Sound the alarm – Nintendo has announced new hardware this year after all

Nintendo has announced new hardware at last! However, it's not exactly what we expected. In fact, it's not exactly anything Nintendo has ever done before.

Instead of the Nintendo Switch 2, which is still likely coming next spring, the company has unveiled its first... alarm clock.

Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo – Wake up to a world of games! - YouTube

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More than just a clock, the Nintendo Alarmo (yeah, we know) is interactive and comes with its own front-facing display. This allows for different themes to be chosen, based on popular Nintendo games.

Sounds and graphics based on Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4 and, weirdly, Ring Fit Adventures come preinstalled, while others, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are coming after launch as free updates.

As well as sound an alarm to wake you in the morning, sensors can tell when you are moving, even when lying down, and the clock will sound game effects in time with your motion. Plus, Alarmo can track your sleep patterns and give you some simple statistics, such as the time you've spent in bed, how much you tossed and turned, and how long it took you to get up.

Sleepy sounds can also be activated to help you get to sleep at night, while an hourly chime function will make every 60 minutes with some Nintendo character tomfoolery.

The Nintendo Alarmo will be available later this week from the My Nintendo Store. We're still awaiting prices and the exact date.

It might not be the hardware announcement we were all expecting – although we were forewarned something was coming via an FCC listing for a mysterious device that appeared a couple of weeks ago. However, you'd have to really hate Mario and the gang not to find Alarmo intriguing.

I'm not sure I really want to wake up next to a small, rotund plumber each day, but at least it'd make a difference to Alexa.