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People. This shit is blowing my mind!

My key new takeaways:

1) Nintendo/Mario Kart team has collaborated on item balance and hardware design. Apparently, this RC Kart has some cool tech inside.

2) It controls just like console Mario Karts, to the point of including steering assist mode for kids to stay on the created track?!

3) And drifting (with the associated speed boosts)?! Even if the Kart doesn't physically drift, it's an awesome inclusion. If it does, this is freaking incredible, and it just might, because...

4) Your physical cart reacts to the in-game action. We already knew about speed boosts and slowdown from getting hit by an item/obstacle. But the chain chomp item physically jerks your cart around! And the bullet bill item freaking auto-drives your car on your created track! Speaking of which...

5) The Track Editor seems crazy robust! I'm not sure about ramps and such, but it looks like you'll have tons of freedom in designing the course layout, including crossovers. The only physical items to place are the four gates and the two arrow boards. I can only hope that they add more AR track creation items or allow you to expand with other people's gates, especially because...

6) It supports four players!

7) You can race against freaking virtual previous time trial ghosts on your own courses!

8) Mirror Mode, the Magikoopa sections where your controls are reversed, and the different level motifs (will your kart somehow lose traction in icy environments?) really give me assurance that the developers are really trying to take this Augmented Reality concept as far as they can. The integration of reality and virtual reality doesn't feel superficial at all, and the game seems to be injecting so much variety into its simple, physically-constrained framework.

Really impressive stuff here. And it's such a low-key release, for some reason. I hope it takes off.

Yeah, this is yet another one of those things that I think looks amazing, but most people have already dismissed because it isn't a 3D action-adventure game. Like Labo!

I like cool tech! I wonder how sharp the turning is; will it work well in my apartment? I can always take it outside if not. It looks awesome though, is it up for pre-order anywhere?

Yeah this still looks super cool to me. No chance I ever get one, but I like the idea of it.

My biggest question is, how does the game react to you accidentally knocking over one (or more) of the gates?

@Secret_Tunnel
I dunno if it went up for pre-order. I couldn't find it on Best Buy, and it releases in two weeks.

As for turning radii, there are four speed classes, 50cc, 100cc, 150cc, and 200cc. The space requirements and turning radii are lower at slower speeds.

Apparently, they do NOT want you to take it outside, but that's probably a child safety thing.

@nate38
Not well, probably. But they DO advise you to put real obstacles on the track to interact with. Like a tower of blocks that you can knock over to 'block' the other car.

Another weird wrinkle is that you don't get penalized for leaving the track boundaries. You only need to clear all four gates (which is apparently the gate limit).

So you can put physical boundaries on the track to prevent that. I'm imagining some Rube Goldberg-thing where the track could have triggerable traps to block shortcuts. Like Rollcage or Split Second.

I'd like an option to slow down the car when it's "offroad", at least. Then you could make it a risk/reward thing. Maybe be able to use a mushroom to speed through, like in the real (fake) Mario Kart.

Also, bumps are okay, but jumps will apparently screw up the AR. Damn!

And carpet is supposedly okay, as long as it isn't shag.


It would just be too tacky.

Oh I just assumed that going "offroad" would slow you down, that's surprising. Seems like you could just ignore the track altogether and just beeline for the gates?

@nate38
Yup, the only penalty would be the potential punch in the arm or noogie.

Not these days, I guess.

It's out, right? Has anyone dropped the hundred to try it out?!

I was actually thinking... I might be able to convince my school to purchase this for the school? I got them to buy a Switch and Labo, this is also pretty cool tech so, maybe?! I think I will give it a shot, worst that can happen is they say no.

I've got both Mario and Luigi ordered, and should be delivered next week. Unfortunately, they won't be opened until Christmas Day, but my 2 boys are going to be happy! They are already asking me "Are we going to buy that?" any time we see a video/commercial for it.

I think exploration mode will be fun, just driving around the house and seeing things from a completely different perspective.

I randomly thought to myself a few days ago, "Huh, is that Mario Kart thing out?" So I googled it, saw it was up on Gamestop, ordered the Mario one, hit checkout, and... in the time it took me to fill in my billing info, it had sold out! What bizarre, coincidental timing!

@Secret_Tunnel Poor retail design there. Should automatically reserve it for the rest of the session.

Darn, the tech head rejected my idea! If this were a few years ago she would have said yes for sure, but I think the budget is tighter now and we also bought a ton of robots over the summer for the upcoming robotics class.

Going to hope I can get it through my club funds but that feels unlikely.

Not that it is in stock anywhere right now anyway.

I put in a pick-up order 25 miles away...

Still undecided.

Is it north? I'll go pick it up.

...maybe I'll even give it to you at some point.

This is the sort of thing I would be into as a kid, I could see it being a hit this holiday.

@Zero
Nope, even further South!

There is stuff further south?

That isn't like... corn?

@Zero
Soybeans, too.


Illinois is the number one producer of soybeans.

AWWWW YEAH the activities director guy said I could get it through club funds.

Now the problem is finding it in stock. And not just finding it in stock, but finding it in stock long enough that I can message him and he can purchase it. He is slowwwww to do things sometimes.

Merry Christmas!

My kids and I got this from Santa this year. It's a lot of fun! Just driving the thing around the house is a joy, as it controls surprisingly closely to a real Mario Kart game and it's always a hoot to see others onscreen through the camera--especially dogs and babies. The single-player is a bit more robust than I expected as well. I wish the tracking was slightly longer-range (it's about 30 feet unobstructed) so there are moments where it gets pretty jittery, but the concept is so cool that it makes up for the little niggles. Already I'd say it's one of Nintendo's better games this year. A must-own if you have kids that like games or RC cars.

I think this might actually be my favorite thing Nintendo has put out this year. Is that insane? I always have a soft spot for these quirky toy-like games that can liven up a room full of non-gamers (Wii Sports and NintendoLand come to mind).