Well, everybody was hoping for a hardware announcement from Nintendo in October after they skipped their annual September Direct, but this piece of hardware is probably not what we were all expecting.
The Nintendo sound clock device, dubbed Alarmo, was announced late yesterday afternoon as it launched into limited American stores and online in limited countries, and it is exactly what it says in the name: an alarm clock.
The Nintendo Alarmo has a few other features that might entice users to buy it besides the annoyingly high-pitched point-scoring sounds it makes as you slowly rise from your bed. It has an hourly ping, letting you know when every hour hits. It has a sleep-time function which plays sleepy, Nintendo-themed music to help you drift off to sleep; and, probably most exciting, is the sleep tracking function.
The developers behind the Nintendo Alarmo said they were busy working on updated motion-tracking features that don’t require a camera for “other hardware”. Then, they decided to use this advanced tracking for more than just gaming. Thus, the birth of the Alarmo.
The alarm clock uses this updated motion tracking to monitor how much you move in your sleep and awards users for waking up and actually getting out of bed when the alarm sounds.
It sounds like a novelty gift for the time being, with an alarmingly high cost of $100, but this device has smart features that could later be updated into something a little more useful.
For now, only Nintendo Switch Online members will have access to purchase the clock, but in the middle of January 2025, the Nintendo Alarmo should hit all retail stores for the general population to pick up as well.
What do you think of Nintendo’s new sound clock device? Let us know in the comments below.