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Exercise bike connects to original Mario Kart, Rainbow Road shortcut gets even trickier (video)

Mat Smith — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 05:02:00 EST

Canadian modder Brent Smith has managed to connect an aging exercise bike to Nintendo's perennial racer. Naturally, there's some Arduino involvement, but the whole setup plugs directly into an original SNES console -- no emulation necessary. Power-ups are accessed with a button in the center of the exercise bike's handles, each of which has a directional button for steering, while the pedals function as the acceleration button, accurate to one sixth of a rotation. According to Smith, "it's a lot harder than it looks" -- and we believe him. Watch his test-drive kart plow off-track in the video demo after the break.

Continue reading Exercise bike connects to original Mario Kart, Rainbow Road shortcut gets even trickier (video)

Exercise bike connects to original Mario Kart, Rainbow Road shortcut gets even trickier (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 05:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Caption Contest: Mario stops by for a surprise visit

Terrence O'Brien — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:29:00 EST

What often gets lost amongst all the flying and painting and partying is that Mario, he's just a regular dude. He's a ~~blue~~ red collar plumber just looking to earn an honest days pay, hangout with his lady and occasionally deliver a racing kart to unsuspecting Tennesseans. When the artist formerly known as Jump Man rang the bell of Nathanial Stehley to drop off his West Coast Customs-built ride, we can only imagine what went through his mind -- probably something about not eating Toad's relatives.

Tim: "Honey, there's a plumber on the porch again."
Michael: "Wrong castle, buddy. All the 'word-up' posturing in the world won't get me to bring out Princess Peach."
Brian: "You called for a plumber?"
Jon: "Imma da new mailman. Yeah, M is for mailman."
Joe: "So, uh, you brought the mushrooms, right?"
Dan: "Yeah, the name's Cooper. King Cooper. You wanna see my girl? You'll have to go through me, pal."
Brad: "I'm sorry Mario, but your princess is in another condo."
Dante: "What do you mean you were expecting Xzibit?"
Terrence: "Hey Pauline, this guy says he knows you."
Zach Lutz: "In a desperate attempt to return to the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario swallows his pride and asks for directions."
James: "I told you before Mario, Princess doesn't want to see you, you have to stop calling like this."
Richard Lai: "Which part of 'stay 100 yards away from her' do you not understand?"
Sean Buckley: "I'm a bit short on change, mind if I bang my head on your wall for a little while?"
David: "No, I don't have any 'powerups' today, come back tomorrow."
Darren: "All I do is win, win, win no matter what."

Caption Contest: Mario stops by for a surprise visit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Caption Contest: Blue shells can't slow Miyamoto down

Tim Stevens — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:27:00 EST

Monumentally important game designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto made waves this week by saying he was / wasn't retiring from duties at Nintendo. There's been plenty of confusion regarding what his new duties at the company will entail, but this image makes it pretty clear. All hail Nintendo's new shopping mall test driver.

Tim: "I'm developing a new power-up. It's called Golden Parachute."
Richard Lai: "I once gave Kaz's ex a ride on this."
Myriam: "I guess the shrink ray finally works."
James: "The new Hotel Lobby level proved a success"
Billy: "What? At least it's a hybrid."
Mat: Miyamoto looks forward to exhibiting at next year's Tokyo Motor Show.
Brian: "Miyamoto had an important message to impart on the youth of today: do enough magic mushrooms, and you're going to end up driving your car through a mall food court."
Sean: A clean shave and a suit jacket revealed far more than Mario had ever intended. "Well," he thought, "at least I can still keep the 'M' logo."
Jon: "In movie news: Photos from the 'lost camera' sequence in the upcoming The Hangover III started surfacing today..."
Darren: "You should see what happens when I get Star Power."

Caption Contest: Blue shells can't slow Miyamoto down originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Dec 2011 22:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: gaming

Sean Buckley — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST

Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season.

Ah, the holiday season. That special time of year when we give our loved ones the new hotness of the video game world, and then promptly exploit their over-excited reactions to propel them into unwanted YouTube fame. Even if your familial relations don't have the stuff to become this generation's "N64 kid," you can still kick a few rad toys their way just for the love of it. And if you're having trouble finding the perfect gift for the gamer in your life, we're here to help. Head past the break to take a peek at Engadget's 2011 Holiday Gift Guide for video games. Not finding what you're looking for? Skip on back to our 2011 Back to School Guide for bonus gift ideas.

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Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MakerBot's Turtle Shell Racers cruise around our offices (video)

Brian Heater — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:03:00 EST

This weekend's Maker Faire in New York City was lousy with 3D printers. Every tent in the outdoor area was packed to capacity with the things, their owners standing beside them, showing off the small trinkets they'd created with the devices. Judging from their presence, there seems little question that the technology has proven a success with the maker community. Amongst the general public, however, they've been a much harder sell. Perhaps it's the price, or maybe it's the generally dull connotations of the word "printer," or it could just be the fact that there hasn't been the right iconic image to help sell the products to the public at large.

MakerBot's Turtle Shell Racers may well be just the ambassador that the world of 3D printing needs. The toy football-sized RC cars are proof positive that the devices can turn just about anything you can imagine into reality. There are certain limitations, of course, like the fact that the objects printed can't be larger than five inches in diameter. The Shells' creator circumvented that admitted shortcoming by assembling the products out of small pieces that snap together. Check out more hands-on impressions and a video with the racers after the jump.

Gallery: Turtle Shell Racer hands-on

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MakerBot's Turtle Shell Racers cruise around our offices (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo drops Wii price to $150 from May 15th, throws in a free Wii Wheel and copy of Mario Kart

Vlad Savov — Wed, 04 May 2011 03:19:00 EST

Turns out our snooping was spot on -- Nintendo has just made official its intention to drop the suggested retail price of the Wii down to $149.99, and will additionally include a copy of Mario Kart and the Wii Wheel peripheral with all purchases of the console. They'll replace the current bundle of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort games. The steering wheel, along with the Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk controllers, will match the color of the console you buy, whether it be black or white, and will also be available to buy separately for a scant $9.99. See Nintendo's full press release after the break.

Continue reading Nintendo drops Wii price to $150 from May 15th, throws in a free Wii Wheel and copy of Mario Kart

Nintendo drops Wii price to $150 from May 15th, throws in a free Wii Wheel and copy of Mario Kart originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 May 2011 03:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video)

Tim Stevens — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:12:00 EST

To win at Mario Kart on a console you must master two things: drifting and power-ups. Half of that is replicated in these R/C Mario Kart toys, which we saw standing still last month but now can finally see in action motoring around what looks to be either Corporate Carpet Raceway or CDR Castle. The controller emits that familiar jingling item select sound when you've snagged a virtual power-up, and you can see how mushrooms boost your speed while banana peels cause your opponents' cars to freak out. Sadly there is no drifting to be found in this version of the game, but we're wondering if a little tape on the rear wheels wouldn't help address that shortcoming.

[Thanks, Jarom]

Continue reading Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video)

Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don't drift but do shoot (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mario Kart RC game brings the Mushroom Cup to your living room

Joseph L. Flatley — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:41:00 EST

Sure this ain't the first time we've seen Mario Kart step outside the game console, but we'll be damned if Tomy's Japanese line of RC cars don't inspire a serious case of gadget lust. In addition to the usual remote controlled shenanigans, these guys have the ability to "shoot" virtual shells and bananas at other cars; power-ups are indicated on the controller via LEDs; and cars contain infrared sensors so you know when you've been hit with a weapon (which causes you to rumble and slow down) Cars are available from Amazon Japan to the tune of ¥2,730 (around $30) each.

Mario Kart RC game brings the Mushroom Cup to your living room originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CTA Digital's Inflatable Kart for the Wii: at last you can be the coolest kid on your block

Paul Miller — Sat, 29 May 2010 18:39:00 EST

Put down that "rare" Transformers figurine, hide that box of "real" Japanese Anime, and don't even think of showing us your Ninja Turtles costume: we've found the ticket to cool you've been looking for. CTA Digital, who has always excelled in building stunningly superfluous gaming accessories has outdone itself with the new Inflatable Racing Kart. The best news? It'll support up to 300 of your hip-cool-guy pounds. Check out a video after the break in case you're not convinced.

Continue reading CTA Digital's Inflatable Kart for the Wii: at last you can be the coolest kid on your block

CTA Digital's Inflatable Kart for the Wii: at last you can be the coolest kid on your block originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 May 2010 18:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SNES Mario Kart power slides onto (non-jailbroken) iPad? (Update)

Sean Hollister — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:21:00 EST

You're looking at Super Mario Kart, running on the Apple iPad, courtesy of emulation guru ZodTTD. When do you get to play it, faithful reader? Hard to tell. If, say, the iPad had already been jailbroken, all you'd need to do is wait for a suitably safe jailbreak method, download RockApp or Cydia, grab the snes4iphone emulator you see running above, and fire up the ROM. However, the intriguing thing about the above video is not that it's running an SNES game -- but that ZodTTD claims he compiled a special version of his snes4iphone emulator "specifically for non-jailbroken iDevices." Since Zod is almost certainly an official developer, it's possible he output the emulator as an .ipa file and is testing it on a fresh iPad using Apple developer tools, but if we're lucky, it could instead mean that someone has finally found a way to sideload apps onto a stock Apple device. Either way, peep multitouch karts sliding and shells flying on video, right after the break.

Update: ZodTTD tells us that while he does have access to the jailbreak, he did have to flex developer muscle (and official dev tools) to make snes4iphone work on a non-jailbroken iPad. He says:

The build of snes4iphone running on my iPad as seen in the video was actually based on an AppStore app I submitted called "snesty". Apple quickly rejected it right after pulling the NES emulator. I combined snesty with some snes4iphone features such as using the private API called CoreSurface. I used Apple developer tools and self signed it.

Zod says that after Apple officially releases iPhone OS 4.0 and the existing jailbreak is distributed freely, he plans to create new versions of his emulators that run at the iPad's 1024 x 768 native resolution and support touchscreen controls, hardware keyboards and even external controllers should they come.

Continue reading SNES Mario Kart power slides onto (non-jailbroken) iPad? (Update)

SNES Mario Kart power slides onto (non-jailbroken) iPad? (Update) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo DSi XL review

Sean Hollister — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:53:00 EST

Since Nintendo first asserted sole domination over the handheld gaming market with the release of the paperback-sized Game Boy in 1989, the company has striven time and again to make its pocket systems smaller, meeting fantastic financial success along the way. Nintendo did it with the Game Boy Pocket, the Advance SP, the Micro, the DS Lite and again ever so slightly with the DSi -- the last even at the expense of backwards compatibility and battery life. Now, for the first time in the company's history, it's made an existing platform bigger, with questionable reasons as to why. Does the Nintendo DSi XL squash its predecessors flat? Or is Nintendo compensating for something? Find out inside.

Gallery: Nintendo DSI XL / LL unboxing and hands-on

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Nintendo DSi XL review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Force Dynamics 301 driving simulator takes on Super Mario Kart

Darren Murph — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:15:00 EST

While most of the cool kids are off whizzing around courses in Mario Kart Wii, the gurus at Force Dynamics are reminiscing about the one that started it all. Apparently the firm has tweaked its 301 motion platform to actually control the kart in the SNES hit, and the rider's chair even leaps up along with Mario, Peach or any other jumping character you choose. Sure, it's missing those absolutely brain-melting Wii graphics (but not by much, if you catch our drift), but we'd probably take a ride in this over an hour with the Wii Wheel any day. Check out the full video waiting after the break.

Continue reading Force Dynamics 301 driving simulator takes on Super Mario Kart

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Force Dynamics 301 driving simulator takes on Super Mario Kart originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Joystiq goes all out with Mario Kart Wii controller comparison

Donald Melanson — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:36:00 EST

As we're all too well aware, Mario Kart can be serious business for some folks, and Mario Kart Wii will certainly be no exception, which makes the right choice of controller all the more important. Thankfully, our pals at Joystiq have now come through with a meticulous comparison of all five driving options at your disposal. That includes the Wiimote on its own, the Wiimote with Wii Wheel, the Wiimote / nunchuck combo, the Classic Controller, and the tried and true GameCube controller. Somewhat surprisingly, while the GameCube Controller and Classic Controller each helped to put in some solid times, Joystiq actually found the Wiimote / nunchuck combo to the best all around option, with it faring particularly well when using a bike. Lagging far behind, however, was the solo Wiimote (which they recommend to avoid at all costs), although the addition of the Wii Wheel did apparently did help to make things a bit more manageable. Hit up the link below for the full rundown.

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Joystiq goes all out with Mario Kart Wii controller comparison originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo and MTV film helpful reminder: the Wii Wheel does absolutely nothing

Paul Miller — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:52:00 EST

We know, it's easy to get caught in all the magic that is Mario Kart Wii -- "it's like Smash Bros. but with karts and more banana throwing!" -- but let's not fool ourselves here: that Wii Wheel is potentially the least functional piece of plastic Nintendo has shipped since the Virtual Boy. It apparently took the fine folks at MTV two whole videos to figure this out under the patient tutelage of a Nintendo rep, but while the Wii Wheel can potentially serve as a helpful reminder to hold the Wiimote with the buttons facing you, it adds zero functionality to the equation, and it's only therefore "necessary" for the first 30 seconds of play -- after which it can be tossed to your dog or teething child as a chew toy. Some might appreciate the ratio of turning a full wheel instead of a Wiimote, but we all know the truly hardcore are going to be kicking your ass with their Wavebirds anyways, to the point really is moot. Video is after the break.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Continue reading Nintendo and MTV film helpful reminder: the Wii Wheel does absolutely nothing

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Nintendo and MTV film helpful reminder: the Wii Wheel does absolutely nothing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo packing Wii Wheel with Mario Kart for Wii

Paul Miller — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:39:00 EST

Let's not bandy about here, we're pretty much God's gift to green shell snipes, and hook us up with a few red shells and perhaps a banana or two and you can pretty much kiss your Flower Cup goodbye. Nintendo just announced some extensive online functionality for its upcoming Wii-based Mario Kart title, including an undisclosed amount of "more" online competitors, which is always a plus. Nintendo is also packing a free Wii Wheel with each copy of the game to help ease the newbs into the Kart action. No word on how much the new wheel will cost on its own, but we'll be seeing both it and Mario Kart in the first quarter of 2008. More pics after the break.

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Nintendo packing Wii Wheel with Mario Kart for Wii originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mario Kart DS hits the meatspace

Paul Miller — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 11:43:00 EST

If you've had your fill of tossing virtual turtle shells at hapless virtual victims while racing around a virtual track, you can finally take your favorite Nintendo mascot for a spin around a real life track, thanks to the Nintendo Mario Kart DS Track Race Set. Unfortunately, we're guessing the novelty factor here is going to last for a good five laps or so before you realize that this thing is just as boring as every other slot racing set ever built.

[Via Crave]

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Mario Kart DS hits the meatspace originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 11:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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