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[jacksepticeye]

It bothered me at first, so I turned it off. Simple.

I love the fact that it exists though so more people who have more difficulty playing games like this have a crutch that lets them still have lots of fun. More accessibility features are always a good thing especially since it's optional and not forced

 

[Jim Sterling]

yeah i got your point in 30 seconds jim, no need to stretch this to 20 minutes.

At thirty seconds, I just finished drinking from a glass of wine.

While not the *point* of the video, it's definitely a theme, so you get points for recognizing that much.

 

[Jonnax]

Mario Kart 8D is my first Kart game since GC. It's hard. 150cc is a challenge and I think I'm alright at games.

Smart steering is certainly welcome for newbies.

 

[disco]

Where is Jim from in the UK? I can't quite pinpoint his accent.

 

[VariantX]

Just seems like smart steering just lets you stay on the road in clear exchange for being competitive. No problem with this it's completely harmless considering you have far worse things to worry about like bullet bills and blue shells.

 

[Data West]

You mean you don't just tell your preschooler to Git Gud Scrub?

thats what my older brothers told me

and i did

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

thats what my older brothers told me

and i did

Newsflash mark: The brass ring is imaginary.

 

[Hellers]

Where is Jim from in the UK? I can't quite pinpoint his accent.

There's a factory in Doncaster that makes Kissboys and exports them.

 

[Accoun]

Wasn't it for years in WipEout already? Maybe not done as well, but still. Did people in general freak out?

 

[Gator86]

But guys, how will our children learn how to play the game, or learn how to do anything in life if they don't have to learn how to steer properly in Mario Kart?

Research has shown that children who git gud achieve more later in life and have higher earnings. Kids who use easy mode wind up addicted to drugs and commit crimes at higher rates. Everyone knows this.

 

[Cleve]

I feel like we've had a few threads recently with the mentality that people should feel bad for not playing games at their hardest, and it's BS.

Accessibility is fantastic. People making it seem like something is being taken away from them by it existing are just being petty. If anything, smart steering is a flat out worse option for higher level play.

 

[Diprosalic]

At thirty seconds, I just finished drinking from a glass of wine.

While not the *point* of the video, it's definitely a theme, so you get points for recognizing that much.

since your not getting ad money and thus don't have to stretch videos to get more ad plays you should make them a bit tighter.
well, i guess repeating yourself 12 times was intentional so everybody got it. even a toddler. the smart steering of youtube videos.

i see it now, very meta, very clever.

 

[RichiRamjag]

People against smart steering obviously do not have kids

I have a son and I just taught him how to play early on. I'm not against smart steering for those who need it though. It's not like it's a highly skilled esport.

 

[EnlightenedMint]

That pinned comment is great lol

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

I think things like this are great.

If you don't want to use it, don't use it, but this is the potential difference between a young kid being able to enjoy a game with their older brother or sister or parents and having to watch or pretending to control.

That's before we even get to the people who need things like this for accessibility reasons.

 

[RoadHazard]

Smart steering is fine. Great even, to let young/terrible players enjoy the game. It's not gonna let those people win against good players.

What I DON'T like about it is that it's enabled by default and doesn't tell you it is. It's completely invisible, unless you already know where to look. They should have some sort of info prompt about it the first time you launch the game.

 

[NormalFish]

since your not getting ad money and thus don't have to stretch videos to get more ad plays you should make them a bit tighter.
well, i guess repeating yourself 12 times was intentional so everybody got it, even a toddler. basically the smart steering of youtube videos.

i see it now, very clever.

Jimquisition is designed to be entertaining. Shocking I know. 20 second videos? Not that entertaining.

 

[EGM1966]

Wasn't it for years in WipEout already? Maybe not done as well, but still. Did people in general freak out?

PS3 wWpeout titles had it for sure - can't remember beyond that. There wasn't much grumbling IIRC. It basically enabled you to do okay but you could never excel to max with the steering assist although it definitely made the game more accessible.

Seems fine to me as implemented in MK8.

Perhaps people are just worried if this kind of accessibility gets a lot of praise Souls games will get an easy mode and it'll be the end of gaming civilization as we know it with any old clumsy peasant able to play any game to a certain level.

 

[PulseONE]

Excellent video this week, I can never understand why people have a problem with making a game more accessible for others, ESPECIALLY when its optional

 

[Jim Sterling]

since your not getting ad money and thus don't have to stretch videos to get more ad plays you should make them a bit tighter.

Since you could boil almost any video's main argument down to a sentence, "I got the point" doesn't really hold up as a criticism.

Now, if you want to actually discuss how you feel the videos are not truncated enough for fluidity of viewing - something I actually am a big proponent of - I'd love to hear what you have to say. As I say, I'm a proponent of directorial flow so if there are narrative drawstrings I need to pull, by all means tell me.

EDIT: Oh, you went back in an added a load of sarcasm. Well here I thought we were gonna accomplish such good things as creative partners.

EDIT 2: Just had to note the irony of someone telling me not to belabor the point editing their post to add unnecessary text.

 

[RomanceDawn]

The only problem with smart steering is that it's enabled by default. You have to actually turn it off.

Beyond that it's only a good thing.

I actually think this is a plus. The most casual among us or folks who aren't used to customizing their controls might not have a clear idea that such an option exists or where to go to even change the options. I kept wondering why the game kept veering off in certain directions and then I saw responses here and took care of it right away.

When my 5 and 2 year old play the game without me, it's best that smart steering is on by default.

 

[Nanashrew]

I actually wouldn't even be bothered if something like F-Zero had smart steering, or just some ways to balance out things. It's good accessibility for beginners, young kids and those with physical disabilities.

Heck, with how hard F-Zero typically is, I could even see it as a very good learning tool for just about everyone to become familiar with the track to get better.


I've never really seen the issues people might have with accessibility options, even for hard games. It means more get a chance to play and share their own experiences and even join a community full of experiences to be shared and make friends.

 

[WordAssassin]

Such genius features really. It doesn't even give players innate advantages or anything so I really don't get complaints about it.

In some ways it even hinders. I had no idea I had it turned on until I tried to take a short cut in Delphino Plaza and it didn't let me cause it involved doing a jump over water off the track (the boat at the start of the race).

 

[Sesha]

Always impresses me when people hate acessibility... like "what is wrong with you people" levels of impresses me

I'm sure when DMC5 is announced there'll be people crying about the existence of Automatic mode.

 

[Cleve]

I think things like this are great.

If you don't want to use it, don't use it, but this is the potential difference between a young kid being able to enjoy a game with their older brother or sister or parents and having to watch or pretending to control.

That's before we even get to the people who need things like this for accessibility reasons.

It's not just kids, my casual friends came over, wanted to play, and had a much better time not having to worry about flying off the edge in rainbow road over and over. They never contested my lead, but had more fun while not being dead last.

 

[gbpackers25]

At thirty seconds, I just finished drinking from a glass of wine.

While not the *point* of the video, it's definitely a theme, so you get points for recognizing that much.

Wait a second. Didn't you say you weren't drinking on the job at the end of the video!?

 

[Vinsanity.]

I let my 3yr old daughter play it with Smart Steering and Auto Accel on just yesterday for the first time. She had a smile on her face the entire time while it drove for her. That was officially her first console videogame experience. (not counting silly ipad games)


On a semi-related note, I'm not a fan of the game so far...I feel like I got caught up in the hype when I bought it. The game is just pure randomness of where you finish, in some races your racing skill literally has zero effect on where you finish.

 

[Mr-Joker]

People who are against accessibility are people who lack empathy and don't understand that making a game more accessible to more audience is actually a good thing.

I was playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with my 7 year old cousin and while he was doing fine holding the button, turning on auto drive meant that he could just focus on steering and firing weapons.

 

[Jim Sterling]

Wait a second. Didn't you say you weren't drinking on the job at the end of the video!?

Oh I drank *from* the glass of wine, but I didn't drink the wine in it. I drank all the water that was also in there.

 

[Diprosalic]

EDIT 2: Just had to note the irony of someone telling me not to belabor the point editing their post to add unnecessary text.

Going on GAF to sass off is basically my work break.

 

[Son Of D]

I'm sure when DMC5 is announced there'll be people crying about the existence of Automatic mode.

If that happens then I have no idea what to say since the series has had Automatic mode since DMC1.

 

[TheMan]

It's funny how quickly I went from not giving a shit about JS to loving his stuff to not caring again. Not saying this topic is dumb, just making a personal observation.

As for the topic at hand, I'm ok for making it easier for kids to play. My 2.5 year old son, for example, sees daddy playing rocket league and wants to play, but of course he sucks and can't do shit. If anyone here has played hot wheels AI, they have modes that let kids stay on the track much more easily and keep up with older kids, which makes it more fun for them.

 

[gbpackers25]

Oh I drank *from* the glass of wine, but I didn't drink the wine in it. I drank all the water that was also in there.

Makes sense to me

 

[SMD]

I think NeoGAF should have assisted posting.

 

[Sephzilla]

Bizarre attitude.

If an easy mode meant I could actually play through Bloodborne whilst balancing life and a job (not all of us are masochists who want to "git gud") - then what harm would it be to you?

The reality is the lack of difficulty scaling loses Souls game sales.

it's also what got souls games sales in the first place

 

[Octavianus]

Always impresses me when people hate acessibility... like "what is wrong with you people" levels of impresses me

Same. All it does is give people who otherwise wouldn't be able to play the ability to play as well.
Don't like it? Don't use it. Jeez.

Its not just a great feature for young kids or people who just plain suck either. It helps people with certain disabilities as well.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I didn't know smart steering was on by default on my game on first bootup, so I went through my first cup thinking my controls were broken since it was slowing me down as I edged near the course (trying to take apexes) and I couldn't fly off to some off-course boost pads.

That said, once I realized it was on and realized how it operated, I kind of appreciated it. I feel like I'm decent at Mario Kart, so I don't need it, but kind of inadvertently experiencing it and knowing its limitations, it's perfectly fine -- I feel confident I could beat pretty much anyone using the feature anyway, and they won't have to feel like the game is too hard.

 

[EmiPrime]

Jim is right, bring on the accessibility options.

Also, fuck Konami.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

I had no idea they were adding this smart steering thing. Actually, I think that's pretty good news! =D

I intend to get a Switch later this year, and I think this function will allow my gf to have more fun with it. I may not use this feature myself but I'm all in favor of making any game more accessible to everyone as long as it doesn't affect your particular experience.

 

[Magnet_Man]

So....
seriously, what's up with the "skeleton warriors" bit that seems to be in most of Jim's videos? Is this a joke I don't get or is it just something random being thrown in for randomness' sake?

I'm assuming it's part of his Copyright Deadlock method where his videos use clips from multiple sources so multiple bots attempt to claim copyright and effectively cancel each other out.

I can only imagine he picked Skeleton Warriors as one of his clips because he wants that song to get stuck in my head every Monday, the prick.

 

[mindatlarge]

While it's not a feature for me, and I'm sure a feature many seasoned players will turn off or keep turned off, for people that aren't accustomed to playing racing games or young ones, it's a great feature for them.

I like that it helps keep the game fun for some without being a straight up advantage against those that have it off, as long as you're above their skill level. If you're drifting and using shortcuts, you'll smoke someone who has the driving assist on but at least they'll be on the track enjoying themselves!

I turned it on without telling my co-worker and she had a blast playing after our lunch break, where I'm sure she would have been all kinds of frustrated and annoyed had I not turned it on for her.

 

[Seik]

...or brains. Or perspective.

Yeah, really.

I don't have a kid and I can understand why some would appreciate that feature.

I mean, little things like empathy. :lol

 

[Darkspineslayer]

Showing how ridiculous many portions of this big cluster we call gamers can be.

Literally I pressed one button and never thought about it again. But it does help when playing with family to at least let them feel like they're competitive. When my nephew gets older I'll probably really appreciate both.

It's a point that many needed to hear, It does not have to matter to you if you don't need or want it.

 

[koss424]

Stating the obvious: notice how he loves a Nintendo game.

Obviously the real Jim has been killed and replaced by a #1 Kissboy clone.

you are always the thing you hate the most.

 

[groansey]

They're so tightly crafted that making things easier would result in completely different experience.

Sounds like exactly what some of us want.

 

[Kudo]

Sounds like exactly what some of us want.

Inferior experience, which is why they don't offer it.

 

[Ahasverus]

Bizarre attitude.

If an easy mode meant I could actually play through Bloodborne whilst balancing life and a job (not all of us are masochists who want to "git gud") - then what harm would it be to you?

The reality is the lack of difficulty scaling loses Souls game sales.

This.

 

[Sephzilla]

Sounds like exactly what some of us want.

So basically what you're saying is you want to be able to say you played Dark Souls/Bloodborne without actually playing Dark Souls/Bloodborne? Because you pretty much said you want a different game.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

Bizarre attitude.

If an easy mode meant I could actually play through Bloodborne whilst balancing life and a job (not all of us are masochists who want to "git gud") - then what harm would it be to you?

The reality is the lack of difficulty scaling loses Souls game sales.

Or gains them some. When creating only one difficulty level a developer gets to focus and properly balance that one difficulty setting.

Its not where I would want From focusing their time. Mario Kart on the other hand, a perfect place for a feature like smart steering.

 

[Danthrax]

Your Aerilon accent starts coming out around the 10-minute mark, Jim.

srsly tho, the accessibility stuff that Nintendo puts into its new games are nice. As Jim said, it's not affecting the fun of people who don't take advantage of it, but it's definitely improving the fun of people who do.