Set your Alamro and Wake up with Mario and friends
Nintendo has announced one of the most Nintendo products I’ve ever seen. Alarmo is here and ready to wake you with songs and sound effects from your favorite Nintendo games. 
What games will you be waking up with?
Alarmo comes loaded with 35 scenes from five Nintendo titles:
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Splatoon 3
- Pikmin 4
- Ring Fit Adventure
More titles will be available for free if you link your Nintendo account. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing were teased during the trailer.
“In the morning you’ll experience immersive sounds and music from the scene you picked. Rise to sounds of the Mushroom Kingdom with Mario and friends, begin your day’s adventure with Link and Princess Zelda, or start fresh with the Inklings from Splatoon 3. And those are just some of the experiences you can wake up to!”
How does Alarmo Work?
If you are a solo sleeper you can use the motion sensor on Alarmo to track your movements while you sleep. The motion sensor will also know when you get out of bed and that will stop the alarm. You can change between the Steady and Gentle Modes for the morning alarm. Steady Mode will get more intense the longer you stay in bed. Gentle Mode will offer a more consistent intensity level till you rise from your slumber. If you share a bed with someone then Nintendo recommends using Alarmo in Button Mode where you can hit the snooze button. Alarmo not only wakes you but will help you fall asleep with sleepy sounds. I am not sure what kind of sleepy sounds Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will offer but I am here for it. Animal Crossing sleepy sounds will be a no-brainer especially if they opt for the acoustic guitar songs pre-town square. Add the sound of the wind in the trees and waves crashing on the beach and you will be heading to dreamland in no time.
Iwata’s legacy lives on with Alarmo
Almost ten years ago Satoru Iwata hinted at Nintendo’s first Quality of Life product. Pointing to the development of “non-wearable technology” focused on health that “is not necessarily something you will use in the living room.”
“Inside the QOL Sensor is a non-contact radio frequency sensor, which measures such things as the movements of your body, breathing and heartbeat, all without physically touching your body. This automatically gathered data will be transmitted to the QOL cloud servers, which will then analyze the data measured by the sensor and visually represent sleep and fatigue results.”
That October, Satoru Iwata revealed Nintendo’s first Quality of Life product, which it intended to launch in 2016. The product was a non-wearable sleep sensor intended to be placed on a bedside table exactly what Alarmo is.
Why I love Alarmo
When Nintendo is launching off-the-wall products it shows it feels very Nintendo. They have a history of toys and devices that aren’t gaming but are still fun. We know they haven’t forgotten the past when we see these items in games like Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. They are also on display at the Nintendo Museum.
- Ultra Hand (1966) An extendable hand developed by legendary game designer Gunpei Yokoi. It was the first true success story for Nintendo in the toys department. This toy can be seen in Animal Crossing New Leaf and received its own game on WiiWare game Grill Off With Ultra Hand.
- Ultra Machine (1967) A very popular baseball-tossing machine created by Gunpei Yokoi. This product has also been sighted in the United States and Australia under the name Slugger Mate.
- Love Tester (1969) A Gunpei Yokoi-developed product that was built to see whether a couple is made for each other. Though the product obviously can’t calculate the love between two people, it was immensely popular nonetheless. Find Love Tester in Animal Crossing New Leaf.
As you can see these types of products are in Nintendo’s DNA so Alarmo doesn’t come as a surprise to me. I will pick one up and display it and possibly let the sleepy time music play while I write or work. I listen to chill Nintendo music often. The look of Alarmo makes me think it fell right off The Odyssey. It does feel like there’s a bit of legacy built into Alarmo as it keeps Iwata’s vision alive, and I love that.
The price tag of $99 may be a bit steep for some but it did sell out in Japan the first day. Is this a purchase for you? Do you like seeing Nintendo create products like this? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
