Can't install node dependencies because of incompatible versions

[jostsg]

When on Node v0.12.3 I get:

npm ERR! notsup Not compatible with your version of node/npm: request@2.78.0
npm ERR! notsup Required: {"node":">= 4"}
npm ERR! notsup Actual:   {"npm":"2.9.1","node":"0.12.3"}

And when on Node v6.9.1 I get:

npm ERR! notsup Not compatible with your version of node/npm: launchpad@0.4.9
npm ERR! notsup Required: {"node":"^0.12"}
npm ERR! notsup Actual:   {"npm":"3.10.8","node":"6.9.1"}

I tried finding a version of request that didn't require Node 4 (request@2.76.0 seems to be the last version) but some module requires 2.78.0 explicitly.

Any advice how to solve this? Or is there anything else like it for Polymer components?