Support NeoGAF

[Palette Swap]

Some answers here border on Gamers vs Humanity.
God forbid people of all ages have fun with an entertainment product they bought without taking anything from anyone.

Good on Nintendo. If anything, they should add even more granularity to these options, to account for a subtler learning curve.

 

[entremet]

What this is telling me is that rubberbanding aside the enemy AI in this game is complete garbage. He won without a single drift and a single item-use. Heh.

If people want to use this, more power to them. I don't begrudge in inclusion of the "easy-auto" difficulty in Platinum Games either.

50CC is baby mode lol.

 

[Timeaisis]

So it's like bowling with the bumpers up.

 

[lastrealgameralive]

Ah. A new feature. I preferred giving bad drivers the backseat to throw stuff in Mario Kart: Double Dash.

 

[Chronospherics]

uhm, the bowling alley comparison is actually perfect.

The steering assist doesn't make you win, just like the bumpeers don't make you knock down all pins. Sure, you might land a strike, you might win a race. But what made Luigi win in that youtube clip was luck. - let's not pretend that Mario Kart isn't largely based around luck - when you're in the lead it's all about the rate of blue shells others get, when you're in the pack it's all about whether you happen to get stun locked by red shells from 3 different players.

No, however the bumpers do provide clear and immediate feedback that something went wrong, with a very visual disadvantage.

That's the difference I'm getting at. The bowling alleys bumpers better facilitate players to learn the game because it's very clear that to the player what went wrong the moment it happens. You see the ball hit the side, it's not going where you intended any more.

It's the difference between the systems in that kinect racing game, and the system in MK8.

• In Kinect Racing (forget the name of the game) you hit the wall and then the game helps you.
• In MK8, the game helps you before you hit the wall.

I'm not saying that Mario Kart 8's implementation is bad, it's a nice option to have, but some players might prefer the freedom to make their own mistakes, even if they want a little help getting out of them, plus it's not clear how players will observe the feedback the antena system provides.

To clarify though, I'm not disagreeing with you. I think some of you are very ready to argue with someone that they perceive as being against accessibility in games, but that isn't what I'm saying - in fact as a games user researcher, my job is partially to ensure accessibility in games, but it's also helpful to think about what the implentation is doing, whether you want players to learn from it, how much freedom you want to take away from them, and what anything you do take away, might take away from the experience.

Good on Nintendo. If anything, they should add even more granularity to these options, to account for a subtler learning curve.

Yes, absolutely.

I would love to see assisted, semi-assisted, and unassisted options, etc.

 

[WonderzL]

This is also good for disabled people, jfyi.

 

[Fliesen]

No, however the bumpers do provide clear and immediate feedback that something went wrong, with a very visual disadvantage.

That's the difference I'm getting at. The bowling alleys bumpers better facilitate players to learn the game because it's very clear that to the player what went wrong the moment it happens. You see the ball hit the side, it's not going where you intended any more.

It's the difference between the systems in that kinect racing game, and the system in MK8.

• In Kinect Racing (forget the name of the game) you hit the wall and then the game helps you.
• In MK8, the game helps you before you hit the wall.

I'm not saying that Mario Kart 8's implementation is bad, it's a nice option to have, but some players might prefer the freedom to make their own mistakes, even if they want a little help getting out of them, plus it's not clear how players will observe the feedback the antena system provides.

To clarify though, I'm not disagreeing with you. I think some of you are very ready to argue with someone that they perceive as being against accessibility in games, but that isn't what I'm saying - in fact as a games user researcher, my job is partially to ensure accessibility in games, but it's also helpful to think about what the implentation is doing, whether you want players to learn from it, how much freedom you want to take away from them, and what anything you do take away, might take away from the experience.

but how else should it provide feedback? If there's literally a chasm - there's nothing to bump against. So what should happen?
If there were an invisible wall that some people bump against and some don't, that'd be really bad game design.
The "antenna" that lights up when "someone's remotely assisting my steering" is actually a super charming feedback that is rather obvious to the player, while not being disruptive or confusing, neither to the player themselves nor anyone else.
It's not at all dissimilar your dad reaching onto your handle bar when teaching you to ride your bike. "okay, i should have leaned into that curve harder, i'll try that during the next lap".

I actually think it's a great implementation. Maybe there should be a toggle-able audio feedback. (off when people just wanna have frustration less fun, on for 'learning' purposes)
(unless the game does not communicate what the yellow antenna means in a clear enough manner...)

 

[Nanashrew]

Did some of ya'll learn how to ride a bike without training wheels? I don't consider this feature to be a bad thing as it's meant for really young kids who want to play games but don't know how yet.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

It's a nice feature to have cause it is a good crutch for people who aren't capable of learning but want to play.

My mum used to do that. I thought I was amazing at Donkey Kong Country when I was a kid.

LOL

 

[Synless]

uhm, the bowling alley comparison is actually perfect.

The steering assist doesn't make you win, just like the bumpeers don't make you knock down all pins. Sure, you might land a strike, you might win a race. But what made Luigi win in that youtube clip was luck. - let's not pretend that Mario Kart isn't largely based around luck - when you're in the lead it's all about the rate of blue shells others get, when you're in the pack it's all about whether you happen to get stun locked by red shells from 3 different players.

This mainly likely eliminates the "zero"-frames from your kid's game of bowling, which are the times when they simply can't stay on track on rainbow road and end up having the race finished last, before they even reach the finish line.



cmd+F "fun" ... 0 results. But hey, at least he's better than others. You're raising a real winner. Winning is what counts!

Where the fuck does your assumption he isn't or will not be having fun come from? Because I didn't type it in that post? Because I sure put it in other ones earlier on.

 

[Chronospherics]

but how else should it provide feedback? If there's literally a chasm - there's nothing to bump against. So what should happen?
If there were an invisible wall that some people bump against and some don't, that'd be really bad game design.
The "antenna" that lights up when "someone's remotely assisting my steering" is actually a super charming feedback that is rather obvious to the player, while not being disruptive or confusing, neither to the player themselves nor anyone else.
It's not at all dissimilar your dad reaching onto your handle bar when teaching you to ride your bike. "okay, i should have leaned into that curve harder, i'll try that during the next lap".

I actually think it's a great implementation. Maybe there should be a toggle-able audio feedback. (off when people just wanna have frustration less fun, on for 'learning' purposes)
(unless the game does not communicate what the yellow antenna means in a clear enough manner...)

There are lots of ways to provide feedback. You could drop the players speed a little, like in wipeout, you could make the antenna red so that players notice, and notice it as something they want to avoid, you could let players hit the wall and then help them after they collide, so they experience a bit of the impact, but it doesn't let them get off-track.

Giving people options at least, would be a nice addition so if they want a bit of help but they want to be able to make their own mistakes too, then they have options for that. If we consider simulation racers, they often have 5-10 different options for driver assists

• Steering assist
• Braking assists
• Stability Assists (TCM, ABS etc)
• Driving line
• Braking line

For instance my girlfriend plays sonic and sega all stars racing with me sometimes, and she can drive the car just fine, but she gets lost during the boat and plane segments. Providing her with a steering assist like MK8s, wouldn't be very helpful, because she feels that she's got a good understanding of the driving mechanic, but struggles with orientation instead. An arrow, or driving line, would be perfect for her, but the game has no options, so she just drives in circles instead.

 

[Fliesen]

Where the fuck does your assumption he isn't or will not be having fun come from? Because I didn't type it in that post? Because I sure put it in other ones earlier on.

Your entire argument was that you wouldn't allow your son to use that feature because you'd feel it'd be detrimental to him "learning" the game.
In your last post, you ended up pointing out how much "better" he is at the game than kids of similar age.

I don't feel it's unfair to point out that you're seemingly putting some rather big attention and emphasis on your son's skills in the game and about the feature's impact on learning, rather than his enjoyment? You brought up multiple times how much his skills improved and how you think this feature is detrimental to kid's learning.

There are ways to provide feedback without hitting things. You could drop the players speed a little, like in wipeout, you could make the antenna red so that players notice, and notice it as something they want to avoid, you could let players hit the wall and then help them after they collide, so they experience a bit of the impact, but it doesn't let them get off-track.

Giving people options at least, would be a nice addition so if they want a bit of help but they want to be able to make their own mistakes too, then they have options for that. If we consider simulation racers, they often have 5-10 different options for driver assists
.

yeah, the system does need to be the same for walls as well as falls, though. So your "bump the wall and help them after they collide" is kinda off the table. And whether the light on the antenna lights up red or yellow - do you really consider that a huge difference? Sure, they could make the kart decelerate, but isn't that even worse? i feel like steering assist doesn't change how the game "feels" as much as breaking assist. You don't really break in Mario Kart, do you? So instead of the game helping you to play properly, it would make you do something you never would in the first place.

I get where you're coming from, but none of the implentations you mentioned seem to be superior to the way it's been implemented. Apart from the red vs yellow light, which is a matter of taste

 

[Synless]

Your entire argument was that you wouldn't allow your son to use that feature because you'd feel it'd be detrimental to him "learning" the game.
In your last post, you ended up pointing out how much "better" he is at the game than kids of similar age.

I don't feel it's unfair to point out that you're seemingly putting some rather big attention and emphasis on your son's skills in the game and about the feature's impact on learning, rather than his enjoyment? You brought up multiple times how much his skills improved and how you think this feature is detrimental to kid's learning.

Ok, I'll clear this up. My son loves the game. He has fun playing it all the time. He enjoys playing with people and against the computer. This is just as true now as it was during his growing pains with the game.

 

[Chronospherics]

cmd+F "fun" ... 0 results. But hey, at least he's better than others. You're raising a real winner. Winning is what counts!

Winning and complexity also be part of the fun. Not saying I agree with his perspective (I'd let my child play with assists on if they wanted, but probably encourage them to try the game with them off later) but I really dislike it when people act like because someone wants to have a good understanding of something, that because someone that wants to succeed, they aren't focused on having fun.

I use an elite controller on Titanfall, bunny hopping around with paddles. I use an arcade stick on street fighter, plinking my 1 frame links. I enjoy being good at games, I enjoy the technicality and I enjoy the mechanics underpinning all of those extra systems that I get to experience by throwing myself into every aspect of the game. I am perfectly appreciative that different people have a right to enjoy these games in different ways, but at the same time, let's not act that everyone that's good at something isn't having fun.

I feel that that kind of thinking results from cognitive dissonance. People who struggle with games often dismiss the idea that they're skill may be lacking, and their opponents, superior, by telling themselves that their opponents aren't having fun.

 

[Fliesen]

Ok, I'll clear this up. My son loves the game. He has fun playing it all the time. He enjoys playing with people and against the computer.

Not worried about your son, you do you. i just felt like mentioning that in a thread about making a kid's game enjoyable for all skills and ages, you sounded a bit like the Mario Kart equivalent of a Hockey mom. (The whole "my boy's already way ahead of his peers" sentiment, that you kept reiterating).
I feel like i'd appreciate someone telling me when i were sound a bit too much like an 'overzealous' parent. - the whole part about "i wouldn't let him use <something that might him enjoy the game>" kinda rubbed me the wrong way. The "let" part. :/

But let's not derail this any further, we got our respective points across.

I use an elite controller on Titanfall, bunny hopping around with paddles. I use an arcade stick on street fighter, plinking my 1 frame links. I enjoy being good at games, I enjoy the technicality and I enjoy the mechanics underpinning all of those extra systems that I get to experience by throwing myself into every aspect of the game. I am perfectly appreciative that different people have a right to enjoy these games in different ways, but at the same time, let's not act that everyone that's good at something isn't having fun.
.

yeah, but we're still talking about steering assist in the lowest speed setting of a casual kid's game.

I'm hella competitive and i greatly enjoy being better in certain fields than others - but i'd try to never slip into any silly kind of elitism that prevents others from enjoying the same hobbies i do.
#teamEasyModeForDarksouls

 

[marc^o^]

Ok, I'll clear this up. My son loves the game. He has fun playing it all the time. He enjoys playing with people and against the computer. This is just as true now as it was during his growing pains with the game.

So picture your kid invited to a friend's, who just got MK8 Deluxe, and absolutely don't know how to play. This mode will help both to enjoy making a cup together, despite their skill difference.

 

[Fliesen]

So picture your kid invited to a friend's, who just got MK8 Deluxe, and absolutely don't know how to play. This mode will help both to enjoy making a cup together, despite their skill difference.

Good point!
Being "the best" can be really shitty, too ... like if you're the only one that has a console with Smash Bros (and the respective practice), good luck finding people to casually play local MP with.
It's the same when you're the one who knows all the songs in Sing Star or Guitar Hero

 

[Chronospherics]

Your entire argument was that you wouldn't allow your son to use that feature because you'd feel it'd be detrimental to him "learning" the game.
In your last post, you ended up pointing out how much "better" he is at the game than kids of similar age.

I don't feel it's unfair to point out that you're seemingly putting some rather big attention and emphasis on your son's skills in the game and about the feature's impact on learning, rather than his enjoyment? You brought up multiple times how much his skills improved and how you think this feature is detrimental to kid's learning.

yeah, the system does need to be the same for walls as well as falls, though. So your "bump the wall and help them after they collide" is kinda off the table. And whether the light on the antenna lights up red or yellow - do you really consider that a huge difference? Sure, they could make the kart decelerate, but isn't that even worse? i feel like steering assist doesn't change how the game "feels" as much as breaking assist. You don't really break in Mario Kart, do you? So instead of the game helping you to play properly, it would make you do something you never would in the first place.

I get where you're coming from, but none of the implentations you mentioned seem to be superior to the way it's been implemented. Apart from the red vs yellow light, which is a matter of taste

I'm not suggesting them as superior, I'm suggesting them as options.

They're also the type of thing you would need to playtest, to see how players react to, and understand the systems. So I'm not presuming to be predictive of that, not at all.

Red generally conveys negative information, as a hazard, so it tends to be seen as having objectively affordance than yellow (think of things like traffic lights and how people interpret those). So there's good reason to feel it would provide better feedback, but as I say, you would have to playtest that feature to figure out if that's actually what players wanted.

 

[archreaper93]

2 questions.

1. Is it automatic, or do you have to turn it on?

2. Will someone who knows how to play always beat someone who doesn't and is just using this?

 

[Fliesen]

Red generally conveys negative information, as a hazard, so it tends to be seen as having objectively better affordance than yellow. So there's good reason to feel it would provide better feedback, but as I say, you would have to playtest that feature to figure out if that's actually what players wanted.

i mean, i could imagine red working badly with Mario, as the red wouldn't contrast against his hat. (he's shorter than luigi, so the antenna would end up right behind his hat, wouldn't it?)
But then again, they could design around this, of course.

I feel the yellow contrasts really nicely.

 

[Synless]

So picture your kid invited to a friend's, who just got MK8 Deluxe, and absolutely don't know how to play. This mode will help both to enjoy making a cup together, despite their skill difference.

I get that. If we go all the way back to my original post all I said is I think modes like this prohibit learning... I think this got way out of hand. I wasn't trying to brag, I was just using the only example I have.

 

[Vital Tundra]

I get that. If we go all the way back to my original post all I said is I think modes like this prohibit learning... I think this got way out of hand. I wasn't trying to brag, I was just using the only example I have.

It really doesn't prohibit learning, though. There are many things to consider in Mario Kart, and the steering, coupled with learning how to drift, use items, all while holding the acceleration is a lot to ask for in children. A simple system of keeping them on the track isn't prohibiting nothing, as they will learn to stay on the track regardless.

 

[Gravy Boat]

No, however the bumpers do provide clear and immediate feedback that something went wrong, with a very visual disadvantage.

That's the difference I'm getting at. The bowling alleys bumpers better facilitate players to learn the game because it's very clear that to the player what went wrong the moment it happens. You see the ball hit the side, it's not going where you intended any more.

It's the difference between the systems in that kinect racing game, and the system in MK8.

• In Kinect Racing (forget the name of the game) you hit the wall and then the game helps you.
• In MK8, the game helps you before you hit the wall.

I'm not saying that Mario Kart 8's implementation is bad, it's a nice option to have, but some players might prefer the freedom to make their own mistakes, even if they want a little help getting out of them, plus it's not clear how players will observe the feedback the antena system provides.

To clarify though, I'm not disagreeing with you. I think some of you are very ready to argue with someone that they perceive as being against accessibility in games, but that isn't what I'm saying - in fact as a games user researcher, my job is partially to ensure accessibility in games, but it's also helpful to think about what the implentation is doing, whether you want players to learn from it, how much freedom you want to take away from them, and what anything you do take away, might take away from the experience.



Yes, absolutely.

I would love to see assisted, semi-assisted, and unassisted options, etc.

You're looking at it wrong. Kids who bowl with the bumpers up aren't looking for 'oh that's where I went wrong' feedback. Chances are they don't go bowling often enough to actually learn how to get better. They just want to knock stuff down on the rare occasion they get to play, not get better.

 

[CJY]

Why don't you help her rather than "compete". Let the children dictate the pace so they have fun, next thing you know they are actually good because guess what they are children who learn extremely quickly especially with parental interaction.

It's not always parents playing with kids. It could be an 8 year old playing with a 3 year old. Or many, many other permutations where having this smart steering would make a lot of sense. Nintendo are geniuses

 

[Fliesen]

It really doesn't prohibit learning, though. There are many things to consider in Mario Kart, and the steering, coupled with learning how to drift, use items, all while holding the acceleration is a lot to ask for in children. A simple system of keeping them on the track isn't prohibiting nothing, as they will learn to stay on the track regardless.

In Synless' defense - while they put it weirdly, what we could also read between the lines of their post would be that they aren't against "handholding" per se (even if they don't want to admit) but they want to be the one teaching their kid how to drive - not a soulless machine!
(they posted that, within the first weeks of playing, they drove alongside their son's kart)

You're looking at it wrong. Kids who bowl with the bumpers up aren't looking for 'oh that's where I went wrong' feedback but they're not. Chances are they don't go bowling often enough to actually learn how to get better. They just want to knock stuff down, not get better.

yup. If there's a kid's party at the local bowling alley, i surely don't go "oh boy, none of those kids are going to make a lot of progress today", but more like "hey, they're having a fun time!". I don't believe any of them plan on making Bowling their regular hobby of choice.

 

[fabricated backlash]

Did some of ya'll learn how to ride a bike without training wheels? I don't consider this feature to be a bad thing as it's meant for really young kids who want to play games but don't know how yet.

Obviously it sets them up to become failures that never aspire to learn anything.../s

 

[Huge Succeeded]

those of you who feel this feature misses the mark because it doesn't 'teach' enough... you're missing the forest for the trees, man.

Features like this aren't about 'teaching' the player.

They're about enabling the people
who have NO INTENTION to stick with the game, or learn how to play it particularly well
to enjoy it, which in turn facilitates a more inclusive multiplayer element.

Could it be more obvious?

I can hand a controller to my four year old nephew, and hand another controller over to my sister who doesn't game, and they can have fun (with a video game that amounts to a fun little distraction to them, as opposed to something they wanna immerse themselves into and learn)

sort of like how I used to do the same in Mario Kart 8, pass the controller so my young/non-gaming people could play
and they'd bow out after like 1 or 2 races
why?

because they were bored from falling off the stages

I imagine a lot of people are going to bitch and moan about this feature

no, I think as a collective we've mostly moved beyond the 'LOOK AT ME I'M A REAL GAMER" phase that console gamers launched themselves into because they couldn't handle the Wii and smartphone gaming succeeding like they did

I'm glad nintendo chose to play my game for me so I don't get traumatised by not winning.

I'll never, ever understand people with these sorts of shithouse perspectives toward optional QOL features.

 

[Chronospherics]

You're looking at it wrong. Kids who bowl with the bumpers up aren't looking for 'oh that's where I went wrong' feedback but they're not. Chances are they don't go bowling often enough to actually learn how to get better. They just want to knock stuff down, not get better.

Of course, I didn't infer why people went bowling, or how often. I just expressed that the way bumpers are applied are functionally distinct to how this assist is applied.

Also, using feedback to improve isn't inherently, a concious or intentional process. If feedback is present then they likely, will get better, whether they care about bowling or not.

i mean, i could imagine red working badly with Mario, as the red wouldn't contrast against his hat. (he's shorter than luigi, so the antenna would end up right behind his hat, wouldn't it?)
But then again, they could design around this, of course.

I feel the yellow contrasts really nicely.

It's really up to the designers as to what they think is best. Obviously yellow will contrast better in some situations, but not in others (against yellow characters and carts, for instance).

I think in terms of actually being visible, both yellow or red are plenty visible, provided they select bright colours (which they did, with the yellow), but it's more about the meaning that the colours infer.

If you wanted to get a little more sophisticated you could even apply a colour coded system. Green means your driving is good, orange means you're going off track, and red means the game is auto correcting you back onto the track. Something like that would be super cool to playtest, in my opinion.

You could even use it to recognise when players might be ready to take the assist off, for instance if the game detected that the player was in the green and orange zone, 95% or more of the time, they could use that data as an opportunity to say 'would you like to try unassisted' or something like that.

Of course not everyone wants that. I get that some people just want to play for a couple hours over christmas, then possibly never play it again, but some people do want to use these tools to ease the learning curve, and still want to get better at the game, so it's good to think about accomodating those people too.

 

[jacobeid]

I'm really happy about this. My dad used to like playing racing games with me back in the Genesis days, and he's more interested in the switch than any other console in the past, but Fast RMX was too much for him to handle. Obviously would work great with non-gamers of all ages.

Does this completely take away all control or would it just prevent him from falling off the stage?

For those complaining, Nintendo gave us "hardcore" gamers 200cc. Let the people who aren't as acclimated with games enjoy them too.

Edit: answered my own question by reading the thread. Even better that it won't completely take away control.

 

[Gravy Boat]

Of course, I didn't infer why people went bowling, or how often. I just expressed that the way bumpers are applied are functionally distinct to how this assist is applied.

Also, using feedback to improve isn't inherently, a concious or intentional process. If feedback is present then they likely, will get better, whether they care about bowling or not.

I think you're vastly over crediting the person who decided to add bumpers to a bowling alley. I'd bet all my money that through process went as far as 'this will stop kids throwing gutter balls each time'. I'm certain 'this will help kids learn' was never part of the equation.

You keep going on about getting better but my point has always been that some people just do not care about getting better. The people who play Mario Kart with their grand kids once a year at Christmas do not care about getting better at the game, they just want to be able to finish a race.

 

[Synless]

I think you're vastly over crediting the person who decided to add bumpers to a bowling alley. I'd bet all my money that through process went as far as 'this will stop kids throwing gutter balls each time'. I'm certain 'this will help kids learn' was never part of the equation.

You keep going on about getting better but my point has always been that some people just do not care about getting better. The people who play Mario Kart with their grand kids do not care about getting better at the game, they just want to be able to finish a race.

It doesn't control it, just keeps you from going outside the track.

 

[Felensis]

lol this is gold! The wife will welcome this mode for sure

The year of Luigi will never end

 

[Glass Shark]

.

 

[Fliesen]

I'm really happy about this. My dad used to like playing racing games with me back in the Genesis days, and he's more interested in the switch than any other console in the past, but Fast RMX was too much for him to handle. Obviously would work great with non-gamers of all ages.

Does this completely take away all control or would it just prevent him from falling off the stage?

For those complaining, Nintendo gave us "hardcore" gamers 200cc. Let the people who aren't as acclimated with games enjoy them too.

Synlesss quoted the wrong user.

Yeah, it doesn't take away control, it just overrides your steering if you were to run off track (like, off a cliff, into a wall). While that prevents you from falling down, it does slow you down quite a bit, because you're not really driving along the most efficient path, to say the least.

 

[Chronospherics]

I think you're vastly over crediting the person who decided to add bumpers to a bowling alley. I'd bet all my money that through process went as far as 'this will stop kids throwing gutter balls each time'. I'm certain 'this will help kids learn' was never part of the equation.

You keep going on about getting better but my point has always been that some people just do not care about getting better. The people who play Mario Kart with their grand kids once a year at Christmas do not care about getting better at the game, they just want to be able to finish a race.

Intentionality doesn't make a difference to its potential application and effect. If they tried other implementations that didn't provide feedback, I wonder if people would have been as satisifed with the experience? Say, they just used magnets to pull the ball towards the correct path, for instance.

I'm not saying it would be better or worse, but it would be interesting to see how people reacted. I think there would obviously be some that liked it more, and some that liked it less, depending on what they wanted out of the system. Which is really what I'm getting at here, it's nice to add options. The bowling alley lanes are actually really great for learning, but if you just wanted to level the playing field and make kids feel good about their time with the game, then there are far more seemless implementations you could consider.

And I'm not neglecting that some people don't want to learn. Perhaps I didn't stress that in my posts to you because we were just talking about the bowling example. See the quote below.

Of course not everyone wants that. I get that some people just want to play for a couple hours over christmas, then possibly never play it again, but some people do want to use these tools to ease the learning curve, and still want to get better at the game, so it's good to think about accomodating those people too.

 

[samred]

Just to add, as someone who has tested this: when you turn on auto-accel, gyro-motion control, and smart steering, and hand a Joy-Con to a non-hardcore gamer at a bar, people lose their shit. You can also play w/ some of those settings depending on your Joy-Con comfort level. Auto-accel, in particular, is great when you're holding the tiny pad, and with drift-braking now enabled, I would argue that auto-accel is not some, like, "baby" way to play.

 

[Kazerei]

There seems to be this sentiment that smart-steering will delay kids from improving their skills as gamers, but I think that's completely false. Even with smart-steering on, kids will still be trying to stay on the track, hit the boosts, and win races more reliably.

It really is like bowling bumpers. Kids will still be trying to keep the ball in the lane and hit has many pins as possible. They can develop their bowling skills just as well with or without the bumpers.

It's not like the bumpers magically help curve the ball in the pocket for you, just like how smart-steering doesn't constantly guide you along the optimal path. That is the sort of overbearing interference that would prevent kids from developing those skills. But this is not whats happening.

Its also not like kids are going to use smart-steering forever, just like they dont use traini wheels forever.

There is seriously no downside to this.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

.

You're trying to put a square peg in a round hole, my man. This isn't a feature meant to teach anyone anything. It's only meant to facilitate enjoyable play at a moment's notice, for people who otherwise couldn't keep up.

50cc is already in the game as a way to learn your shit if you feel like getting into the game like that.

 

[Chronospherics]

You're trying to put a square peg in a round hole, my man. This isn't a learning feature.

50cc is what you're looking for.

No, I don't feel like it is iintended as one either, personally. But is it not a shame that there isn't an option for it to be used as one? That's what I'm talking about regarding adding granularity to the options in which assists are applied, so that users can adapt the assistance to what they want from the game. Whether they want to learn and improve, but still need a bit of help, or just want to get to the end of the track like everyone else.

I'm not saying the feature is bad, but I do feel that the industry should be doing more for accessibility and ideally that means not putting people into one category, or another, but providing a multitude of options. Lets remember that this isn't an innovation in racing game accessibility. More hardcore racing games, like Forza, GT, Project Cars, offer a myriad of steering assitances with considerable granularity to these options. It's almost ironic that Mario Kart didn't have this sooner, considering it's always targeted children, and accessibility.

 

[RoadHazard]

My gut instinct is to really dislike that this feature exists, but I'm guessing a decent player should have no trouble beating these auto-pilot players? Still, the video is an example of the deeply unfair and non-competitive nature of Mario Kart.

EDIT: Can this be used online? If not, and it's just for local play, it's a complete non-issue (and a good thing for young kids). If it can, I hope you're at a significant disadvantage when using it. Like you get slowed down when the auto-steer kicks in or something. If some players cannot fall off Rainbow Road, at no penalty, hmm, yeah...

 

[Col.Asher]

Did some of ya'll learn how to ride a bike without training wheels?

My brothers pushed me down a hill.

 

[Chronospherics]

Did some of ya'll learn how to ride a bike without training wheels? I don't consider this feature to be a bad thing as it's meant for really young kids who want to play games but don't know how yet.

This example is a bit silly to me. Because stabilisers are used for children because riding a bike confers a serious risk of falling off and getting hurt.

It's a little different to losing a race in Mario Kart.

 

[impirius]

My three-year-old is going to be in heaven. She currently drives around the time trials for ten minutes and gets frustrated when she gets stuck against walls. It looks like this auto-steering implementation keeps drivers on course without taking away control on the main part of the track, and the gentle reminder in the form of the antenna is a nice touch. This seems perfect.

 

[Crazyorloco]

This is great for my 5 year old daughter. I'm glad they added this option.


She might even beat me now lol

 

[Phoenixus]

My brothers pushed me down a hill.

As did mine, though I fell off and hurt my knee so didn't try again for many years. Something to be said for easing kids into games like this at a young age.

 

[marc^o^]

This example is a bit silly to me. Because stabilisers are used for children because riding a bike confers a serious risk of falling off and getting hurt.

It's a little different to losing a race in Mario Kart.

It's a good example as it allows quite underaged kids to bike with their parents, until they get it and remove assistance.

 

[Nepenthe]

Since the Wii U version doesn't have this feature, and yet my younger nephew really wanted to play it when he saw me playing, I taught him the old fashioned way- sitting down with him, adjusting the options to the easiest settings, and physically teaching and encouraging him how to play. Now he's basically winning 100cc races by himself. Once he gets to a certain level- winning 150cc stuff more consistently, I'll teach him how to finally drift, but that's probably going to take awhile as he's of what I call the "swiping generation"- physical button combinations elude him and his tiny hands quite a bit. xD

I'm not going to lie and say that, emotionally, I don't twist a lip at these kinds of features simply because me and my brother got by without them. I mean hell, we were playing shit like Contra 3 as young kids back in the day unassisted. The challenge of learning and cooperating together to conquer the unconquerable was fun in and of itself. Even now when I play the few Nintendo games with these features, the act of the game asking me if I want to make things easier when I've hit a rough spot and lost a few lives pisses me off a bit. Like, gotdamn, don't helicopter parent me; I'll get it eventually! Logically, however, I know these features are not actively hurting anyone, and they're useful for people with disabilities so it's all good. But ultimately my heart will always belong to the "glory days" of Nintendo Hard games.

 

[marc^o^]

my heart will always belong to the "glory days" of Nintendo Hard games.

Put your nephews in 200cc or in GAF online league, and there you are, Hard game.

Choices.

 

[TheMoon]

2 questions.

1. Is it automatic, or do you have to turn it on?

2. Will someone who knows how to play always beat someone who doesn't and is just using this?

1) steer-assist is on by default. just turn it off.

2) just look at the video... as we have discussed to death already: this is 50cc against the dumbest CPU that lets you win. put a human in there who knows what they're doing and I don't think I need to keep going

 

[Nepenthe]

Put your nephews in 200cc or in GAF online league, and there you are, Hard game.

Choices.

My baby nephew wouldn't stand a chance. Hell, hopping in at first he didn't stand a chance, and the game would piss him the fuck off, but the most important thing is that he'd always come back to it and understand he could get better with practice. He's a trooper. =P