The power of gaming in the palm of your hand

The Power Glove is one of the more infamous retro peripherals around, using a gauntlet to strap a controller fully onto your wrist. It's meant for older Nintendo consoles, but modder Will It Work? on YouTube used the controller to wire it up to something a bit more modern in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit.

Will It Work has many videos, breaking down how they connect disparate controllers and consoles together. There are some wild connections like the Donkey Kong bongos hooking up to an iPhone, fo?r example, or a phone to SNES mouse.

In the video, Will It Work shows off the Power Glove working with Pokemon Legends: Arceus, allowing the hand motions to move the player character around. Usi??ng the USB RetroPort and Titan One software, they can get the Switch to detect the Power Glove like it would any usual controller.

But they soon ran into some odd issues with the fingers being mapped as "sliders" and incorporating acceleration into the mix. Auto-accelerate could have been an option, but while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has that option, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit does not.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4XY2UGoXC8

Will It Work wound up writing a script to create their own version of auto-accelerate, and it all comes together. They take a little joyride around their basement to show it off, cruising around with motion controls. They say they're going to keep working on a way to integrate the actual finger controls of the Power Glove but for now, at least, there is a working Power Glove integration with Mario Kart Live.

Power cruisin'

Is it a feasible replacement? Probably not. And I imagine most Mario Kart owners don't also have a spare Power Glove in ?their closet. It's really cool to see tech toyed with in this way though, and seeing the Power Glove still add something fun and novel to a game decades later.

Controller modders are fantastic at coming up with fun ways to play a game, and the remote-control Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit seems like incredible? fodder for more mods. Once we get better Power Glove integration, of course.

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All four karts and Switch units safely housed in one place

Nearly two years ago when Mario Kart Live arrived, I said that?? what you got out of it will vary from household to household, and that rings true to this day. And it looks like Reddit user fiveonthakush got a lot out of it with this Mario Kart Live setup.

Their case is a masterpiece, in that it holds four playable karts, as well as four units of Switch hardware: which double as the controllers and sc??reen?? in which to view the karts as they race around a real-life "track." All they'd need to do is keep the Switches charged, then carry it anywhere they want for some family fun.

The creator says the case is from mycasebuilder.com, designed with "lower foam," which they c?ut out based on the specifications, with a "routed lid" to ensure that the top didn't tightly press down on the karts and the Switch hardware. Interestingly, they "swapped parts on the karts" so they could tell all four apart. If you look closely, there's a green kart with a red "Mario" M on it, and a red kart with a red Mario M: vice versa for two karts that feature Luigi. That way you can more easily tell who "players one through four" are. They say that they hope to get even more use out of the game because of the case, which makes it easier to transport: and had fun putting the set together.

With that said, it's sad that Velan Studios/Nintendo never released proper "player three or player four" karts: but for Nintendo's experimentation, a lack of follow-through is par for the course (RIP Labo?). I know there is a community around?? the game, and I hope it gets some sort ??of follow-up someday.

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This thing is still really neat

So Mario Kart Live may not have caught on in a lot of households, but I still like busting it out from time to time. It's still extremely dependent on how your house is set up, but if you have the space (kids help, too), the world is your oyster. I might be bringing it out a lot more given that there was just a huge Mario Kart Live update.

Live now, the update is being referred to as a "2.0" ??edition of the game, which seems accurate given everything it offers. Here's a list:

• Split-screen mode, which allows two carts on one Switch
• Relay Race mode (two to four players can rotate between one cart and one Switch through eight laps)
• The Luigi Cup
• Three new courses (King Boo's Courtyard, Music Broadway, Windmill Meadows)
• A new unlockable cart that you'll earn if you place in all of the new courses (Luigi's Poltergust)

It's a lot! This thing that some people no doubt forgot about is being updated more meaningfully than some first-party games. It's also an incredibly useful home job helper.

I'm glad that the powers that be haven't forgotten about Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, because if they bu??ild u?pon it, it could be a really cool little subfranchise.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRvRd?IuHyvc&feature=youtu.be

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The SNES version of course

I'm still enjoying Mario Kart Live here and there.

As I noted in my impressions piece; the amount of fun you'll get ou??t of it really depends on how much space and time you have for it. You're probably going to need a lot of space for this project.

As a "celebration of the 35th anniversary of Mario," 3D-printing manufacture BCN3D managed to craft the entire Rainbow Road track from the original SNES Mario Kart. According to them, it took "two engineers and 10 employees" to make this "ambitious" build, which actually accommodates the Mario Kart Live car.

BCN3D says that the track is comprised of "more than 4400 3D-printed pieces," clocking in at 5x5 meters. They've made all of the STL files available here at this Thingiverse landing page.

It is ambitious! I love that the track length is wide enough to ful??ly fit the toy racer, while preserving the "hazard" of falling off. The sky really is the limit with this game, as you could theoretically raise the platform and put a soft surface underneath: penalizing drops and forcing the real-life racers to put the ??car back on the track.

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Or replace your old ones

We spent last week testing out Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, and mostly came away impressed.

As we pointed out in our review; the grea?ter your imagination is (and the space you have available), the more fun the game will be. But you can get a very easy boost right out of the box for free, it seems, so long as you're? willing to print these simple black and white designs.

Straight from the official Nintendo site, you can print off additional (replacement) gates and arrow signs. The latter really is the most important bit, as the game lets you add arrow signs to the game beyond the two official cardboard ones that came with the $99 box. In ot?her words, you can add to the panache of the track with more goodies, which show up on-screen as flashy neon arrows.

It's a small thing, but I'm sure a lot of you who have been experimenting with Mario Kart Live will appreciate the tip.

Mario Kart Live Gates [Nintendo]

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Sakurai seems to think so too

In case you missed it, we covered Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit this past weekend. Wh?at you couldn't miss, however, is my cat Cinnamon that was front and center as part of that coverage.

That's because the game's impact on cats is immediately apparent, as evidenced by several other anecdotal tales this week. Cats are not just attracted to the device as it speeds around the house, but they ??also serve?? as great moving hazards for folks who aren't keen to create their own intricate setups.

Take, for instance, this tweet from Masahiro Sakurai (the father of Super Smash Bros.), who simply stated "demon beast appears."

é­”ç£ã‚らã‚ã‚‹ #MarioKartLive pic.twitter.com/jtyKaZt97f

— 桜井 æ”¿åš / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) October 17, 2020

This one from T??witter user yamanoneko is one of the ??best so far; who seems to house a team of relentless cats that will not let them pass.

マリオカートライブホームサーキットを買ã£ã¦ããŸã®ã§æ—©é€Ÿã‚„ã£ã¦ã¿ãŸã‚“ã§ã™ã‘ã©ã€çŒ«ãŒã„ã‚‹ã¨ã“ã†ãªã‚Šã¾ã™ã€‚
(虎太郎ã€ãƒãƒŒãƒ«ã€ã‚³ãƒ”)#マリオカートライブホームサーキット pic.twitter.com/fYtrihV1mx

— ãŠã«ãŽã‚ŠðŸ™å±±ã®çŒ«é”(猫ã®ãŠæ¯ã•ã‚“) (@yamanoneko_23) October 16, 2020

Another clip from yoshidaterukazu showcases the thrill before the?? hunt. The moment right before a cat decides the kart is worth pouncing on.

猫ã¡ã‚ƒã‚“も興味津々ホームサーキット pic.twitter.com/JBR7FZOBYi

— å‰ç”°è¼å’Œã€€ä»•äº‹å‹Ÿé›†ä¸­ (@yoshidaterukazu) October 16, 2020

This hilarious video from the Blue Television Games YouTube channel shows us how cats can snatch victo?ries away in an instant.

If you have a cat and the spa?ce, it's worth a shot!

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You also need the right house for it

Nintendo is the ki?ng w??hen it comes to experimentation.

I would have really liked to have seen how wacky the Wii Vitality Sensor would have gotten, but in its stead, we've seen Labo and countless other flights of fancy. Mario Kart Live is the latest ??in a long line of toys from Nintendo, and like many others, you get out w?hat you put into it.

Let's start with the setup, because this kind of gadget begs for more information on how it actually works. The box comes with: one racer with a camera strapped to the top (we got Mario, but there's also Luigi at this time), four gates (t??o place around your house and create the track), two arrow signboards, and a USB charging cable for the car. The rest is done via the app that connects to the RC car, which requires a Nintendo Switch.

Speaking of, that process is very painless: head to the eShop and grab a 965MB program. Once you're done, there's a button on one of the sides of the car to sync the toy. Press it and point the toy's camera at an on-screen QR code. In all, the pairing process took about five seconds, with a subsequent firmware update taking around one minute. The game thankfully knows if you have a USB cable attached to the kart — and warns you before you start it up (if for some reason your kid thought it would be funny to rip it out while chargin?g).

As far as the track goes, "some assembly required" is even a bit erroneous for how easy it is. The four gates m??erely require two quick ??folds to have the arrows on the side serve as "feet" to hold them up, and the two directional signs are mostly for decoration and can be plopped on the ground willy-nilly. Although Nintendo suggests that you charge the kart first, you can go from unboxing to racing in-game in 15 minutes if you really want to. Here's the thing though: you need the space for it.

Nintendo recommends a 10'x12' area, with "room for scaling" depending on your desired kart speed. My house is built vertically, so I had to run my Mario Kart Live track from my living room through my kitchen and back around in a loop. That involves carpet and linoleum floors, with the raci??ng transitions that entails. At first I was worri??ed that the kart would get snagged or lag a little bit, but it was fine.

There's a lot of wow factor involved in Mario Kart Live initially. It does in fact "just work," and I had a blast driving it around the house while my cats tried to make heads or tails of what the hell? this little device was. While training, you can ?also steer it wherever you want, so I t??ried to navigate the obstacle courses of various child toys (like my daughter's small plastic slide) or my kitchen table. The kart is very sturdy and even after running it into a few walls for tests, it doesn't look particularly scuffed or permanently damaged.

Reversing is also an option: just in case you get ?caught in a corner somewhere and don't feel like getting up to move it manually. As a note, your AI opponents don't have to obey the same laws of physics as you: so they can? pass through objects if needed. I also really took pausing for granted: you can literally pause the game, go do something else, then come back to it with the AI picking back up where your kart stood.

It's kind of an amazing bit of design from the folks over at Velan Studios. It's a long ways out, but I'm envisioning a "land-to-air" kart-to-drone prototype in someone's workshop right now, akin to Mario Kart 7-8's dynamic course style. There's a lot of potential?? with this tech i?n the right hands. 

So what do you actually do with it? Well, Mario Kart Live is sort of like its own Mario Kart sequel, complete with campaign cups, time trials, and multiplayer. There's eight cups with three courses each, which is a ton of stuff to get through. The courses are themed, but there's a limit. For instance the classic 8-bit Mario stage will adorn the gates with a retro aesthetic (and pipes that sh??oot out item blocks), with little digital Goomba enemies serving as hazards. Little details like extra clouds or atmospheric digital effects are also on-screen to help add to the mood. 

But if you don't change your course (or literally can't because you're in a small room), you're still racing the same track over and over again with the same Bowser Jr. + Koopaling opponents. If you wanted, you could go all-out and print/3D-print ??little decorations to accentuate all of these themes, or craft crazy multi-level courses with ramps. I also envision a world in which you set the game up in a big room around you, with a raised seat in?? the middle to survey the action from on high. Like Labo, the sky is the limit for budding engineers.

But even with the default courses and menial changes, the newness of Home Circuit hasn't worn off for me yet, in part because there are goals to work toward. As you progress you'll unlock more cosmetic content, like different sound horns, outfits, and kart designs: all of which are represented on the Switch itself. There's also a bunch of interesting Live touches, like GTA-style radio stations an?d a free explore mode that lets y??ou just drive the kart around your house.

You can also turn on an assist mode that will rubber-band you back into the course (great for kids) and select from 50cc ?and 100cc right off the bat (150cc and 200cc are unlocked after you win a certain amount of times). There is support for multiplayer for up to four karts thus far, but I was not able to test it as we were only provided with one set.

The propensity for weeks of entertainment with Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is there with the wealth of modes and the possibilit??ies of decorating your own backgrounds for your tracks; but the threshold for fun really caps at your creativity level and the amount of space you have. Carefully consider your options before you dive in, but for those of you who are up to the ch?allenge, it actually does work far better than you'd expect it to.

_{[These impressions are based on a retail build of the hardware provided by the manufacturer.]}

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Throwing it back to where it all began

Those? who recreate the past are doomed to get hit with a red shell. Prett??y sure that's how the proverb goes.

Nintendo has remade the first Mario Kart track that most of us ever played inside Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. Check out the simplistic Mario Circuit 1 from the SNES Mario Kart as experienced through the AR lens of Home Circuit:

To celebrate the launch of #MarioKart Live: Home Circuit, we’ve recreated Mario Circuit 1 from the original Super Mario Kart on Super NES! pic.twitter.com/l9jS6Zojl1

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 16, 2020

(If you're somehow unfamiliar with Mario Circuit 1, here it is in all its 1992-drenched glory.)

Truth be told, Mario Circuit 1 is about the ideal adaption for Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit's four-gate limitations. It's the most iconic Mario Kart course that's more or less oval-shaped. It goes blazing fast, though, as each lap in Home Circuit takes approximately 10 seconds. It's a solid effort from Nintendo, but not as impressive as the time Activision made Tony Hawk a real-life warehouse from THPS1.

For more nuanced thoughts (and an extremely cute kitten), go read Chris' hands-on impressions of Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. 

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The Koopalings are your opponents

Mario Kart Live is out very soon, and I know some people ?are still confused as to what it ?even is, so I'll break it down.

In short, it's an AR-based real-life toy that has a giant camera attached to it, which links up to your Nintendo Switch to simulate a digital ra??cetrack. You'll scoot the actual toys around the floor of your house while you watch the screen: which divines all sorts of magic like imaginary question mark blocks and other CPU racers.

Effects like getting hit with an item will spin you out in real-life and the game, and you create the course yourself by placing "gates," and the app will take care of the rest. The kit is $100 per kart and at launch, you can bring Mario ??or Luigi onto the track for solo or multiplayer experiences. Assuming it all works, that's it. The video above explains it visually.

But beyond that basic rundown, Nintendo also had a few extra details to share with us today. First up Nintendo recommends you have an area of roughly 12' x 10' as a "recommended" play area, which can be restrictive for a lot of people. The "main" mode has also been revealed: a Grand Prix consistin??g of eight cups and 24 different races, which will feature themes such as "underwater, volcanic and retro."

As the above video points out, the speed classes include 50cc, 100cc, 150cc and 200cc, which directly impact the speed of your real kart. There's also a metagame to chase, in that coins you collect will gr?ant you customization options and costumes for your digital kart.

More modes have been revealed too, like custom race (add hazards and items to your liking), time trials (compete against other people asynchronously without buying tw??o karts) and mirror mode, which warps your real-life setup. Nintendo says that "up to four players" can race as long as they have their own karts and systems.

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Make sure you have the space, too

In case you missed it, the recent Mario news blowout revealed Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a new toy that allows folks to relive the Mario Kart experience in their homes.

Essentially, kits come with a racer that has a camera on it (which allows you to see your driver in action on your Nintendo Switch), as well as real-life pieces to create a digital track. It's neat in theory, provided that ??it works and that you have the space. Or the cash to front for it.

Now that retailer listings are live, we know a bit more about how the whole thing will play out. As previously announced it's $99.99 for the Mario starter kit, which comes with Mario and a bunch of cardboard to set up the track. As stated by the listing, each player will need their own Switch and kart: so that's $100 a pop plus individual Switch units. There's also a similar Luigi set up for sale, and the Mario Kart Live app will be a free downloa??d, under the assumption that you can actually operate it with th??e toys.

The whole concept is very cool, but be ready to shell out some dough if you have a bigger family who all want in. I'm particularly intrigued by the variat??ion of the mixed reality tracks, as well as the promise of "unlocks" from the listing, like "speed settings, costumes, environments and more." Rainbow Road is even teased. It's out on October 16.

Mario Kart Live [Walmart]

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