MrKai

@KnightsTemplar Yes you can. You'd need to sync the car to the console you are playing with. It runs in "Local Communications" mode with the car and a network peer to the Switch (server).

Now if every console is trying to connect to the same car at the same time, then no, heheh. But if My son wants to play on his Switch and i am not using the car, he can.

@teko It's VERY hard to describe...but no, it isn't pointless to not be looking at the physical car. I think however...if you have ever watch First-Person drone racing footage...it's kind of like that. Drone pilots race from the PoV of the vehicle. So do you in the game of Mario Kart Live HC

Like...many things, it appears...people have a LOT of comments...without touching or seeing a thing.

After purchasing, setting up, playing this title yesterday...to the detractors:

You are simply...mistaken. No one will be able to tell you this...but as a "nowhere near a 'child' aged person"...if you like just plain fun and joy and don't need to, "justify it" in any way...you are missing out

As someone that started playing Mario Kart on an actual console...in my house...decades ago...on a cartridge...as a child, hupped an N64 around to friends' house's to play as a young adult, and has played every incarnation of the franchise that exists...if you are a fan of Mario Kart...there is no way you will be disappointed.

Additionally, it's kind of strange that people would "short-sell/dismiss" the best in the business at this sort of integration outright like they don't know what they are doing. This is in Nintendo's wheelhouse and the implementation is well done. it really is, and really feels like mario kart.

There is one "misleading" aspect of the 'marketing' however - as the review points out, the car unless you are at "200cc" speeds does not move super fast in the real world (Scale - think 'Ant-Man' car chase) and as such, doesn't require nearly as much room as certain media make it appear.

Custom Controls For Every Thing is boys and girls, the thing needed by a Switch Racer so we can actually use PS3/4 wheels and pedals. Cannot Wait.

It took me a second to figure out that there is a very obvious abbreviation that should never be used for step counters...

Heh.

@NintendoNomad This is FAR more common than people realize. Once you or someone you know has their game collection lifted (I have heard more than one take on this, and BOTH take advantage of the fact that an Empty Box on Display looks EXACTLY the same as that box with a game in it)...you figure it out ONLY the "console maker" can steal your digital games from you

And these poll results? Kind of disingenuous. The Primary reason people buy physical games AAA, is to flip them when they are done.

If the "Gamestops" of the world were enjoined from reselling, they would close in weeks, and the physical sales market would have a lot of shops sitting on unsold inventory.

Offering the Box Art, Extras...a box even...all of these things can be provided...and have been. It's about "I hate this game/I finished this game, I am getting money back."

Add a new poll question:
"If you could easily refund a digital game in 24 - 48 hours..."

@Blofse Look...I get it. I imported an adapter and SF2 when ya had to do it the hard way

But times have changed, and in the grand scheme of things, Nintendo has shown and proven that there are other things to be The Best In Gaming at than raw power...and still delivered a damned fine experience, arguably, a superior one because that experience can be accessed almost everywhere a consumer wants or needs to be.

So, if what you value aligns more with being able to play "every game conceived with a high poly count" then sure, maybe there is something to be "sad" for Nintendo for...but taking that position kind of makes you miss out on what's really been achieved here, but here is how I do:

Go back to the old days. Remember PCEngine/TG16? That was the last time anyone was able to play the exact game on a home console as they could a portable. HuCards.

It's all about perspective. You can't play everything on a Switch. But man...look at what you can...You can do it on your big TV. It's got it's own screen built in, so that's like a little tv...remember those? It's got controllers...and if you snap them on, you've got like a "PSP Xtra-Large" portable/handheld.

All playing the same stuff. GOOD stuff. Some of that stuff, people are playing on other systems too that can't do any of those things. They look a little to a bit better.

I don't see a lot of downside here.

@Blofse "I still have no idea why Nintendo keep using substandard hardware compared with the competition."

Because they wanted a system that could play highly tuned, full, console quality games on something you could also take with you and play those games, not the "Portable" or "Pocket" remakes/variants...and deliver that sort of system at a scale and price-point that consumers will part with cash with.

This BS "low information" 'I-have-no-idea-why-Nintendo-did-this' gag has gotten beyond bizarre. There is a subset of "gamers" that are actually QUITE OFFENDED that Nintendo has pulled this off, because it sends a clear message across the industry that spending 6 years to make what is essentially high poly versions of Dragons Lair and Space Ace (because Kidlets...this...is...what 'quick time event Circle-Square-Cross-Trianglele' games ARE, people...) with sections of some variation of Doom/Quake, Metal gear Solid, or Tomb Raider gameplay...is not necessary to actually make games.

Because folks, when what is essentially a dvd player and blurray player company with a ton of entertainment writers in other divisions got into the gaming biz...the "games" became 3D poly B Movies. Think about it.

So yeah guy...it makes perfect sense. Nintendo does not need half 1080 in their machines to succeed. And if you want to make a hybrid system...you don't make a PS4

I cannot believe an entire article and loads of typing have been dedicated to complaining about changing a very dated naming scheme, from the days where "EVERYTHING" was an e-Something or i-Something...even Apple has stopped naming new things i-Things

We had the "e-i phase", the "vowel drop phase" (things with names like 'Blinkr', etc look KINDA DATED now, eh?).

They are changing the name. So what. It isn't an existential crisis

Only important question: does this have a "dead zone" setting in controls so that I can actually use a racing wheel?

All I want to know is, is it possible to use a proper steering wheel via an adapter with this, effectively, because if I find out that is the case, it's bought.

@mowerdude It's the 21st Century. This particular niche of software is just about the ONLY one where this is a real discussion, and that is LARGELY NOT do to (people who claim to be) "collectors" but people using Retail as Rental.

We will revisit this in 2025

@Swaz There is literally no "waggle" in this F*cking. game

It requires timing...observation...and actual physical skill to toss the ball into the target.

It's not "easy" like pressing a single button

@Ryzaerian Actually...people are, and have been complaining about the price...or even that there would be one, for quite awhile now.

And I am with you on the shaming for opinion part. Everyone has different value propositions, and I think that THAT fact is largely left out of the discussion.

@SuperEndriu No one will get a lot of pushback from me about "MyNintendo".

@Razer I asked if you did, not asserted that you didn't. Now that we've established that you've got some 'tech industry" experience, and that you do not have specific domain experience around paying for software development and engineering, I have a better idea of where your cost factoring position is based. In my job, I have to pay for software engineers and such, so my perspective might be a bit more nuanced, that's all.

As for your continued aspersions about my "mental state"...well, your retort here kind of shows it's more about insults and one-upmanship to you than actually, you know, measured, rational, discourse, so I'll let you find a more...rage-y...person to engage on that.

@Razer Do you do Software Engineering and Architecture for a living? Do you have...any remote idea how much "putting up a pay wall and throwing a few thing here and there"...actually costs (let alone you trivializing it via that description).

AGAAAIIIN...I get people are "upset"...however I have seen little to indicate that this user base would support a "full on" service, tho I do see some merit in a "tiered" approach as @electrolite77 suggested, for example.

And look. I am getting a bit tired of you casting aspersions at my "mental state" because I do not agree with you. I am not delusional in any way.

@Richnj Well, I don't want to speak for Nintendo. My own experience in the industry tells me that Nintendo isn't, and hasn't been surprised by much of this, and that before they spent the money building this, they spent the money figuring out what the market looked like for it

@electrolite77 OK! See, this is rational

Now, consider what I said above just now: what if the goal was to hit a price goal that was below that, for various reasons, too many to throw on the table here, but let's assume that conversation was had.

For the price...what would you do, without adding too much cost on the production side to push that price up?

Eh?

@Richnj I pay for all three...and one of my consoles hasn't been turned on at all in months.

I submit that Nintendo's core goal/"KPI" here was price. I also believe if other people looked at the entire thing this way.."What is the maximum value we can offer at this price?" and tell us not only what they would, but how they would at that price target.

@electrolite77 Yes I am because no one as actually showed that it wasn't always 180 days after end of service. /shrug

@Razer Not at all delusional, because I am not only looking at the upside, for you.

Let me break this down for you:

The numbers you provided are not fixed costs. To invest in an online platform for a user base that DOES NOT WANT TO PAY FOR ONE is a business risk without the data to support it in the ecosystem you are talking about.

So, I will ask YOU: IF Nintendo offered a $60/yr service with feature-parity tuned to their particular platform's strength's...would you pay that price?

@Luke937 Have you considered already that people have...in the other direction?

@Sakura THIS...lol. Yeah MyNintendo is a curious thing. I wonder how successful it is?

@Alantor28 No, I believe they have, in fact, "voted with their wallets" presumably.

The problem I think for them is, it clearly doesn't seem to matter/make a difference. The wheel seems to still be turning in the direction it was planned to go in, somewhere in Japan, long before the outrage, years ago

@Luke937 This is confirmation bias. You realize this, no?

@electrolite77 OK let's be more direct: If Nintendo offered a PSN/Xbox-Gold level experience, would you be willing to pay that price, as a Nintendo customer?

@electrolite77 No, I am SAYING that they have more info and no one complaining seems to want to consider that they are a minority of the customer base

@Richnj I wholeheartedly disagree here. They did, in fact, get the basics:

Free games, cloud saves, discounts, online, voice chat, exclusives.

These things have all been provided, and if you look at them as they are, consider the cloud saves restrictions a split, as I see merit in all sides of the discussion there, look at nintendo's asking price, divide by 12.

"And there you go."

It isn't a premium service, and they aren't asking a premium price for it.

@WiltonRoots At the end of the day, I get that some people are unhappy.

I also do not believe for one minute that if Nintendo ticked off every box on these people's punchlist in the next 90 days and charged what Sony and MS does for that level of product they'd pay a dime

..and I am willing to bet Nintendo doesn't either, heheh.

@Richnj Well...heh, as both a subscriber to gold and psn, the reality is the services do have feature parity, but Nintendo has an utter lack of depth.

Seriously. People are complaining about implementation details, and depth essentially, but they in fact do the same things.

If anyone thinks that a public company is going to add that depth in a hostile environment and absorb the cost...I wish them the best of luck with that

@Damo Did anyone ever check or read any terms or other things provided?

There is simply no evidence that this was a "turnaround" at all...this was unsubstantiated and kind of reads like a "well...I feel better thinking our complaint made a difference that might not have actually existed in the first place" thing to me /shrug

@Alantor28 Noted. Will be 'eyes on, eyes up'

@Mando44646 ..et al – do you have any data to support the position that millions and millions of Nintendo's customers are unhappy with what they are doing?

More importantly...do you actually believe that if Nintendo had such data, they would ignore it?

There is a frustrating, but well-understood concept in social science wherein people that are "satisfied" with a thing are more prevalent than people who are not and complain loudly, and people who are ecstatic and sing praises loudly.

Nintendo does constant direct outreach to their customers via feedback requests, and has an Internet-connected machine whos metrics they can, and do track.

Do you think it is possible, possible they might have a bit more info than others do, across the board, about this?

@Luke937 Right. So, clearly, they are going to maximize the service toward that end, their investor's benefit, however that manifests itself.

With a vocal base of people that made it clear from Day Zero that the mere concept of paying in the first place was anathema to them, heheh, how, lol, exactly does one think they would throw a ton of R&D into it without some metrics to justify more expensive initiatives?

@Damo He didn't say that it was. In fact he said that someone asked, and that is how that was learned?

@Luke937 Are you defining "capable of critical thought" as "agreeing with me" here?

My response to this piece is simple: Your opinion of failure and missteps does not seemed to be informed by actual sales numbers...which you do not possess.

As Nintendo sets the metrics for success here, why not...you know, do journalism and ask them what their success metrics are and if they have achieved them?

For all I know, or you, Nintendo has made millions and millions off of this.

@Masurao Are you really equating "family friendly" to Social Justice Warriors?!?! Because that's what it looked like you did...

It is incredibly disingenuous to dismiss luck, or "luck" as a factor of success. While it is very unlikely that "random chance" would put an unmotivated, unskilled pauper at the top of the cash heap, it is silly to believe that "hard work and dedication" would land the aforementioned person at the top of the cash heap as well

"Luck" is the intersection of YOU and fortuitous events, and as no one controls the aspects of the world that are NOT them, being at "the right time at the right place" is 100% the biggest success factor for just about...anyone.

What an odd thing to profess to believe...or to not believe

@brunojenso LOL - I understand part of this; Those SAL and EAGLE "blur away the pixels" filters are awful.

HOWEVER...games 30 years ago were not made to "look good" on LCD displays.

-K

@NEStalgia Because you can play more than one table in a pin cab

And Pinball Machines are, well built by hand.

Also there are companies still surprisingly building Pinball Machines, but with "modern" stuff. Check out Jersey Jack Pinball

-K

@brunojenso It's a lack of understanding around design decisions made 'way back when' + preference.

To many people, looking at these games on modern displays is actually off-putting. A good many games were actually designed to take advantage of the what you would call "flaws" in CRT display technology.

Like I have a couple of arcade cabs i have built, one specifically for vertical games, one for horizontal. If you played these things in the 80s and 90s...They really look "off" on LCD displays without really high-quality filters (I use a stack that adds jitter, barrel effect, chromatic abherration) or a hardware generator. The colors are off, all kinds of things, because the darkening effect, where certain sprites are "broken up" by the CRT...it looks and feels really weird (if you were there) without those "imperfections".

-K

@NEStalgia Yeah. You have to actually experience a properly build pin cab to get it...even things, like you say, the ball are fine with a display with a decent refresh rate, and with "Surround Sound Feedback" exciter-based haptics, you both hear and feel the ball at the right place, when the ball impacts small rubber bumpers, it is proportionate to for example the impact of a pop number (jets) of the slings.

It is not "the same"..but the gap is much, much tighter than you might imagine and there are hundreds of recreations and original tables out there.

So yeah, not the same, but it isn't like "playing on a poster" either

@NEStalgia This is why, if you feel this way, you build a Virtual Pinball Cabinet, with lights and force feedback. It isn't a "if it's a video game, it isn't visceral". Check Youtube for stuff from TerryRed. Vpins are great if you love pinball

@ShadJV What do you mean "suddenly?" Paid online was announced to be coming like a year ago.

This is the opposite of "'suddenly"

/rant
It's $20
/rant

@mctrials23 As someone ELSE that does this for a living, and have for...longer than I will say...

You are right. Nintendo is now free to concentrate resources on features and move those Engineering resources around

The Sec team has nothing to do but work on when and how they will get a version of this silicon with that piece of errata fixed, and the whole team doesn't need to do that

We will see how publishers respond, OTOH...how much time is there to ship before "Download, Flip, 'Release'" enters the "0-Day" cycle...

Different strokes, i guess.

I've played every incarnation of AC since the original (every family member had their own game card so we could visit each other) and um, I don't see what all of the pissing and moaning is about from so-called "fans"

it is exactly as one would expect an Animal Crossing Game for Mobile to be...as opposed to an attempt to port AC to a smartphone.

It's light. It's very much recognizable, but simplified. If you are the kind of person that has more money than patience, you can bypass the timers...but you do not have to ever, at all.

I suppose eventually waiting forever for new things gets old, but it isn't like we don't have other games to play, websites to surf, people to meet, etc while fruit grows, fish and bugs respawn, animals move around and what have you.

It's free, it's AC in hear, soul and spirit, and it was adapted to both the mobile form and the mobile economy without making it essentially something else with an AC skin.

It's a fine effort and a nice diversion with quick smiles...if it is judged on the merits of what it actually is, as opposed to some fantasy "my perfect and wholly unrealistic version" sort of thing.

@datamonkey I wish I could heart this comment 5x