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Nintendo delays mobile 'Mario Kart Tour' game until the summer
Unsurprisingly, Nintendo needs a little more time to polish its mobile-friendly version of Mario Kart. Beyond the name and target platform, we know precisely zilch about Mario Kart Tour, which was originally scheduled to come out by March 2019. But we haven't seen a single screenshot or Nintendo Direct-style video explaining what the game is like or how it works. So it wasn't a huge shock when the company announced today that the game is now scheduled for summer 2019. Why the delay? "In order to improve [the] quality of the application and expand the content offerings after launch," Nintendo explained in its Q3 earnings report.
Mario Kart VR lands in the US
Mario Kart VR has already graced Japan and London...now it's making a pitstop in the US. Yes, you can (finally) immerse yourself in the cartoonish karting action -- while sitting in a physical vehicle with pedals and a steering wheel -- at Washington DC's Union Station right now. But you better be quick: Bandai Namco's "VR Zone Portal" is only in town till March 2019, reports Road to VR.
'Mario Kart' Hot Wheels cars arrive next summer
Not every Mario Kart fan has the means to move their obsession into real life by flying to Japan and checking out a Mario Kart ride at a theme park or tearing around the streets of Tokyo in a go-kart while dressed as Yoshi. Mattel will soon offer something a little more modest with branded Mario Kart Hot Wheels cars.
'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe' update adds Link from 'Breath of the Wild'
Is Link your favorite racer in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Good news! A new version of the Hylian hero has been added to the game. It's based, unsurprisingly, on the wonderful Breath of the Wild that was released for Wii U and Switch last year. You can play as Link in his Champion's Tunic and jostle for position, if you like, on the Master Cycle Zero that featured in the Breath of the Wild DLC Champions' Ballad. The update also includes some Ancient Tires and a new glider based on Link's handy paraglider.
The Mario Kart VR experience is coming to London
Last year, Engadget Senior Editor Richard Lai tried out the Bandai Namco VR arcade in Japan, and he had great things to say. But the experience was limited to Tokyo -- that is, until now. Today, Bandai Namco announced that the company will bring its Mario Kart VR arcade experience to London.
Now Nintendo's cardboard Labo controller works with 'Mario Kart'
If you have the Nintendo Labo cardboard Variety Kit and a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, then you can play the game in a new way. Build yourself the Toy-Con Motorbike controller, and you can use it as a steering wheel. It should work whether you're playing on the TV or with your Switch inserted directly into the controller and, assuming you have enough kits and Joy-Cons, can be used by up to four players at once. We already thought the game was basically perfect, but if what you really needed was a motorcycle-style pair of handlebars, then this is exactly the upgrade you were looking for.
'Mario Kart' Monopoly will have you racing to buy properties
Hasbro's Super Mario Bros.-themed Monopoly looks delightful enough as it is, but it might feel a bit lacking if you prefer the kart-driving version of the beloved Italian plumber. The good news is that you won't have to make do with the ordinary Mario Monopoly -- not when toy and board game giant has released Monopoly Gamer: Mario Kart. Like its predecessor, it incorporates Kart characters and twists into the game. You can choose from the Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi and Toad Mario Kart tokens, which all have specific powers and abilities. When the Toad token player rolls a Power-Up Boost, for instance, all players must pay them one coin.
Nintendo will bring 'Mario Kart Tour' to smartphones by March 2019
After Super Mario Run and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, the next Nintendo game to get a mobile version is Mario Kart. Following up on the company's plan to release 2-3 games per year (there's a Zelda game in development too) Mario Kart Tour is scheduled to arrive at some point before March 2019. Other than the title and vague release window we don't know much about the game yet. It will probably ship after the launch of Nintendo Switch Online, and, given the lack of detail around Nintendo's Mario movie, well ahead of the animated feature announced tonight.
SNES Classic Edition review: Worth it for the games alone
The success of last year's NES Classic Edition clearly took Nintendo by surprise. The company was completely incapable of meeting demand, leaving many people unable to buy what became the must-have gift of the holiday season. Now Nintendo has given its SNES the Classic Edition treatment and promises it's going to build way more than it did last year. Having grown up with the SNES (OK, we had a Sega Genesis and my best friend had SNES), it's easy to assume that everyone knows what it is and why people are so excited that it's back. After dominating the 8-bit era with the NES, Nintendo came late to the party with its sequel. The SNES launched in '90 in Japan, '91 in the US and '92 in the UK. The Genesis had a two-year head start in almost every country, but Nintendo's second-generation home console was worth the wait. The SNES arrived with Super Mario World and F-Zero, among other titles. The former is regarded as one of the greatest games of all time while the latter had faux-3D graphics with fluidity and speed unseen on a console before. For the next five years or so, some special games graced the system: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Kart, Metroid, Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, Star Fox. I could go on, but essentially, short of Sonic and a few other Sega exclusives, Nintendo destroyed the competition in terms of quality, with dozens of games that have stood the test of time. That puts the SNES Classic in different territory than its predecessor, which, nostalgia aside, featured many games that, for obvious reasons, aren't up to modern standards. While I utterly adore Metroid, trying to introduce someone to the original today is tough. But nearly all the games Nintendo has included in its latest console are as enjoyable today as they were when they were first released.
Nintendo World Championships return on October 7th
You won't have to wait nearly so long for the third Nintendo World Championships as you did for the second. Nintendo has revealed that its third World Championships will take place in New York City on October 7th, 2017. Anyone in the US or Canada can register (it's not really a world tournament, is it?), but you'll have to qualify by playing Mario Kart 7 for the 2DS/3DS at certain Best Buy locations in eight American cities. The first qualifiers start August 19th in New York City and San Jose, while Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Dallas, Seattle and Miami are also on deck.
This Japanese VR arcade put me inside 'Mario Kart'
Back when Bandai Namco opened its first VR arcade in Tokyo last April, I was keen to check out its various HTC Vive-powered VR games. My first ride there would have been Gundam VR: Daiba Assault, just so I could get a taste of what it's like hitching a ride on a Gundam's hand. The problem was by the time I got to the city the following month, this pop-up store already had a three-month waiting list, and I never got around to visiting before it closed in October. Luckily, as of last Friday, VR Zone is back in new form. Not only is it now the world's largest VR arcade, but it's also moved to Shinjuku, a more accessible downtown area in Tokyo. And this time, it's staying for two years. More importantly, the arcade has added some widely anticipated games that may sound familiar to you -- namely, Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, Dragon Ball VR: Master the Kamehameha and Evangelion VR: The Soul Seat. As a bonus, Gundam VR has also been brought over from the previous site.
Mario Kart is drifting into a Japanese VR arcade
Few things in life are as uniquely stressful as pulling into first place in Mario Kart, only to hear a Blue Shell hurtling at you from behind. There's no escape -- all you can do is close your eyes and accept your inevitable defeat. That experience is going to get infinitely more dreadful for players who visit the VR Zone in Shinjuku, Japan: Bandai Namco has developed a version of Mario Kart for the HTC Vive, complete with the tiny pseudo-cars for players to plop down into.
Real-world 'Mario Kart' is headed to Japan's Nintendo theme park
To celebrate the start of construction on Super Nintendo World, Universal Studios Japan has released its first teaser trailer for the upcoming park attraction. And what's more, the pair confirmed that a Mario Kart ride will be the jewel in its crown, which should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. Previously published patent documents suggest this guaranteed crowd-pleaser will run on a rail, but let one rider control drift while their kart partner concentrates on power-up and weapon use. Super Nintendo World is set to open at some vague time before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, though, so it's unlikely we'll get any firm details in the immediate future.
'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe' on the Switch is basically perfect
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is poised to be the next must-have Switch game. Regardless of the last Mario Kart title you played -- our experiences vary from Mario Kart 64 to DS iterations to the Wii U's original Mario Kart 8 -- Nintendo is aiming to make this the most definitive Mario racer yet. To start, there are 48 courses and 42 characters (including some Splatoon additions), as well as an upgraded 1080p mode when you're playing it docked from the Switch and some auto-steering help for younger gamers (or grown-ups who should know better). Those Joy-Con controllers double as mini-controllers for two-player battles on the go, while a fully fleshed-out battle mode, with several arenas and play modes, form the biggest gameplay addition to the original that launched on the Wii U. Now, you probably knew most of that already, but how does it play? Four editors share their thoughts after a week of racing, while one colleague swears he won't buy the remake, regardless of how good it might be.
ICYMI: Watching plants grow and playing 'Mario Kart' with an actual car
Today on In Case You Missed It: The thought of watching a plant grow seems, well, boring. But researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria used lasers, fluorescent lights and a microscope to track the growth of a flowering weed's roots. The end result is a close-up 3D video that looks more like a glowing burrowing worm than a plant. The researchers also twisted the plate the plants are growing on to see how the roots adjust to changes in gravity, which could be helpful when we need to grow food in space.
'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe' gets new racers and revives old modes
Without any hint that a new version was in the works, it was pretty clear that Mario Kart 8, one of the best reasons to own a Wii U, would be ported to the Switch. This is good news for the record-breaking legions of folks who bought the new console and want a great first-party racing experience that's been retooled and expanded. The Switch version, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, includes all current DLC and several new characters to zoom around your favorite tracks. And Rainbow Road, if you're that person.
The Morning After: Wednesday, January 11th 2017
Welcome to hump day, and we have a mixture of good and bad news. Read about how a smart breast pump proved that CES can give us useful gadgets that solve real problems and the cancellation of a highly-anticipated Xbox title that let you fight alongside a dragon buddy. We also reported from the first million-dollar e-race, where Formula E's pro drivers were bested by the world's best simulator racers.
'Mario Kart 64' is the Wii U Virtual Console's latest addition
Sure, Mario Kart 8 is great and all, but if you wanted to see the original version of "Toad's Turnpike" on the Wii U, your options have been pretty limited. Tomorrow changes that, as Mario Kart 64 will release on the system's Virtual Console. Revisiting the Nintendo 64 game will run you $9.99, and for that you'll get off-TV play and dim, washed out graphics -- the latter is a staple for just about everything on Virtual Console.
Skyrim, NBA 2K and new Mario are coming to Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch looks like an impressive piece of hardware capable of going from the living room to mobile with the swipe of a hand, but it's nothing without a lineup of acclaimed, high-quality games and fresh experiences. In the Switch's debut teaser trailer, we got a glimpse at some of the software hitting Nintendo's new hardware, including a new 3D Mario game, a new version of Splatoon (look at those hairstyles) and a new Mario Kart featuring King Boo and two item slots. Of course we saw The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as well, but it was the third-party support that really stood out.
Hot Wheels AI is the love child of slot cars and Roomba
Model cars and track racing are the bread and butter of Hot Wheels, but they might look a little long in the tooth compared with flashy console games like Gran Turismo and Need for Speed. With the new Hot Wheels AI set, toy autos get a bit of a boost -- not just in speed, but in intelligence. Now you can race against a computer in the real world, right there on your living room rug.
