Say hello to communities

The online communities function in Mario Kart 7 was originally supposed to be a system-wide function, according to director Kosuke Yabuki in a new Iwata Asks

MK7 uses communities to allow players to gather together and share times and progress, somewhat like a clan. According to Yabuki, this feature was supposed to be included in the console, but it didn't happen:

At first, we wanted to include a feature where friends could gather like this directly on Nintendo 3DS, but schedule-wise it was tight and wouldn't fit. So I said, "I'll do it with Mario Kart 7." Having said that, I knew I had to think of something and drew a rough plan on a big sheet of paper.

Despite Yabuki's low-tech start, the communities function is a welcome addition to Mario Kart 7, though we can't help but rue its loss from the system as a whole.

[source iwataasks.nintendo.com]