Topic: Mario Kart 8's use of the GamePad

I am excited for Mario kart 8 as much as the next guy but WHY does Nintendo's own marquee franchise not use the GamePad effectively? Why is it used for only a horn and a map? Why do we have to split the screen when there is an extra screen available? Why are we limited to four players, when a fifth is possible? Iwata himself said that the are focusing on effective ways to use the GamePad, and this and Donkey Kong show no evidence of that. At least Donkey Kong had an excuse (GamePad use could hinder gameplay), but Mario has no excuse. Sonic did it, why can't Mario?

I agree. But I hate it when people forget that the gamepad can use motion controls like the wii mote.....

Motion controls and the Wii Wheel are supported I think.

Well, there's still a chance that there could be good gamepad use in the final game, right?

This is Nintendo we're talking about though, I doubt they'd make any kind of significant change such as that.

You know, the gamepad would have been great for a track editor. Too bad that'll never happen, because Nintendo.

And yeah, not using it for a 5th player doesn't make sense. At all.

Yeah, it's kind of weird.

I don't mind much though. I would play it with the WiiU Pro controller no matter the case.

Sonic didn't run on 1080p at 60fps which MK8 does, nowhere close to that. 3 or 4 players in MK8 runs at 30fps. Rendering one additional stream and then sending it through firewire to the Gamepad would give Nintendo much more user complaints about crappy graphics than the complaints about a lacking 5th co-op player.

BTW, I think there's now a GamePad stand available for the users who want to use the Gamepad as a steering wheel in MK8.

I am still holding out hope for some kind of asymmetrical mp mode for battle because it isn't even that tricky to think of. If Nintendo aren't putting any gamepad-only features into Smash and MK8, they might as well do a gamepad-free bundle for £150 with MK8. Iwata doesn't want system sales or money so they will never do that.

you do realise the gamepad has built in motion control and that you can steer with it right?

I agree with you. If the fifth player is not there, it is not because of Nintendo being lazy or not wanting to use the Gamepad for that, but mostly technical issues.

I would rather have new experiences tailored made to the Gamepad (like Nintendo Land) than tacked on uses on existing franchises.

Honestly, I don't see how it could have been used otherwise. The second screen with all the info will be very useful.

Like the others said, a fifth player would have slowed the game down a lot, so then everyone would complain about the slow mess.

I do like how it's used, it'll probably be quite useful. I just wish they would've used it in multiplayer as a way to avoid split screen.

Mario Kart is DEFINITELY NOT 1080p, The screenshots show a native 720p game with basic AA. At least give the players a choice of using the feature or not (Double Screen for novelty, and Split Screen for performance like CoD Ghosts does)

I understand that (Sonic 5 player was 20FPS, unacceptable a for a racing game!) but Mario is less graphically intensive with less particle effects and no destruction. So it could keep a rock solid 30FPS while toning down graphics. And what about double screen for 2 player? That could run at 60FPS!

"Nintendo has also stated that the game will run at 1080p and 60 frames per second in single-player mdoe, but only 30 frames per second in multiplayer (we assume split screen, we’ll ask about online)."
http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/03/new-mario-kart-8-trailer-shows-...

"The game's visuals are beautiful, 1080p and 60fps even in two-player split-screen"
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-04-03-gorgeous-mario-k...

I think DKC:TF made the best use of the gamepad so far

@jariw agree totally. The system would have to render 4 different images on the screen and then stream ANOTHER different image to the GamePad. So that may bring down some efficiency. What we should be likely (NOT) 'complaining about' is lack of strategic and more accurate placement of items by the gamepad. MK8 is still going to be a fine game, anyway, so I hope to play it soon and ENJOY it.

Well you need to be able to use the Gamepad without giving that player a huge advantage over the others.

Anyway, I don't care how the Gamepad is used. I just want to play Mario Kart 8

Can you at least steer with the gamepad?