A tricky Alarmo appears at first a simple task. When my 7am alarm went off for the first time, I didn’t get out of bed and start my day. Instead, I waved my hand in front of the watch’s sensors until the ink from Nintendo appeared. Splatoon 3 stop making scary noises, like gunshots. Alarmo had been disarmed. I fell asleep again.
Unfortunately for me, red-eyed from exhaustion, Alarmo is no match for the clock on my phone. A few minutes later, it woke me up again, this time more aggressively with loud noises. “If you don’t move, the alarm will start again,” threatened its screen. I checked my arm. We repeated this process several times, until I agreed.
Announced earlier this month, the Alarmo is a new piece of hardware that no one expected: a $100 watch with themes from beloved Nintendo properties like Legend of Zelda, Pikmin, Splatoonand of course Mario. (Surprisingly, Ring Fit Adventure revolves around the first offerings of the watch, over physical properties such as Pokemon, Kirbyor even Animal Crossing. I’ve never played a Nintendo Fit game in my life, so I skipped this theme entirely. Scary looking characters!)
It’s the size of a palm, a red Mario device with a big white button and a toy-like texture reminiscent of the Fisher Price kitchen sets I used to play with as a kid. It looks ridiculous on my nightstand next to my overpriced candles, quilt covers, and an Urban Outfitters salt lamp. It evokes a deep, chilling sense of nostalgia that the most neglected part of my brain believes that Nintendo has succeeded with lab-like precision.
You may be asking yourself the same question I, a 35-year-old woman with 401K and credit card debt, did when Nintendo sent me a free Alarmo to try: Do I really need this?
The Personality Machine
In 2024, when you can use your phone as both a free alarm and a sound machine with very little effort, having an alarm clock almost feels like a vigilante act. It’s an option to go out and buy a portable device whose sole purpose is to wake you up early for meetings, school, or that 6am fitness class you’ve been trying to make.
Nintendo isn’t breaking the mold by giving you a watch that includes motion sensors or sound effects. It sells you on the strength of its characters. It sells you humanity.
At launch, Alarmo only had five themes to choose from, but Nintendo has promised more in the way of free updates—as long as you’re connected to the Internet and have a Nintendo account.
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