Nintendo announces an alarm clock

Nintendo announces new hardware - but it's not the long-awaited Switch 2. No, instead the Japanese company is presenting a... Alarm clock? Nintendo's interactive bedside clock goes by the name of "Alarmo" and is designed to help you get out of bed more easily in the morning.

Get up with Nintendo sounds

Instead of generic and annoying alarm sounds, Alarmo features annoying alarm sounds from Nintendo games. The trailer for see features an alarm from "Super Mario Odyssey", in which melodies from the game and sound effects from collected coins are played. Also presented is an alarm from "Splatoon 3", in which fire volleys from weapons can be heard alongside music.

Control with motion sensor

The alarm clock has a motion sensor. To switch off the alarm, you don't have to touch the clock, just get out of bed. The alarm clock also reacts to your movements in bed and plays sound effects more intensively the more you move. In "Super Mario Odyssey", the coins jingle more and more frequently and in "Splatoon 3", the more you move, the more intense the shooting becomes. If you ignore the alarm clock and stay in bed, the alarm becomes more intense, louder and more annoying.

The motion sensor is also used to track your movements while you sleep. When you get up, you can view statistics on the alarm clock to see how well you slept and how much you moved during the night.

Confirmed games and availability

So far, Nintendo has announced alarms from five games: "Super Mario Odyssey", "Pikmin 4", "Splatoon 3", "Ring Fit Adventure" and "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild". There are seven different "scenes" for each of the games, which will wake you up in different ways. If you connect the alarm clock to the internet, you will receive further free updates. So far, Nintendo has confirmed alarms from "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" and "Animal Crossing".

That's all well and good, but I'd like an extra annoying alarm with a sat nav from "Ocarina of Time" that pulls me out of a deep sleep with hundreds of "Hey, Listen!"

But that's not all - Alarmo has even more sounds in store. The alarm clock offers a selection of relaxing sounds and melodies from Nintendo games that you can play to help you fall asleep. The alarm clock also has the option of chiming every hour - including a cool animation on the screen.

Alarmo is only available to subscribers of the "Nintendo Switch Online" plan until mid-January 2025.

Update 10.10.

Nintendo has published an extensive interview with the development team. In it, you can find out more about the background, prototypes and the technology used in Alarmo.