Nintendo Reveals Rarity Of Character And Kart Unlocks In Mario Kart Tour

Yeesh, I don't really know why anyone would enjoy unlocking characters in a game this way. Then again, I don't like to gamble. I'm glad Nintendo is keeping this garbage out of their real games, but I can't say that I'm not a bit disappointed with them. To think that one of my favorite franchises would have this blemish stamped on it is really sad.

Edit: Just noticed the irony of my profile picture.

From only what I earned for free today I got eight drivers, four karts, and four gliders.

Not amazingly generous, but also certainly a decent chunk for paying nothing.

45 rubies gives one 10 chances of unlocking something. 48 rubies usually costs AU$41.99 (and whatever your equivalent currency is). That gives you a 1 in 10 chance of getting Pauline, or 3% chance of Musician Mario — and they’re limited time, from my understanding.

I get that it’s free to play, but Nintendo really needs to rework the cost of rubies and/or overhaul the shop to let people buy the character they want, otherwise I hope people stick to not spending anything.

I'll give the game another shot when they fix the controls and add Waluigi

Man I must been lucky I unlocked Pauline already...

@IAmBerk same here

So this game has some very harsh drop rates and an optional but comically expensive annual $60 subscription?

Nintendo is milking this one hard.

I unlocked Peach, Toad & Musician Mario my first three times. Besides that I keep getting Koopa Troopa 😤

I got Diddy Kong so i guess i'm pretty much done?

If the money is going to fund new games then so be it, but I just don’t see any other justification for this game’s existence. I’ve played and loved almost every entry to this series going back to the SNES, but I’m not going to even try this game out. It would just get me upset.

@Spudtendo Agree 100%.

Just to give people an idea of how drop chances work for the 1% drop chances you'd have about a 90% chance to get it after 229 tries, and it might not even be the thing you wanted. For the 0.3% drop chances you're looking at 766 tries for a 90% chance. As anybody who has played Xcom knows a 90% chance after THAT many tries isn't something you want to gamble on, especially not with that amount of work/effort put into it.

With the way statistics work if you want to go that extra 9% to 99% it's basically double for both 1533 for 0.3% and 458 for 1%.

Pauline is rare? I got her on my second try. Weird.

@Braneman lol I got Pauline my second try. Lol.

I wanted to like this but I don't.

So long as this type of game design is kept to mobile games, I can at least continue to take refuge on my Switch and older consoles. But if these form of game design and "free"-to-play becomes the norm...

I'll be glad I have a backlog of older games to play.

I love Mario Kart and they fixed a lot of the problems I had with the beta, but - no pun intended - I just don't have the drive to play it. The races just feel really boring compared to mainline games.

Seriously, who came up with „Musician Mario“?! There are more than enough original characters in the Mario universe. And please Nintendo, don‘t make this Peachette-bullcrap a thing now. I can already see myself facepalming when the roster for Mario Kart 9 is announced.

I wanted to like this but I can’t get into it

I managed to get Pauline, but all I want is to unlock dry bowser and to use dry bones whenever i want without needing to worry about points.

Odds on me not playing this rubbish? Bets suspended.

Lootboxes are and always will be a scummy business practise. Don't ignore this just because Nintendo is the one doing it. I'd be even more worried now that Nintendo is trying to do it.

There are games that part of the experience is to hold the joycon and this is one of them.

The tapping is just killing the driving feeling, there’s no excitement, nothing..

@Kobeskillz

That is how they get you. It is an awful scam. Be wary.

Think I'll just stick with MK8DX, thanks.

What's funny is I kept hoping to get Bowser from the damn pipe during the later half of the beta-testing, as I needed him to make getting 5 Grand Stars easier in later cups, but I never got him before the beta testing was closed.
After the first shot from the pipe, which I'm convinced is a guaranteed Toad/Toadette, I got Bowser.
...I hate this stupid pipe.

@Spudtendo 100% agree. I am very letdown by Nintendo aswel, since they were usually staying away from that stuff... I’ve stopped playing after the first hour, the game is just no fun at all and I think that’ll harm Nintendo’s franchises in the long run...

Funny though that we’ve gotten three mario games on phone now, and that all three have a very different business plan behind them it seems. Nintendo is hopefully figuring out what works and what doesn’t from a consumer standpoint, and staying away from these micro lootbox transactions from now on...

@Duffman92 I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they ended up making every single outfit that Mario is able to wear in Super Mario Odyssey into a playable character. Alternate versions of existing characters is something that's done a lot in gacha games (usually seasonal or anniversary variants).

Unfortunately, Mario Kart 8 (and Mario Kart 7) was already affected by this (ie. Mario > Metal > Tanooki and Peach > Pink Gold > Cat; not counting the babies) and at this rate it seems very likely that they'll do the same thing in the next main title instead of having them available as unlockable costumes that will never take up character slots (like in CTR: NF).

So... Just don't play it is what I'm taking away from this.

I thought I was special because I got Pauline but it appears I am not. 🤣

The pricing model is ridiculous. But it's fun for free. Seriously, the random drop concept and a 5 dollar/month subscription rate are annoyances. Nintendo Switch Online costs less per month and you arguable get more. I've already picked up some of the rare drops without spending a dime

@Yoshinator
Metal Mario is iconic. Peachette however...

Good ol' game-enhancing surprise mechanics. Look at that Nintendo, enhancing the game.

Also, yikes, those are some low rates for the price.

Cya
Raziel-chan

@NotTelevision Do you know what else could fund new games which people would be more happy with? If they released fully finished games, maybe with a bit of DLC sometime after release to keep it fresh. Maybe some free DLC if they want, especially for online focused games as not to split up the playerbase online.

They could release these fully finished games at around £60 each. That's a full £60 gain from each sale if bought digitally since shipping and packaging is removed. They could sell the DLC at various costs, maybe around £20-£30 for a season pass, anything from about £0.70-£10 for individual parts.

They could als....Hold on a minute, I've got a phonecall.

Heads up, apparently Nintendo already do all of the above and this is just a scummy gamble simulator just like all the others except Nintendo has even outdone companies like EA or Activision by including content locked behind a subscription fee in this one.

I don't really care if it's a mobile game, this is bad even by mobile game standards. The ridiculous drop rates for the gambling are bad enough, but this has a subscription fee as well.

Lets do some math. Mario Kart 8 has sold around 17.89 million copies on Switch. It STILL costs around £50 new in most places including their eShop, so lets be fair and call it £25 to account for sales, preowned purchases and costs of physical shipping/packaging (though £25 is still ridiculously generous). £25 x 17890000 = £536,700,000‬. Granted I chose the best selling Switch game and we've still got development and marketing costs to account for, but do you honestly think that would be even a dent in that figure?

Those are Switch sales figures, and I've been more than generous in working them out at half the price of retail, and they don't include the original Wii U sales or the DLC either. You seriously think game companies need to do stuff like this turd of a mobile game to "fund new games" when they're pulling in this kind of money from actual sales of finished products?

That's not to mention things like the Nintendo Switch Online that they're now charging us to use. Last reported at "near 10 million users", we'll use the £17.99 for 12 months model as it works out as the best value for a single user. £17.99 X 10,000,000 = £179,900,000. Keep in mind that's not including the more expensive family deal (which would only count as a single user in that 10 million figure regardless of how many people are using the subscription) and the more expensive overall 1 and 3 month subscriptions, the profit they're getting is only going to be higher than what I've worked out.

Do you think their awful peer to peer online based service (IE, it costs them nothing), some servers for the eShop and a crummy NES/SNES emulator costs anywhere even near that figure to maintain and/or develop?‬ Would that not more than suffice to fund further game development?

And another thing, I think thaadskl lasaasDK lKIOASND

...

Disregard all of the above. I love Nintendo and enjoy how much this is monetised. Love Nintendo. I can't wait to buy my self some pride and accomplishment. Love Nintendo. All hail Nintendo, they love us and do nothing wrong. Boooo other gaming platforms, yay Nintendo.

I have Toadette, Peach, Metal Mario, and Pauline so far. In the karts category I’m hurting though.

Baby Daisy - a character that doesn't even exist and was only created in Mario Kart Wii - is in the base-game, but Luigi isn't? What is wrong with the Mario Kart character decision team?

A few years ago, when people all over the internet were complaining about paying $9.99 for a pass in Super Mario Run that unlocked everything, I had a gut feeling Nintendo would be forced to learn how the mobile game market worked and would change their tactics.

Well, their next game Fire Emblem Heroes went for the Gacha business model where players pay for an in-game currency and trade it in with the hope of drawing a character they want off a banner. Well, not only was this model a success, it far outpaced Super Mario Run in terms of money made.

The bitter irony in all of this is that the same people who b*****d about paying $9.99 to unlock everything in Super Mario Run were now plunking down hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on banners in Fire Emblem Heroes in the hopes of getting an Easter-themed Lucina in a bunny suit, or Robin in a summer-themed bikini.

Nintendo, no doubt in love with the money they were getting from dumb*** whales who were putting themselves into debt for a Christmas-themed Tharja, realized the Gacha model was the way to go.

So, their next few games took advantage of this model to various levels of success.

With Mario Kart, Nintendo finally has an IP that's insanely popular and something they can run wild with the Gacha model . But on top of which, they are now selling passes.

Which some people like myself will think is greedy and gladly play the game for free, these still remains the large number of mobile phone whales that gave Nintendo tons of money in Fire Emblem Heroes who will no doubt buy the Gold pass in Mario Kart Tour and spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to summon not just Pauline, but her Gold Kart and Parachute as well.

This is not just Nintendo alone. I play Dragon Ball Legends, and have seen people toss thousands of dollars into banners in the hopes of getting Legendary Finish fighters like Super Saiyan Vegito who have a very low summoning rate compared to other characters in the game.

Guess what, Namco Bandai is making tons of money as people chase after these fighters.

Mobile gaming preys on idiots who are willing to play thousands of dollars to chase the newest shiny carrot that these companies dangle in their face. Once that carrot is gobbled up, then they put an even bigger and shiner carrot in people's faces.

All the while, they offer just enough content to allow Free to play gamers to enjoy the games and still get some decent content as well(which also makes the player base bigger and gives the Whales more people to play against.)

So, while Nintendo is no doubt playing dirty now with mobile games, let's keep in mind one thing. They tried to play it honest with Super Mario Run and they were laughed at and ignored.

Nintendo learned their lesson, and now they are the ones laughing all the way to the bank as they not only make money off mobile devices but still sell their own hardware and games as well.

The most important lesson? Never underestimate Nintendo's ability to understand a market and take control of it. People failed to buy into Super Mario Run's business model, so they tried the Gacha model and struck gold.

They also learned one other important lesson. Whales on mobile phones are fools who will complain about paying $9.99 for a pass to unlock a game while paying tons of money to get Sakura in a halloween-themed Kitty costume.

People don't like Nintendo's mobile phone business model as it exists today? Well, maybe we should have not laughed at $9.99 as a single one-time fee to unlock a game. We have helped create a monster, and Nintendo is more than happy to gobble up money from whales.

It's still a fun game to play while waiting for online matches in CTR.

No Luigi? Uh.. wut!?

Gambling for kids, and there's also no chance of receiving anything of actual Worth or value! Terrible. Nintendo should be ashamed of themselves.

This is the kind of practice I really did not want Nintendo to push onto their games, particularly their already well-established franchises, and Mario in particular. This kinda sickens me, not gonna lie.

This and the Gold Pass made me decide not to even give this game a shot anymore. Screw this crap.

The steering in this game is terrible. Add insult to injury, Yoshi (my favourite racer) only has a 1% appearance rate? Nope, time to delete the app.

The leveling up system in this game is not always helpful. We should get gems always after leveling up. This game can be fun, but Nintendo needs to fix a few things.

The game is actually fun but has horrible controls, saying that I’m not spending a dime on this game and see if it gets old fast.

@Roam85 Indeed, I've had the same experience so far. I'd say it's fair enough considering how the mobile market works. But people tend to blow these mechanics way out of proportion.

@Caryslan Fire Emblem Heroes becomes a trap. The player will find out that spending a lot of money to summon characters that you want is not worth it.

Drunken Mario Kart Tour.
I shore hope they sort the controls out and apply a controller pad to be used though bluetooth playing for hours i feel giddy and miss coins.
I hope they sort some things out as the servers are packed and it's great to see people that dont own nintendo systems or do also people that are new to mario kart.
There is so much going for this game i hope they sort things out as there is nothing like dropping a banana skin on a super tight corner with pipes to avoid.

@SBandy I guess. I have self control so I won’t be spending money on it.

@Caryslan That's sadly a pretty accurate observation about the mobile market. You can't release a game with a price tag because people aren't interested in paying upfront. Yet those very same people have no problem with paying even more via microtransactions.

the nintendo always needs money..

Mario Kart 7 still the best Mario Kart.

@Caryslan

Stop defending the indefensible.

Nintendo right now are acting like scumbags in the mobile market regardless of past practices.

@Caryslan I thought I was the only one who noticed this. I remember thinking that €9.99 was OK for a game if it unlocks everything within the game, but a lot of my co-workers HATED the idea of paying a tenner for a mobile game. But they are extremely happy throwing money at crap like FE Heroes like it grows on trees, a game I truly despise due to the fact that it is practically impossible to have really powerful units unless you are extremely lucky or throw money at the game.

Nintendo tried to do it the right way with Run like you said, as in, pay once and you get the full package, nothing else and nothing more, but for x or y reason, people are happy just throwing away their hard-earned money at a corporation that dangles a shiny carrot in front of them in exchange for their monies.

Maybe we are old school guys that just prefer paying once and just once, instead of just justifying the blind arrogance that corporations possess nowadays.

It is a MAD MAD MAD MAD world my friend.

@Yorumi I agree and disagree with you.

I agree that if the auto-battle mode was WAY WAY WAY less smothering or intrusive and the game actually let you play, then yeah, the gatcha/monetary issues of the game wouldn't be so demonised and kinda justified in a way.

The gatcha thing is where I disagree. The main problem I have is with games like FE Heroes. Simply put, it is all about the planets aligning themselves when you throw the orbs and Jesus smiling at you whilst that happens for you to stand a chance to grab a really powerful unit. Just look at those ratios that Mario Kart Tour has, it is simply baffling and disgusting.

It all comes down to: OK, you want the nice powerful units/karts/fighters? Hand over the monies and we will consider your worthiness. No monies? Hahahaha hahaha git lucky and God Bless ya.

Wait, where's Luigi?

Wow guess I got lucky, second pull or third gave me Pauline. I think I'm ok with the game for single player, but the control is kind of sketchy.

Nintendo is just taking advantage of its fans just like every other company. Let’s not pretend Nintendo cares about its fans anymore than other companies. You are a dollars sign to them and they will take your last dollar. The problem is people will pay. If the market would reject this garbage, the companies would adjust. But then you have to rely on a smart public.

The Xenoblade Chronicles 2 luck-based RNG-lootboxes (finding all rare Blades) were kind of annoying. I don't want to go through bits of that again, ever, and those lootboxes were FREE!!
If there was no New Game+ carrying over all the gatcha stuff, the game would have no replayability for me.

Mario Kart Tour is great for a smartphone game, but due to the overpriced lootboxes and time-limited event-based gatcha system (spending lots of money does not mean you come your goal any closer because time can run out before you get what you want), I don't bother to complete it 100% like I do with other games in the series.