I feel like I have had this discussion one hundred times over the last decade. Seriously, it's deja vu over and over again. The difference between NES-Gamecube was that their gimmicks were in the background. They didn't try to stick them into the forefront. Labo has been pushed and pimped out over the internet and in the Switch "news" section nonstop. Seriously. That's all Nintendo has been fucking talking about. 

Between the two of us, only one (me) has been there since the start. You weren't even in kindergarten when the N64 launched. That is not an insult, after all, we can't help when we were born but it does (and should) make you pause for a second to think about things from a different perspective. I was in third grade when I got my NES, which was... I think 1988. I saw all of this from the beginning and I can tell you that the Nintendo of that era was different... vastly so. 

I think the Switch is as close to that spirit as we've gotten since the Wii came along and made our grandparents waggle around the living room like fucking idiots. It has the capability and the marketing to pull it off. But if Nintendo keeps up this Labo type stuff, that will all be for naught. The reason the Switch is selling so well is because of CORE games like BOTW. It's not because of cardboard and casuals. 

I love how some gamers call for Nintendo to drive in a straight line and not veer off the beaten path. Nintendo has innovated since the beginning, it's part of their DNA. Not everything has been a runaway smash, but at times they've succeeded at introducing new ways to play video games. The whining about Labo being cardboard is getting old. Not sure if people feel as though Nintendo should've shipped fiberglass, stainless steel, hard plastic etc; with Labo instead of cardboard...

I also find the narrative of Labo software being low rent trash amusing as well. Just from watching various videos of users playing Labo, there are several intricate pieces included in things such as the robot, piano, fishing rod that interact withthe joycons and software. Some time and thought went into this, Nintendo didn't just pull Labo out of their ass and say "here you go, here's some $80 broken down shipping boxes to play with".

The impression I got so far (from reading Labo reviews, not from personal experience) is that the best part about Labo is building the Toy-Cons. It was often compared to building IKEA furniture, but actual fun, and most said that they really enjoyed the time building the Toy-Cons with their children.

The general consensus was that one typically spends 1-2 hours building a Toy-Con, but less time afterwards playing the mini-games, for these were usually said to be rather shallow and to not offer much replay value.
Apparently, Labo is mostly an experience about building paper models; once one has finishing the building process, there's little incentive to spend much more time with it.

So your review seems to be quite in line with the other reviews I've read, only your overall verdict seems a little more negative.

How much innovation do you need? Whenever I play a new 3D Mario or Zelda I always go "Wow, that's awesome. Never seen that before. What a clever way to use that mechanic" etc... They have lots of unique ideas and innovation. Games like Labo and 1 2 Switch are one trick ponies. I mean where is the next Wii Sports? The Next Nintendogs? The next Wii Fit? The next Brain Age? People don't give a shit about them anymore. What do they give a shit about? Traditional games like Mario and Zelda.

Thing is, they're still making Mario and Zelda...things like Labo will not prevent them from doing so. Nothing wrong with coming out with something quirky to POSSIBLY pique potential customers interest. It's what they did the with the Wii and it printed money for years, DS as well. Heck, Switch is pretty quirky in its own right and doing extremely well and loved by gamers. Nintendo is going to do them, that's what they do and they won't ever apologize for it. 

Yeah, I'm sure Labo and 1 2 Switch are just as big of a reason to why the Switch is a beloved console as Mario Odyssey and BOTW...

They can still make games like Mario, Zelda and a few others, but because of these non games we wont see a new big IP like them. 

Just imagine if Nintendo only focused on making games for gamers. Every year would be like 2017. I get excited just thinking about it. But instead we`ll get a 2017 like year maybe every 10 years if we are very lucky and some kinda big years every now and then in between. Its just a bit frustrating when imagining what could have been. 

Never said Labo or 1-2 Switch are the reason Switch is loved by gamers, so moot.

Rumor has it Zelda was over 100 million in development costs, we also know it took 5-6 years to develop. You're not getting BOTW or Odyssey every 1-2 years. Nothing wrong with them filling in the gaps with software that use the hardware in different ways. Just because it doesn't appeal to YOU doesn't mean they shouldn't do it. 

Doesn't have to be Zelda or Mario every year. I'm sure if they tried they could come up with great new IPs. They don't need to be 100 million dollar games either. Lots of games from Nintendo doesn't appeal to me. Splatoon, Kirby, Fire Emblem, Yoshi, Animal Crossing, Smash Bros, Mario Sports etc... Not really complaining about those. 

There is a saying that goes something like this: "If you keep trying to please everyone, you`ll end up pleasing no one" Not sure if that's exactly how it goes, but you get the point. While Nintendo goes on these Labo and 1 2 Switch adventures, less core gamers feel the system is worth it for them. If third party support was really strong, then this would be less of a problem.

What does Labo really do for Nintendo? Get a few parents to buy it for their 5 year olds that don't have money to buy games for themselves and maybe get a few per year? Not really the greatest demographic to sacrifice the gamers who buy your real games to imo. 

If Nintendo had made the apps included worth using for 10s of hours then surely that would be to the detriment of the light duty cardboard used? The cardboard would wear out quickly and people would complain they couldn't use the apps anymore.  I suspect the apps were designed to be a short lived experience for that reason. They could have used corrugated plastic card instead of normal cardboard in order to make a more long life product but they didn't. If they continue with this concept perhaps that will be a future revision of the product.

If you like the concept why not just make something out of cardboard yourself. Come up with a design and then build it with scrap cardboard. A lot cheaper and a lot more satisfying I would of thought. There is plenty of inspiration on the web. It will then be your own creation. Better still making something that can be used with wood or metal. 

But... that's how many Nintendo fans started to play videogames. With just a console and maybe one game for each birthday/christmas. And that is if you're lucky. I only had like three games for my N64 that I had to replay over and over again. And two of those were Pokémon games xD

What I'm trying to say is... Labo does what other Nintendo software has done since they started making games. Make the kids playing their console, and eventually, they will come back for more. We, the ones who have been here since NES/SNES/N64, etc... we're not gonna be buying games forever. We will eventually play less, and less... until we're not even a factor for Nintendo. They need to keep their demographics growing and young... and Labo is just the next new thing that THEY THINK (because until christmas I'm not sure how well this thing will sell) will do that. Can they do it with Mario? Can they do it with DK? Kirby? All I know is when I was a kid I had far more toys than videogames. The difference was abysmal. And not only cheap toys, also expensive ones. So... is not that hard to understand why Labo seems such a great idea for Nintendo.