On the Design of the Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo Prototype and its Physical Effects on a Motion Sensor for the Bedroom in the Nintendo Studio

Those two prototypes are not as recognizable as an alarm clock, but Akama explained why the team chose the traditional alarm clock shape to make the final product.

However, “the second prototype was difficult for left-handed people to use because the dial was on the right,” Tamori says. “Also, we wanted it to be stable even without the base part, so eventually, we placed all the controls on the top.”

Of all the hardware announcements we might have been expecting next from Nintendo, a new alarm clock was not one of them. The Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo will be available to purchase on the Nintendo Store later this week.

The full interview, which is broken out into four separate parts, includes a ton of other interesting details about the Alarmo, including why the team went with the color red, didn’t go with gesture controls (somewhere, a Google employee is shedding a tear), and didn’t add any game elements to the clock.

The research motion sensor technology was one of the in-house projects. We decided to embark on a project to see what we could do with the sensor since we had an idea for how it would work in the bedroom.

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The top dial lights up in a range of colors; you’ll see quite a few within the first few minutes of using Alarmo. There’s more to Alarmo than the core alarm function and sleep sounds that you can doze off to. If you subscribe to the Nintendo Switch Online service, you’ll get to play new sounds that can be downloaded to the clock. (When you access this menu, a prompt advises younger users to seek out a parent or guardian.)

It was a joint project between the two businesses, which were looking to support people during their sleep.

Is this thing so expensive because of what it is? Certainly. But for its demographic, it’s very cute, and there are small, thoughtful Nintendo touches throughout the experience — and I’ve barely dug in.

You have the buttons on top of your head. The large dial can be turned to navigate menus and pressed to make selections. There’s a back button to the left and a notifications button to the right. I have barely used the clock, so presumably, this is where you will be notified about your sleep metrics. Mario is not supposed to warn you about snoring or sleep problems; there is no serious health monitoring or anything like that.

The display is not a touchscreen, nor is it round. Nintendo has a promotional video that exaggerates its size. It does automatically adjust brightness based on ambient lighting. You can make the clock screen change depending on the alarm you choose. The character onscreen will move from left to right if you are within range of the motion sensors.

How to Pick Up a Plastic Alarm Clock: The Alarmo Store in Rockefeller Center, N.Y. (courtesy of Andrew Webster)

I wanted to look at Alarmo, even though Andrew Webster will review it for me. Mostly, I was curious about the audio quality. If the speaker in this small clock is loud, that will ruin the concept for me.

Look, I’m a sucker for instant gratification. It’s often one of my favorite things about living in New York City. When the alarmo clock store opened in Rockefeller Center hours after Nintendo announced it, I walked in and picked it up. Did I feel a little iffy about paying $108.91 after tax for a plastic alarm clock? You bet. But fortunately, in my field, this counts as a work expense. (Technically, this product is called Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo — but no one is ever going to refer to it that way. It’s Alarmo.)