Alarmo: first review and first look at Nintendo’s musical alarm clock – Big N is watching you – Nintendo Switch

Sunday 13th October 2024 03:12 PM

Barely announced, it is already here. Nintendo’s Musical Alarm Clock: Alarmo is now on sale on the MY NINTENDO STORE for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, and we’ve already received ours! The opportunity to take a look at this “little” awakening which seems to be a reminiscence of the famous Quality of Life project, launched by Satoru Iwata in 2014 before being, a priori, abandoned a few years later.

BIG N IS WATCHING YOU

However, if we refer to certain patents, Nintendo never really gave up on the idea of ”watch over“on our sleep, not to say on our available brain time, at night (because it is well known, it is beautiful to have free brain time, at night).

Nintendo’s musical awakening: Alarmo is a small alarm clock with a color screen broadcasting images, sounds and music from different games, so you can find yourself immersed, as soon as you wake up, in the Nintendoverse. Alarm also has sensors that “monitor” us, allowing us to adapt and stop the alarm ringing depending on our movements. The idea is to force us to get up (the alarm clock stops if we get up, unless we choose a classic configuration).

If in the images, the alarm clock looks rather small, when you first see it, you are surprised by its size because in fact its “back” is rather wide. However, the object is really pretty, with an elegant design and a dominant color reminiscent of the neon red of the Joy Con. The screen is very clear (with the possibility of adjusting its brightness) allowing you to fully appreciate the different animations.

“Open the games”

There are currently 5 universes taken from 5 games (Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda BOTW, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4 et Ring Fit Adventures) knowing that each game has 7 different ringtones (for a total of 35). It’s rather diverse knowing that other universes may soon be downloaded (like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe et Animal Crossing : New Horizons).

Configuring the device is very simple (but a little laborious when it comes to entering a very long password to connect the alarm clock to Wi-Fi). The screen is not touchscreen and you navigate through the menus using the large wheel which also serves as a button to stop the ringtone (if you wish). There is also a back button and a mail button that can be used.

In Mario’s Arms

When configuring, you must specify where the alarm clock is placed in relation to the headboard. the alarm clock must be fairly close to the face (you cannot put it at the end of the bed) and after a few small tests, the alarm clock is ready to work. We can only program one alarm clock (and not ten like yours truly does on his cell phone) but the alarm clock can continue to try to wake us up if we resist.

Note thatAlarm is not supplied with a power supply but simply with a USB-C/USB cable which can, for example, be connected to a USB output on the Switch dock.

At the moment, it is difficult to say whether the system is relevant but once we find the right place, it seems to work quite well. To be honest, at this stage, the main fault ofAlarm For the moment, in our opinion, its price remains.

Sold to 99,99€it’s a bit expensive to wake up… While waiting for a more in-depth test and the opinion of other members of the editorial staff, we invite you to take a look at our first images of the “thing”

As always, don’t hesitate to tell us what you think in the comments.

For the record, find below the different subscription formulas of the Nintendo Switch Online :

Individual Subscription (for a single account)

Family Subscription (up to 8 accounts)

Find all the information, prices and benefits of Nintendo Switch Online on the official website