Nintendo’s new hardware announcement isn’t the Switch 2. It’s an alarm clock

By Carli Velocci Published October 9, 2024

Nintendo dropped an unexpected announcement on Wednesday — and no, it’s not the one we’ve been waiting for. In the vein of novelty gadgets like the Labo VR headset, the company will release an alarm clock that can track your sleep and tell when you’re still in bed.

The Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo will cost $100 when it releases in early 2025, although Nintendo Switch Online members can preorder it now, but just in the U.S. and Canada. It seems it’ll be available at some standard retailers, although like other oddball Nintendo creations, it’ll probably be in limited supply.

The Alarmo is extremely on brand for Nintendo. It’s round and bright red with a big white button that evokes characters like Mario. But beyond just looking like a Nintendo-branded clock, it has a motion sensor that Nintendo says can tell when you’re in bed and when you’re up and walking around. So instead of hitting that snooze button to quiet the noise, it’ll only stop once you get out of bed (although there is a classic mode where you can just hit the button at the top). There’s also a mode where the noise will steadily get louder the longer you stay in bed if you need that extra boost of motivation in the morning.

The sensors can also detect smaller movements, so it can give you a more detailed report, called a “Record,” about how much you move in your sleep.

In an Ask the Developer interview, Alarmo producer Yosuke Tamori said the project began with technology Nintendo already had researched but was looking for a home for.

“As this sensor maintains privacy since it doesn’t use a camera, we had an idea for how it could be highly suitable for use in the bedroom,” Tamori said.

While it took a bit for the technology to be advanced enough to detect a person’s smaller movements while in bed, the programmers eventually figured out how to detect when a person is in bed, which is how the alarm clock idea was born.

The interview series also has a post that shows off some prototypes. There’s one that looks like a boxy Amazon Echo, while another looks like a big blue watch face. The leads on the team also discussed older ideas, such as using hand gestures, although Tamori said they “nipped that in the bud.”

Of course, because it’s a Nintendo product, you’ll be able to customize it with 35 “scenes” and music from Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4, and, of all things, Ring Fit Adventure.