[?] Mario Kart 8.5/Switch [?]

[Sheikah]

See, that's interesting. In Wii, my main issue was that it was pretty much impossible to catch first place about half way through the first lap.

Anyone even remotely competent getting into first would pretty much win the race if they got there. It was a complete crapshoot on that first item block, followed by a boring cruise to first place (Because you had plenty of protection with two items) or a more interesting, but ultimately doomed fight in the middle.

 

I can't speak for the MKWii era here, but the league nights nowadays are very unpredictable and fun. You've gotta embrace the unfair moments, because they're really just very funny.

 

Oh, and the star really only shines in 8 when used to cut corners. So I agree on that front.

I found the complete opposite - blue shell was more frequent in Wii so first place got hit a lot more. Although you had two items at the front so did the guy behind you, so there wasn't much difference in that regard.

 

In MK8 you could get the dreaded coin in second/third when what you really needed was a stack of red shells or something...meaning you both can't take out first place or protect yourself. First place becomes easier to defend IMO.

 

And of course the star/power catch up items in Wii meant you could very capably get to the front from near the back and then be breathing down the first place's neck (or even get right into first) - in Wii U the star and such does very little compared to Wii, so first place wasn't really threatened by the people coming from nearer the back.

 

IMO this style of balancing was not what Mario was about and I hope they go back to a more Wii style of game in the future.

[Ronnie]

In MK8 you could get the dreaded coin in second/third when what you really needed was a stack of red shells or something

 

A stack of red shells when in second or third place sounds awful for the balance of the game. The emphasis was on the casual crowd with Wii and personally I'm glad they made 8 a little more skill based. I remember thinking MKWii was a lottery, with race winners more often than not down to luck not skill. I don't think the same is true of MK8.

[Sheikah]

A stack of red shells when in second or third place sounds awful for the balance of the game. The emphasis was on the casual crowd with Wii and personally I'm glad they made 8 a little more skill based.

If you just get one red shell then they probably cancel it or sometimes it never even reaches them (e.g. terrain reasons). Meanwhile you have used your one shell and because there is a one item limit you are now open to attack yourself.

 

A better balance would be 2 red shells as a semi-rare turnup.

 

It's a tough one really, does Nintendo make the rubber banding excessive and make it more "fun" and chaotic or do you put more emphasis on skill and make it tougher to win a race after a poor start. Personally I'd prefer the latter.

 

Also just my thoughts on this - MK is a casual game in the sense that there are items, and in particular, a near completely unavoidable item that targets first place. So long as they keep items as the 'canon' mode of the game and that these items can knock you into 6th/7th right at the beginning, I believe the items should help you get back just as easily.

 

There are many games out there that are hardcore as fuck, to me MK was always fun for different reasons and I liked Wii for the balance it had.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Sheikah

[Fierce_LiNk]

I definitely felt that MKWii was too random, at times. In almost every other Mario Kart game, the best racer or the one who raced well during that circuit is usually the winner. Not so in MKWii. There were times where I felt like I was getting screwed over by the weapons to the point where it became unfair. I can't say that I had a major affinity for the game.

 

MK8 was definitely more of a step in the right direction. It was back to being a racer first and foremost, which is what it should be. At its core, it's a racer. I feel that MKWii lost site of that. It was too whacky and random and very, very messy for me.

[Ronnie]

https://arcadegirl64.wordpress.com/2016/11/16/rumor-mario-kart-for-switch-brings-a-mix-of-old-and-new/

 

The Switch version of Mario Kart 8 will contain all of the previous Wii U content (tracks, characters) plus all of the Wii U DLC.

 

According to sources close to Nintendo, the Switch version of Mario Kart 8 will feature tons of exclusive content including brand new tracks, new playable characters, and a new-and-improved battle mode. That’s right, Nintendo listened to everyone’s criticisms about Mario Kart 8’s battle mode.

 

Mario Kart has completed development, and it’s planned to be released within the first three months of Switch’s launch.

 

Sounds amazing!! Take my money

[dazzybee]

https://arcadegirl64.wordpress.com/2016/11/16/rumor-mario-kart-for-switch-brings-a-mix-of-old-and-new/

 

 

 

Sounds amazing!! Take my money

 

Let's hope they take less money off us than people who didn't buy the wii u version!!

 

Digital upgrade price please nintendo!!

[nekunando]

https://arcadegirl64.wordpress.com/2016/11/16/rumor-mario-kart-for-switch-brings-a-mix-of-old-and-new/

 

 

 

Sounds amazing!! Take my money

 

That's pretty much everything I want so I hope this is true

 

If we can get this, Splatoon and the new 3D Mario around launch, that would be awesome

[Dcubed]

That rumour sounds like exactly what I was hoping they'd do with this port, so let's hope it's true.

 

I also suspect that we will not get a Mario Kart 9 at all on the Switch, at least the initial version of it (maybe when Switch 2 comes around).

 

Let's hope they take less money off us than people who didn't buy the wii u version!!

 

Digital upgrade price please nintendo!!

 

I suspect that they might be doing this for all of their Wii U ports (and a crossbuy discount deal for those who buy BOTW on Wii U). It'll be their "ambassador programme" of sorts for the ones who stuck it out during the Wii U years.

[RedShell]

I suspect that they might be doing this for all of their Wii U ports (and a crossbuy discount deal for those who buy BOTW on Wii U). It'll be their "ambassador programme" of sorts for the ones who stuck it out during the Wii U years.

Shame that will probably only be possible for digital versions though, meaning people that bought their games on disc will miss out.

[Ronnie]

Why would Nintendo offer Wii U owners money off the Switch version? Since when do companies do that with re-releases, let alone re-releases with so much (rumoured) extra content.

[RedShell]

Why would Nintendo offer Wii U owners money off the Switch version? Since when do companies do that with re-releases, let alone re-releases with so much (rumoured) extra content.

Since when does Nintendo do anything like other companies?

Fact is they've always put a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction/goodwill, so I wouldn't really be surprised to see something similar to the Wii > Wii U VC discount applied to the Switch Wii U ports, regardless of extra content.

[Ashley]

Why would Nintendo offer Wii U owners money off the Switch version? Since when do companies do that with re-releases, let alone re-releases with so much (rumoured) extra content.

 

If I recall correctly most remasters are cheaper than the originals anyway, it's only the Zelda ones that typically come out at full price. I think this was discussed a lot when the last one came out.

 

Tearaway is the only other one I can think of, but the original game was £20 anyway.

[Dcubed]

Why would Nintendo offer Wii U owners money off the Switch version? Since when do companies do that with re-releases, let alone re-releases with so much (rumoured) extra content.

 

Because Nintendo have a history of doing things like this and they know that a lot of people have been left unhappy with how the Wii U turned out. Customer satisfaction underpins everything they do; that's the reason they kept supporting the Wii U for so long (in fact, there's a quote from Iwata saying the same thing in one of their Investor's Q&As), despite it being the biggest failure they've ever had. Nobody else would have ever given a console like the Wii U the level of support Nintendo did.

 

Basically this...

 

Since when does Nintendo do anything like other companies?

Fact is they've always put a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction/goodwill, so I wouldn't really be surprised to see something similar to the Wii > Wii U VC discount applied to the Switch Wii U ports, regardless of extra content.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Dcubed

[Ronnie]

Sure, but it's not as if MK8 was lacking on Wii U. It was a fully featured game that was very well received with lots of (cheap) DLC. The Switch version may be a little cheaper for everyone but I don't feel like they owe me anything with this re-release. It's a very different situation to them slashing the price of the 3DS shortly after launch.

[dazzybee]

Ultimately these are all multiplayer games, about gamng communities, there's likely not going ot be another mario kart, smash, maybe evens platoon for a long long time. Nintendo fans are almost forced to buy these to be a part of that community, but they've already bought them. They wouldn't be releasing switch now or porting these games over if the WIi U wasn't such a catastrophic bomb. So it's kind of two gfiners up to Wii U owners; they should compensate them.

[Ronnie]

Ultimately these are all multiplayer games, about gamng communities, there's likely not going ot be another mario kart, smash, maybe evens platoon for a long long time. Nintendo fans are almost forced to buy these to be a part of that community, but they've already bought them. They wouldn't be releasing switch now or porting these games over if the WIi U wasn't such a catastrophic bomb. So it's kind of two gfiners up to Wii U owners; they should compensate them.

 

I know gamers are one of the most entitled communities around but HOW on Earth is it two fingers up to the Wii U crowd ??? No one is forced to do anything. The Wii U games aren't going to suddenly stop working and remove all the fun you had playing them from memory. Now I'm not saying they shouldn't be a bit cheaper than full priced games though with added content that's another questionable idea.

[dazzybee]

I know gamers are one of the most entitled communities around but HOW on Earth is it two fingers up to the Wii U crowd ??? No one is forced to do anything. The Wii U games aren't going to suddenly stop working and remove all the fun you had playing them from memory. Now I'm not saying they shouldn't be a bit cheaper than full priced games though with added content that's another questionable idea.

 

But this is a unique situation, you say not forced to buy it, of course people aren't, but if you're a big nintendo fan - love platoon, love smash, love mario kart, then you're going to want to play them on the new system, where the community will be; and because they're porting them, there probably won't be new versions of them for many many years (Splatoon likely exception depending on if this is a port or not); so in effect, if hardcore nintendo fans want to play mario kart and Smash on the new system they HAVE to buy an updated version of a game they've already bought and paid for (and paid double for in smash's case). In my opinion that's bad.

 

What makes it worse is that this only happening because the Wii U sold so so poorly; so the people who's supported nintendo in their darkest time, are getting the bum deal; when people who didn't support them are getting an incredible deal. Again, I don't think this is good.

 

The fact they are online games also makes the "they'll still play on the wii u" doubly moot, because the communities won't be there. The point is to play online with friends and the world.

[Nicktendo]

But this is a unique situation, you say not forced to buy it, of course people aren't, but if you're a big nintendo fan - love platoon, love smash, love mario kart, then you're going to want to play them on the new system, where the community will be; and because they're porting them, there probably won't be new versions of them for many many years (Splatoon likely exception depending on if this is a port or not); so in effect, if hardcore nintendo fans want to play mario kart and Smash on the new system they HAVE to buy an updated version of a game they've already bought and paid for (and paid double for in smash's case). In my opinion that's bad.

 

What makes it worse is that this only happening because the Wii U sold so so poorly; so the people who's supported nintendo in their darkest time, are getting the bum deal; when people who didn't support them are getting an incredible deal. Again, I don't think this is good.

 

The fact they are online games also makes the "they'll still play on the wii u" doubly moot, because the communities won't be there. The point is to play online with friends and the world.

Can't say I disagree with this. I wouldn't be happy about paying £100 for potentially incremental updates just so I could continue to play MK, Smash and Splatoon with the Nintendo community. Especially after I spent extra money on the DLC for MK8 and Smash.

[Sheikah]

Because Nintendo have a history of doing things like this and they know that a lot of people have been left unhappy with how the Wii U turned out. Customer satisfaction underpins everything they do; that's the reason they kept supporting the Wii U for so long (in fact, there's a quote from Iwata saying the same thing in one of their Investor's Q&As), despite it being the biggest failure they've ever had. Nobody else would have ever given a console like the Wii U the level of support Nintendo did.

 

Basically this...

 

I wouldn't say they supported the Wii U for that long (not properly, anyhow). Has to be one of the shortest generations I can recall. Also if they had released another system after say just 3 years, the backlash and lack of support would have been tremendous, so I think it's the position they found themselves in that made the Wii U go on as long as it has really, more than their good will.

 

They might give a discount to people who bought the Wii U versions but the 2 full price Zelda Wii U remakes indicate that they might not be as good as you make out. Especially when many other companies package more than one remaster into a box and they're often a bit cheaper than your standard game.