is it binge-worthy? Let’s take a look, and we promise to be as careful as possible to not reveal any important spoilers.

Time Travel Plot

Netflix's Erased
Poster Image Netflix

The series is basically about a young man that has episodes, he calls them “revivals”, where he goes back in time a few minutes. It happens randomly and rarely, but when it does our main character, Satoru, usually finds something that needs to be corrected or fixed. Once he does this time resumes again, and all is good. We are not privy to his previous revival experiences, but we are told that they happen.

Netflix's Erased
Image Netflix

We soon find that a revival leads Satoru down a path that leads into big trouble for him and others. A new revival then happens, leading him back into his past farther than he has ever travelled in the past. During his time in the past, which he lives through a younger version of himself with all of his memory intact, Satoru discovers that the real problem with the future stems from this time. Our hero goes about trying to save those around him that are impacted by an unknown nemesis. Things don’t always work out as planned, but our hero is determined. And so our story unfolds.

Limited Special Effects

The show doesn’t spend a lot of time on CGI or special effects, and it doesn’t need to – the only time effects are used is to show a revival taking place. Instead, the story is very character driven, with the interactions between Satoru and others taking precedence over time travel itself. The end result is a story that is very much a look at a less than perfect hero that (hopefully) triumphs over a faceless enemy.

Image Netflix

The story seems like it is wrapped up midway through the series, but it is actually just getting started. There are a few twists and turns that you don’t want to miss if you have invested the time to make it this far. I found the character of Satoru to be a very likable one, and watching Erased invoked a sense of understanding with the character, limited as he is as a student in school.

No English Dubbed Version

The show is presented in the original language with only subtitles for English viewers. While we have spoken about the convenience of dubbed foreign media before, Erased will require your full reading attention in order to experience it if you don’t speak the language. But a lot of the story relies on facial expressions and other such visual mechanisms, so giving it your full attention is worth it if you enjoy the story.

Is Netflix’s Erased binge-worthy? I do think it is, but not everyone will like the slower pace. If you are not enjoying it by the second episode, you probably should stop there before spending any more of your time. But I think that most people will find the show a treat, and if you like time travel stories that are soft on the time travel aspects I certainly recommend giving Erased a try.