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[MarkMe2525]

were you living under a rock for the past 10 years or so? 3DS had this, you may pull your phone right now and download Angry Birds Isle of Pigs, that will set a whole AB set in your living room to shoot the bird from any angle

(Comes out from under a boulder) You are right. Ar isn't new. Maybe because the demonstrations of the past were engineered to work really well it's tainted my view of any other AR stuff I have messed with. I have a 3ds and was never super impressed as the camera had to be so close and it was finicky. I never tried that angry bird one though. (Goes back under boulder)

 

[_Justinian_]

Would this game work on carpet, too? I wonder.

 

[Romulus]

Interesting but I feel like there will be alot of issues with it.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Would this game work on carpet, too? I wonder.

Very good question.

 

[DonF]

This looks so awesome, my inner child is going crazy. Too bad that its going to be nintendo expensive and my apartment is as big as a nintendo switch.

 

[namekuseijin]

(Comes out from under a boulder) You are right. Ar isn't new. Maybe because the demonstrations of the past were engineered to work really well it's tainted my view of any other AR stuff I have messed with. I have a 3ds and was never super impressed as the camera had to be so close and it was finicky. I never tried that angry bird one though. (Goes back under boulder)

Btw, like most things Nintendo, it's quite shallow in the implementation. It's basically just overlaying virtual characters and karts atop the real karts - the camera is fixed, not many issues to deal with and certainly less impressive than even the AB AR game...

 

[UnNamed]

As someone said, it's unlikely the car will go so smoothly as we see in the video since most of the house have tiles, vibrations can cause problems with AR.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

I wonder how drifting works, if at all?

EDIT: So, this is the American development company that partnered with Nintendo to make the game:

Velan Studios | Blog

www.velanstudios.com

Interesting that it come from a US partnership instead of being a fully in-house idea. That actually makes me a bit cautious, but I'm sure they've put a ton of effort into polishing the collaboration given the size of the Mario Kart brand.

 

[Tevious]

Nintendo making drones now.

Next up: Pilotwings Live

 

[zombrex]

This will be great fun for kids for a few weekends after Christmas but at the end of the day it is just a distraction from the main series. You are bringing in limiting aspects of real life into a video game, battery charge maintenance of kart, needing open space on a hard surface, having to set up the track markers in real life and in the game, having to get up and physically reset kart location if you get stuck and damage and wear to kart over time. The technology is certainly interesting and I expect it sells well but I think it will collect dust after a month for most buyers unlike an actual Mario Kart game which you will play for years.

 

[Ikutachi]

I want thunder to happen out of the house if I use a lightning bolt.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

A ton of interesting things in here:

 

[NeoGiffer]

 

[Spukc]

A ton of interesting things in here:

that dude sounds like he has 4 balls in his mouth

oooh it's cuckExplain

 

[Impotaku]

They really should have shrunk the karts down to the size of choroQ or penny racers meaning you don't have to live in some damn mansion to be able to race, the space requirements for this are crazy. Only way this would work in a lot of UK homes would be to have them race from room to room. If these are released in Japan they are gonna bomb hard as hell, nobody besides really well off families are living in a home even remotely big enough to pull a race in.

 

[CamHostage]

I wonder how drifting works, if at all?

EDIT: So, this is the American development company that partnered with Nintendo to make the game:

Velan Studios | Blog

www.velanstudios.com

Interesting that it come from a US partnership instead of being a fully in-house idea. That actually makes me a bit cautious, but I'm sure they've put a ton of effort into polishing the collaboration given the size of the Mario Kart brand.

Yeah, they're formerly the founders of Vicarious Visions (the studio that just did THPS 1+2, back in the day the studio was known for pushing the GBA & DS like crazy with THPS GBA and Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure and Tony Hawk American Sk8teland, plus Doom 3 Xbox port and other stuff) I remember interviews with Vicarious's Karthik Bala all the time on Nintendo fansites since they did such amazing work there. He and his brother left there in 2016, so it's cool to see them re-emerge with such an interesting new product.

Vicarious Visions also did the DS game Guitar Hero On Tour, which was able to bring Activision's plastic-toys+games to DS with a guitar-chords plugin, so they've been at augmented gaming for a while.

Also, that's a pretty good blog that ResurrectedContrarian found, it's for developers but I learned a bit about development from scanning through some of its posts.

 

[Punished Miku]

A ton of interesting things in here:

Yeah, this video explains some new stuff.

• You drive the car itself to draw the lines of your created tracks. This is such a cool and simple solution for track creation. It shows it in the trailer when Mario has purple paint on his wheels.
• You can use multiple different visual filters for creating the tracks, like fire, ice, jungle, 8-bit, and rainbow road. These alter the borders on the track, put graphical effects on the ground, change the designs of the track borders, and even place unique track hazards on the side of the road.
• There are set track hazards, like chain chomps, and pirahna plants that sit on the side of the road.
• There is somehow a drift mechanic included that gives you boosts on sharp turns.

 

[Shaqazooloo]

How Mario Kart Live came to be:

Nintendo on approach to Switch's software lineup going forward, how Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit came to be

This information comes from Nintendo’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing for the fiscal year ending March 2021… Shuntaro Furukawa (Representative Director and President): We recently announced our software lineup for the second half of this fiscal year (ending March 2021). It starts with the...

nintendoeverything.com

Shinya Takahashi (Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer): Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is based on the concept of using a game console to control an RC kart equipped with a camera. The concept was proposed by a U.S. company, Velan Studios, whose founders were involved with us during development of a Wii U title. The first demonstration of their proposal was so impressive that we ultimately started working with them through the trial and error process to figure out the details of what kind of product we wanted to develop.

Ko Shiota (Director, Senior Executive Officer): I see Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit as a good example of our integrated hardware-software entertainment approach, demonstrating the Nintendo way of creating products by combining the various play ideas that come from software developers with the technology ideas put forward by hardware and system developers. I think this style of play, which integrates the real world and game world in a way that feels natural, can only come about because Nintendo is able to combine ideas from hardware and system developers with the ideas from software developers. Collaborating with Velan Studios and with our European development subsidiary, NERD (Nintendo European Research & Development), has enabled us to develop a product that leverages our core strengths.

 

[MagnesG]

How Mario Kart Live came to be:

Nintendo on approach to Switch's software lineup going forward, how Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit came to be

This information comes from Nintendo’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing for the fiscal year ending March 2021… Shuntaro Furukawa (Representative Director and President): We recently announced our software lineup for the second half of this fiscal year (ending March 2021). It starts with the...

nintendoeverything.com

Shinya Takahashi (Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer): Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is based on the concept of using a game console to control an RC kart equipped with a camera. The concept was proposed by a U.S. company, Velan Studios, whose founders were involved with us during development of a Wii U title. The first demonstration of their proposal was so impressive that we ultimately started working with them through the trial and error process to figure out the details of what kind of product we wanted to develop.

Ko Shiota (Director, Senior Executive Officer): I see Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit as a good example of our integrated hardware-software entertainment approach, demonstrating the Nintendo way of creating products by combining the various play ideas that come from software developers with the technology ideas put forward by hardware and system developers. I think this style of play, which integrates the real world and game world in a way that feels natural, can only come about because Nintendo is able to combine ideas from hardware and system developers with the ideas from software developers. Collaborating with Velan Studios and with our European development subsidiary, NERD (Nintendo European Research & Development), has enabled us to develop a product that leverages our core strengths.

"NERD" lol.

 

[Punished Miku]

How Mario Kart Live came to be:

Nintendo on approach to Switch's software lineup going forward, how Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit came to be

This information comes from Nintendo’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing for the fiscal year ending March 2021… Shuntaro Furukawa (Representative Director and President): We recently announced our software lineup for the second half of this fiscal year (ending March 2021). It starts with the...

nintendoeverything.com

Shinya Takahashi (Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer): Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is based on the concept of using a game console to control an RC kart equipped with a camera. The concept was proposed by a U.S. company, Velan Studios, whose founders were involved with us during development of a Wii U title. The first demonstration of their proposal was so impressive that we ultimately started working with them through the trial and error process to figure out the details of what kind of product we wanted to develop.

Ko Shiota (Director, Senior Executive Officer): I see Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit as a good example of our integrated hardware-software entertainment approach, demonstrating the Nintendo way of creating products by combining the various play ideas that come from software developers with the technology ideas put forward by hardware and system developers. I think this style of play, which integrates the real world and game world in a way that feels natural, can only come about because Nintendo is able to combine ideas from hardware and system developers with the ideas from software developers. Collaborating with Velan Studios and with our European development subsidiary, NERD (Nintendo European Research & Development), has enabled us to develop a product that leverages our core strengths.

I'm going to ask for this for Christmas lol. I can't think of a better thing to do on Christmas Day.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I wonder if this will be compatible with the Lite? If by some miracle I have wifi by then (I assume it works by connecting to wifi?) I'd treat myself to a Hannukah/Christmas gift with this even though I'm far older than the target demographic.

I think this whole idea is beyond neat and I'll be surprised if Nintendo doesn't drown in a flood of money from this. They're going to have a lifeguard to pull out Miyamoto on duty from the ocean of bills.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[Kreen101]

Why do women use this "throaty" voice all the time these days? I notice it all the time in commercials, like it's a requirement of the job. You know what I mean?

 

[AJUMP23]

If I could get more then one Kart per switch I would be in, but I will probably not get this.

 

[Saruhashi]

Had a good laugh at the end of the review when she complains that after a while the wheels get all dirty and tangled with hair.

Eh... maybe keep your house clean?

This seems pretty awesome for children who already own a Switch.

Dammit. I wish they had shit like this around when I was a kid. How unbelievably awesome would this have been? Goddamn cars with cameras mounted on them that you control and build your own courses etc. Kids these days are lucky as fuck!

My childhood:

 

[Saruhashi]

If I could get more then one Kart per switch I would be in, but I will probably not get this.

Would that even work? Definitely wouldn't be workable with the Lite.

Think they could have made it a 2 pack for the karts with the option to install the software on 2 Switches.

I agree though that these things would be a lot less fun for kids when you can only really play solo.

 

[AJUMP23]

Would that even work? Definitely wouldn't be workable with the Lite.

Think they could have made it a 2 pack for the karts with the option to install the software on 2 Switches.

I agree though that these things would be a lot less fun for kids when you can only really play solo.

I am sure it isn't done due to technical limitations of trying to have 2 karts and 2 controllers all connected to a switch, then streaming in 2 separate video video feeds. The system couldn't handle it. Mario kart is most fun when it is multiplayer. Home Circuit is a novelty toy, gimick.

 

[Saruhashi]

I am sure it isn't done due to technical limitations of trying to have 2 karts and 2 controllers all connected to a switch, then streaming in 2 separate video video feeds. The system couldn't handle it. Mario kart is most fun when it is multiplayer. Home Circuit is a novelty toy, gimick.

If course its a novelty toy.
I think it makes sense.
A lot of kids would have gotten a Switch at Xmas last year so this gives them something else for this year.

Its not like this is happening instead of the next Mario Kart. I fuckin hope not anyway.

 

[Sean Mirrsen]

I am sure it isn't done due to technical limitations of trying to have 2 karts and 2 controllers all connected to a switch, then streaming in 2 separate video video feeds. The system couldn't handle it. Mario kart is most fun when it is multiplayer. Home Circuit is a novelty toy, gimick.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure it's the technical limitations. I don't think the Switch has the ability to connect to multiple Wi-Fi sources simultaneously. Most mobile devices don't.

 

[Stouffers]

We have 4 switches in the house. If we want to play multiplayer, do I have to buy 4 whole MKL packages or can I buy the karts separately?

Also, I didn’t preorder, but have a target nearby. Are my chances good of getting one/multiple?

 

[alucard0712_rus]

LOL, imagine your cat will join the race.

 

[AJUMP23]

We have 4 switches in the house. If we want to play multiplayer, do I have to buy 4 whole MKL packages or can I buy the karts separately?

Also, I didn’t preorder, but have a target nearby. Are my chances good of getting one/multiple?

Yes one kart per switch. And I only think you can do 2 karts at a time. So you are only out $200 total.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[Stitch]

LOL, imagine your cat will join the race.

 

[namekuseijin]

Lol came here to post this tweet

 

[Kabelly]

the game will sell a million just because of that cat video.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

 

[Enjay]

This looks like way too much bullshit to go through to just play mario kart.

 

[Ozzie666]

Nintendo can't produce enough plastic ring fit kits? but they can make these cars?

 

[Punished Miku]

I just ordered it. Picking it up tomorrow. So help me god.

 

[Barsinister]

I like it!

 

[alucard0712_rus]

I always wanted something like that in my childhood

 

[WalterSobchak]

This seems like the type of thing that could be fun in an open area like a gymnasium or really big house , where you could have 4 or 5 courses setup.

Just using it around the house however seems like too much a chore , especially since making a course takes time. Then you have to spend another 15 or 20 mins to set up a new one.

I may buy one if it ever dips to $50 or so but no interest right now.

 

[EverydayBeast]

This is a great game but you don’t get a pass for the pricing

 

[Punished Miku]

This seems like the type of thing that could be fun in an open area like a gymnasium or really big house , where you could have 4 or 5 courses setup.

Just using it around the house however seems like too much a chore , especially since making a course takes time. Then you have to spend another 15 or 20 mins to set up a new one.

I may buy one if it ever dips to $50 or so but no interest right now.

You really just need to set 4 pieces of cardboard on the ground then drive one lap and you've made a simple course.

 

[WalterSobchak]

You really just need to set 4 pieces of cardboard on the ground then drive one lap and you've made a simple course.

I mean yeah you can do it quick like you mention but is the course fun if you half ass it? To put a bit of thought in what would make a fun course with obstacles added and then driving it takes at least 10 or 15 mins which is long enough to break up the immersion imo. It's a neat concept though , just dont really see it as something I would buy currently.

 

[cryptoadam]

I mean yeah you can do it quick like you mention but is the course fun if you half ass it? To put a bit of thought in what would make a fun course with obstacles added and then driving it takes at least 10 or 15 mins which is long enough to break up the immersion imo. It's a neat concept though , just dont really see it as something I would buy currently.

Because its for kids.

Kids have time and fun doing these things.

 

[-Arcadia-]

Because its for kids.

Kids have time and fun doing these things.

Exactly. For them, coming up with the wildest course will be part of the fun. I wouldn’t be surprised to see kids get truly crazy with it, with elevated track sections (if that works), jumps, and ingenious hazards.

 

[Barsinister]

I could see jumps being hard. It is not a fast RC car. The sense of speed when you are looking at the screen though, is impressive to my eyes. There is a noticeable difference between 50 and 100 cc.