• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Smart steering in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is pretty crazy

I imagine a lot of people are going to bitch and moan about this feature (like they did with the White Tanooki suit in Mario 3D World), but it is probably a godsend for parents. The next level version of handing a little kid an unplugged controller and tricking them into thinking that they're playing.
 

Biske

Member
That is pretty neat.

It does suck to play with people or kids who just arent that skill level and cant really enjoy the race cause they are falling off and such all the time and then get so behind, sometimes even lapped and its like "why am I even still playing"
 

Flandy

Member
Am I missing something? The game is just playing itself. Why bother playing if you're literally not doing anything.
 
D

Deleted member 465307

Unconfirmed Member
It's a great feature that will help everyone get to a baseline level of competency and enjoyment. I won't ever be using it, but I'm glad it's there.

I'm guessing the ability to win against the CPUs decreases as you increase the CC level, and I'm sure anyone with skill will be able to beat someone using this feature, given its generally poor way of handling turns.
 

Tagg9

Member
My nephew is A lot younger and isn't that good at the game and last time we all played we would have to wait a while for him to finish and he wasn't having fun. Hopefully this alleviates that

Your nephew shouldn't be playing games. Git gud or don't even bother competing.
 

Kinsei

Banned
I imagine a lot of people are going to bitch and moan about this feature (like they did with the White Tanooki suit in Mario 3D World), but it is probably a godsend for parents. The next level version of handing a little kid an unplugged controller and tricking them into thinking that they're playing.

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

I'm worried how this will affect online play. :p

It won't. You can't get a level 3 drift boost while using auto steering.
 

KarmaCow

Member
Am I missing something? The game is just playing itself. Why bother playing if you're literally not doing anything.

It's not using items, drifting, taking alternate paths, doing tricks, or even something as basic as taking the inside corner on turns. There's still plenty to do and no one using this will beat someone who knows even a little bit about how to play.
 

Biske

Member
Joke post right?

Some people just want to play to have fun.

There is also a point where if you try something and its not brutal and disheartening, that you actually... enjoy playing it and slowly get better and better until you don't need help.


I don't know if any of these "git gud" fucks have ever played games with kids, but there is a divide between "I'm not very good at this game but its fun" and "this game crushes me and fuck all this and I feel awful cause I just want to play and have fun like everyone else"
 

spock

Member
Glad to see this feature since I have 2 kids, but if you could use a slider to control how much help it would give would be great.
 

Wedzi

Banned
Kind of reminds me of assisted braking and driving in Forza. Granted Froza is geared toward a older audience so having a more aggressive driving assist is a big deal for younger and gamers. Especially considering giving them more success will mean they're much more likely to stick with it. Mario Kart is Nintendo's biggest franchise at this point and is probably a lot of new gamers first encounter with Nintendo's mascots Mario, Donkey, Link, Inklings etc. now. Get them hooked on the Kart and then watch them get hooked on the rest of Nintendo's franchises.
 

Reki

Member
Amazing feature, now my parents will have some fun instead of just constantly hitting walls because they can't manage to accelerate and drive at the same time.

It may seem pretty obvious to regular players, but coordination is key to enjoy games and some people don't have the level required for it - nor will they practice enough to acquire it.
 

Sojiro

Member
Awesome feature! My youngest loves to play MK, but on a lot of the courses where you can fall off, it really discourages him, and he doesn't like coming in dead last. I wonder if you can turn it off/on for each race in a circuit, because some he does really good in, but with many others this will definitely help.
 

Anbec7

Member
This will help a ton to the little ones and in family gatherings so everyone can have fun.

Of course if you're a prick you will be doing all the tricks (I'm sure I'm! LOL)
 

NewGame

Banned
Not exactly going to win any time trails but yes, this is a good option for new players and young children.

Especially considering they have raised the ceiling as far as how good players can get at this game, you don't want another Mario Kart DS happening where the gap was so wide it was impossible to play.
 

Flandy

Member
It's not using items, drifting, taking alternate paths, doing tricks, or even something as basic as taking the inside corner on turns. There's still plenty to do and no one using this will beat someone who knows even a little bit about how to play.
Ah okay I get it now
 

RowdyReverb

Member
So it's like bowling with bumpers in the gutters.

Sounds like a great idea for making the game more accessible to non-gamers
 

KingV

Member
There is also a point where if you try something and its not brutal and disheartening, that you actually... enjoy playing it and slowly get better and better until you don't need help.


I don't know if any of these "git gud" fucks have ever played games with kids, but there is a divide between "I'm not very good at this game but its fun" and "this game crushes me and fuck all this and I feel awful cause I just want to play and have fun like everyone else"

yeah, I can definitely see my daughter and I playing mario kart this way. She basically can't complete a race at all, but this will allow her to keep on track.
 
So Smart Steering completely takes over the controls for you, or is it dormant until you're about to veer off course and it gently guides you back on track? I'm confused as to when it kicks in?
 

Cuburt

Member
Great feature. Considering that racing sims have had various driving assists for wider accessibility, it only makes sense you can at least keep every player in the race. Playing with friends who never played Mario Kart or kids, I can attest to how much this is needed. It just adds to everyone's fun.


I wonder if it will turn you around if you go the wrong way as well.
 

jonno394

Member
I think I'll get my niece's to play a couple races without it first then turn this on if necessary.

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

I don't think it's meant for me, you or any one with a lot of gaming experience.

Edit - also this is 50cc, basically easy mode, it doesn't work well in higher difficulties.
 

jobrro

Member
Seems pretty good. Wonder if they had to take a few videos for him to actually place first.

At family things always just ended up playing luck based games like Wii Party U and Mario Party 10 or very simple games like the MP Nintendoland games because some people who never play games had a bit of trouble even with Mario Kart so this sort of feature is pretty welcome for me.
 
Looks like a neat feature, I like how they made the little antennae indicate when it takes over so that you can know when you undercorrect on your own steering as well and, presumably, get better and not need it eventually. I can imagine this will be very useful for people who are brand new to the series or even to video games at a whole - it's a really great step in the right direction after the widespread appeal Mario Kart Wii had.

I hope they also take a serious look at cpu rubber banding. In Mario Kart 8 it was really bad, so if one player was very good and another was less good and they were playing Grand Prix, the worse player would have a hell of a time catching up with the computers who were rubber banding up to the better player.
 

SalvaPot

Member
It is the equivalent of this:

steph-pix-043.jpg


It just makes it more fun for kids and people who are not used to videogames and it doesn't provide an unfair advantage, what is not to like?
 

weekev

Banned
So this is just in the Switch version? It's not getting patched into the WiiU version? This could genuinely convince me to upgrade.
 

TheYanger

Member
Watchmojo tried it 50cc and 200cc, says it's not playing itself.

Yeah watching any video of it and thinking it's some kind of autoplay is bizarre. Nobody who thinks this is bad has actually looked at it in action, bumpers on a bowling alley are the best equivilent. Dudes literalyl run into a straight line until they're gonna smash into a wall and then correct at the last possible instant and start stops assisting again until you're about to hit another wall.
 

Speely

Banned
It is the equivalent of this:

steph-pix-043.jpg


It just makes it more fun for kids and people who are not used to videogames and it doesn't provide an unfair advantage, what is not to like?

Fun is meaningless compared to the objective gudness of games that require skill to earn fun.
 
Top Bottom