Tag Archives: Kart

Technology

Mario Kart Tour Says So Long To Its Controversial Gacha Pipe

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After three years, Nintendo is finally removing the contentious “gacha pipe” from its popular mobile racer, Mario Kart Tour. The pipes, which players had to purchase with in-game “rubies” to get a chance at unlockable prizes, will be replaced with a new in-game store.

The official English Twitter account for Mario Kart Tour announced that gacha pipes will be removed from the game come October 5. In its stead, Mario Kart Tour will be implementing an in-game store called the Spotlight Shop, in which players can directly purchase gliders, karts, and drivers individually instead of having to rely on luck.

Much like Mario Kart proper, Mario Kart Tour allows you to select a driver, a kart, and a glider before matching up with players from around the world and Tokyo Drifting to your heart’s (and index finger’s) content. However, if you wanted to unlock the game’s drivers—many of which were only available during certain periods—you’d have to cough up some rubies and “pull” on a green pipe in hopes of it shooting a new driver, kart, or glider.

Although the gacha pipe didn’t dish out duplicates, according to Video Games Chronicle, Mario Kart Tour currently has 172 gliders, 193 playable characters, and 246 karts. Considering 10 rubies cost $5.99 USD and that pipe pulls cost five rubies, the odds of you getting the rare find you were hoping for were quite slim unless you were willing to open your wallet wide. Time will tell whether the asking prices for individual item purchases in the Spotlight Shop will break the bank for mobile players.

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Read More: Mario Kart Tour Is Pretty Good When It’s Not Nickel And Diming You

In addition to removing the gacha pipe, Mario Kart Tour will also be adding a new battle mode in which players can test their mettle against each other. But for the time being, folks online are showing varying reactions to the news that Mario Kart Tour’s virtual gambling will soon be a thing of the past.

“Damn this game might actually be worth a damn now,” one Twitter user said.

“R.I.P. the Pipe Pulls 2019-2022,” said another, which was followed up by a reply of a dancing Luigi, saying, “You will not be missed.”

“So instead of spending your hard-earned rubies on a gacha pipe, now you just spend your rubies on the characters from the shop. Wow, this is great. Mario Kart Tour will soon be [a] gacha free game!” replied another.



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Technology

This $20,000 Chevy Corvette Kart Is Your Ticket to Track Day Immortality

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When it comes to autocrossing and track days, there are thousands of options in terms of what to buy. But let’s be real, the small-block Chevy is always the answer. Actually, let me clarify that point further: the Corvette is always the answer. Ask me how I know. Don’t just buy any ‘Vette, though. Buy this 2007 LS2-powered C6 that’s been converted into a track-ready Corvette kart. It’s only $20,000 from RP Exotics in St. Louis, Missouri.

High points? Almost everything. Just look at it. The cage actually seems reasonably well done. The lightbar is a nice touch. The exhaust is cut very short and it seems very loud.

Low points? It’s an automatic, the taillights are fresh off a trailer, and I don’t like the color. Besides that, though, it’s got a lot going for it. C6 Corvettes are already quick cars. Minus that pesky fiberglass? Well, it’s only going be faster. To be clear, this isn’t a Z06 or anything, but the LS2 still churns out a healthy 400 horsepower. You can probably add a few to that now that most of the exhaust has been chopped off as well.

Folks, without the mufflers, it just sounds right:

As a heads up, it does seem like this project is based on a salvage title Corvette that has seen some flood damage, likely from Hurricane Harvey. Just something to keep in mind, though it’s a little relieving that a perfectly good Vette wasn’t sacrificed to make this happen. Also, the kart has 97,568 miles on the clock. That’s only worth a mention since someone might buy it and wring it out on track.

With all that being said, though, this thing is still sweet.

I hear people beat around the bush when they talk about tracking a car. They’re just one polyurethane bushing away on the Miata from total domination. Just a few PSI less on the rear tires and it will all be gravy. True, there are cheaper track day toys available, but in terms of fun per dollar? I’m not sure any of them can come close to this.

Email the author at peter@thedrive.com

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Technology

Mario Kart 8’s Coconut Mall Track Got a Wild Update, And the Internet Is Taking Notice

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This week, Nintendo released the second wave of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass DLC, which included Sky High Sundae — an entirely new addition to the Mario Kart franchise.

Nintendo’s announcement was followed up with a video that that took the Internet by surprise. It revealed that Coconut Mall, a course first introduced on the Wii, would be receiving a slight update. In the new version, the Shy Guy drivers waiting near the finish line — the last obstacle drivers face upon reaching the finish line — will do chaotic donut spins in their attempts to slow down players.

Something like this best seen, so here’s the video linked that shows you the update, and how the Shy Guys try to donut spin you way off the course.

The video, showing Princess Peach getting slammed by a Shy Guy after being blasted by a red shell, went viral, as of now generating over 33 thousand likes and more than 700,000 views.

The internet obviously couldn’t resist the meme potential this latest gem possessed.

@TheNCSmaster tweeting out this hilarious video comparison of how the Shy Guys are basically competing in the same donut-spining competition that Mordecai and Rigby enter, in order to get a cameo in their favorite cop show in the episode Carter and Briggs of Regular Show.

@ElliotDuby didn’t exactly Call Saul, but he did reference the Breaking Bad episode where Walter White goes crazy doing donut spins in Walter Jr.’s red Dodge Challenger SRT8.

Most hilarious though, was the out of context Ronald McDonald page, @McDonaldsOOC, tweeting this funny video of good ol’ Ron spinning out in a weird McDonald’s mobile.

But of course, the meme potential is unlimited, and this is only a highlight of the more than 2,800 quote tweets attached, so go check out the rest for yourself in the original tweet linked above!

For more on Mario Kart 8 and meme culture on the internet, (is it still Morbin time?) stick to IGN!

Diego Ramos Bechara is a Freelance Writer for IGN, and he’s a fan of all things Star Wars, Rockstar, Naughty Dog and Batman.

You can follow him on Twitter @DRamosBechara.



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Technology

Rumour: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Wave 2 Datamine Might Have Revealed Future DLC Tracks

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Well, it looks like there’s potentially been another Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Booster Course Pass leak. Following the release of Wave 2, it seems dataminers have been able to decipher some of the tracks coming in future updates and match it up with the original leak. Here’s the rundown courtesy of Twitter user Fishguy6564:

Here’s our own breakdown (tracks listed above highlighted):

– Rock Cup: London Loop (Tour), Peach Gardens (DS), Boo Lake / Broken Pier (GBA), Alpine Pass (3DS)
– Moon Cup: Berlin Byways (Tour), Waluigi Stadium / Wario Colleseum (GCN), Merry Mountains (?), Rainbow Road (3DS)
– Fruit Cup: Amsterdam Drift (Tour), Wii, DS, ?
– Boomerang Cup: Singapore Speedway (Tour), GameCube, GBA, Los Angeles Laps (Tour)
– Feather Cup: Tour, Wii, Sunset Wilds (GBA), Tour
– Cherry Cup: Bangkok Rush (Tour), GameCube, SNES, ?
– Acorn Cup: Vancouver Velocity (Tour), Maple Treeway (Wii), ?, ?
– Spiny Cup: Tour, GameCube, ?, Wii

Update: Dataminer OatmealDome has also explained what’s going on in a bit more detail:

Nintendo accidentally left many music preview files in the version 2.1.0 update, allowing us to identify multiple unreleased courses!

What is a “music preview file”? Because it may take some time to load a full music file from the ROM, a separate “prefetch” file is created of the first ~1 second which can be loaded into memory in advance. This prefetch is played while the full file is being loaded.

Unfortunately for Nintendo, while they deleted the full songs of unreleased courses from the ROM, they accidentally left some of the prefetch files. (They’re stored in a separate place.)

It’s possible to identify several courses just based on the first ~1s of their music!

So, there you go – these tracks could be coming in future waves if this datamine is accurate. Keep in mind though that there’s no official confirmation and everything is potentially subject to change between now and the release of these future waves.

How would you feel about the above tracks being featured in the Booster Course Pass? Tell us down below.



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Technology

Mario Kart 8 Update Brings Manslaughter Back To Coconut Mall

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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch received its second wave of Booster Course Pass DLC today, which adds eight new courses and finally fixes an old one. Let’s just say Coconut Mall’s Shy Guys aren’t so shy anymore, and if you get too close you will get merc’d.

The first set of new courses arrived back in March, one of the most anticipated among them being Coconut Mall, a breezy classic from Mario Kart Wii remastered for the modern game. But there was just one problem: the Miis that ram players near the end of the course were replaced with Shy Guys. Adding insult to injury was the fact that the Shy Guys no longer drove. Their cars remained stationary. Mario Kart fans were disturbed.

Well, in an extremely rare turn of events, Nintendo listened to fans and restored Coconut Mall’s death alley to some of its former glory. The Miis are still Shy Guys, but they now ratchet slightly forward and start spinning around in a spiral of vehicular carnage.

Today’s DLC also adds New York Minute (Tour), Mario Circuit 3 (SNES), Kalimari Desert (N64), Waluigi Pinball (DS), Sydney Sprint (Tour), Snow Land (GBA), Mushroom Gorge (Wii), and Sky-High Sundae, an entirely new level exclusive to MK8. Waluigi Pinball is a cult-favorite deep-cut. Mushroom Gorge returns with its infamous Gap Cut intact. Sky-High Sundae is a visual feast. But Coconut Mall’s Shy Guys are still stealing the show.

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Today’s update isn’t just a content drop, though. Nintendo is also still tweaking the underlying game. With the arrival of March’s DLC, it patched Item Boxes to make them regenerate faster after players pick them up. Today it did so again. The developers also increased the number of time trial ghosts players can download from 16 to 32 and adjusted how far vehicles get thrown based on their weight.

It’s far and away the most Nintendo has ever updated a game five years into its lifecycle, let alone one that was originally released on the Wii U back in 2014. While some analysts claim Mario Kart 9 is already in the works, there are still another 24 courses coming to MK8 through the end of 2023. No doubt by that point the Shy Guys will be tearing up more than just Coconut Mall and the Item Boxes will regenerate faster than Nintendo’s lawyers can send a DMCA notice.



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Technology

Random: Rejoice! Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Coconut Mall Has Been ‘Fixed’

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Wave 2 of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass might have just dropped. But wait, stop your engines. Why not go and check out Coconut Mall before diving into the new courses?

Why would you want to do that, you ask? Well, Nintendo might have brought in Wave 2 today, but it’s also confirmed that it’s updated one of the courses that came in Wave 1.

In both the Wii version and the Mario Kart Tour version of this fan-favourite track, there are cars towards the end of the course that can drive into your character and knock you out. A bit unsporting, but it became pretty iconic. You could shove opponents into them, and it made for a little twisty, turny driving towards the end of a lap. This wasn’t present when Coconut Mall debuted in Deluxe in March, and lots of fans weren’t happy about it:

But Nintendo has taken note, and alongside these new courses, the Big N has gone back and updated the course to make those Shy Guys drive those cars! You go, Shy Guys. We believe you can hit all of our foes.

They don’t move in exactly the same pattern that they have done in previous versions, but we’re pleased that Nintendo has gone back and updated this track with this much-requested feature.

We’ll add that one back into the rotation then!

How do you feel about this fix? Are you happy that the cars in Coconut Mall move again? Let us know!



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Technology

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass Wave 2 Is Now Available

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Update: Nintendo has waved the checkered flag! Wave 2 is now ready to race for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe owners in all regions! Get on over to the track, get your updates downloaded, and pull up at the starting line.

We’ll see you there, and keep an eye out for our impressions of the eight courses in the near future!

Original article [Thu 4th Aug, 2022 11:40 BST]: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be full to the brim with racers new and old as Wave 2 of the Booster Course Pass launches later today on Switch!

Finally revealed last week after lots of fan speculation, Wave 2 brings another eight courses to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, on top of the first eight that Wave 1 brought us back in March.

The update drops at 3pm BST today, so get ready to hop back in the driver’s seat. No official times have been confirmed for other regions, but we suspect that it’ll be roughly the same time across the board.

In case you’ve forgotten what courses are being added in Wave 2, well, we’ve got you covered:

  • Turnip Cup
    • Tour New York Minute (Mario Kart Tour)
    • SNES Mario Circuit 3 (Super Mario Kart)
    • N64 Kalimari Desert (Mario Kart 64)
    • DS Waluigi Pinball (Mario Kart DS)
  • Propeller Cup
    • Tour Sydney Sprint (Mario Kart Tour)
    • GBA Snow Land (Mario Kart: Super Circuit)
    • Wii Mushroom Gorge (Mario Kart Wii)
    • Sky-High Sundae

Of particular note is the last course in the Propeller Cup, Sky-High Sundae, which is a brand new course. While all seven other returning tracks have already been added to the mobile game Mario Kart Tour, Sky-High Sundae is debuting in Deluxe before making its way to your phones.

Remember, if you have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass subscription, you’ll have access to these new courses for free. If not, and you haven’t already bought the Booster Course Pass, you can grab it right now!

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

Will you be playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe today? Which course are you looking forward to trying out? Let us know in the comments!



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Technology

How Do You Feel About Wave 2 Of The Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pack?

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The second wave of the new Booster Course tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be here next week, and we’re feeling hyped to try out some new races (and a little disappointed that some of them look more like Mario Kart Tour tracks than Mario Kart 8 tracks).

In the spirit of hype, we’re trying to gauge how people are feeling about this new wave, and the DLC in general. Is it everything you’d hoped for? A cool bonus to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription? A bit disappointing? Or are you just totally bummed that Nintendo is pumping time and money into an old Mario Kart game instead of something else — like a new Mario Kart game?

Use these polls to tell us how you really feel!

That’s all the questions we could think of… but tell us your overall thoughts on this latest wave of new tracks in the comments below!



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Technology

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Datamine Might Have Leaked Details About Future DLC Tracks

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Not long after the first wave of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass arrived, an individual known as ‘fishguy6564’ was able to crack the DLC and apparently work out what Mario Kart game each of the future DLC tracks would be based on.

The original upload revealed the Turnip Cup would have Tour, SNES, N64 and DS courses. And the Propeller Cup would feature a Tour, GBA, Wii and mystery course. You can see this in the video tweet dating back to March:

In the end, the tracks announced for the Turnip Cup and Propeller Cup all matched up – with Nintendo revealing New York Minute, Mario Circuit 3, Kalimari Desert, Waluigi Pinball, Sydney Sprint, Snow Land, Mushroom Gorge and Sky-High Sundae for Wave 2.

Considering this was accurate, it’s now got many Mario Kart fans wondering if the rest of the potential prefixes are accurate. If you are interested to see what games will be represented, here’s the possible lineup (via Nintendo Everything):

– Rock Cup: Tour, DS, GBA, 3DS
– Moon Cup: Tour, GameCube, ?, 3DS
– Fruit Cup: Tour, Wii, DS, ?
– Boomerang Cup: Tour, GameCube, GBA, Tour
– Feather Cup: Tour, Wii, GBA, Tour
– Cherry Cup: Tour, GameCube, SNES, ?
– Acorn Cup: Tour, Wii, ?, ?
– Spiny Cup: Tour, GameCube, ?, Wii

As you can see, there are quite a number of mystery tracks listed – which could be similar to Sky-High Sundae. Noticeably, there’s no mention of anymore Mario Kart 64 tracks. Keep in mind, the list above has not been officially confirmed by Nintendo and even if it is accurate, it could still be subject to change.

What other tracks would you like to see added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s future DLC waves? Leave a comment down below.



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Video: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Wave 2 DLC Reveal – Here’s What We Thought

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We’ve been wondering all month when Nintendo was going to reveal the ‘Wave 2’ DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and it’s now finally lifted the lid on the next batch of tracks.

For this next wave, we’re getting the Turnip Cup and Propeller Cup. That’s eight tracks all up, including one new one. Players can expect to race on classics such as Mario Circuit 3 and Kalimari Desert to more recent ones like Sydney Sprint and New York Minute. Last but not least there’ll also be the new course, Sky-High Sundae.

If you’re wondering what we thought, our video team held a round table – swapping out Zion for Kate! So join Alex, Felix and Kate as they share their initial impressions and excitement for this next wave of Mario Kart 8 DLC.

You can also catch up on this announcement in the following Nintendo Life posts:

Image: Nintendo

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Wave 2 DLC launches next week on August 4th. Will you be checking out these courses? Tell us below.



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