Thursday, February 24, 2005

Mario gets a home away from home

Nintendo has joined with Namco to release an Arcade version of Mario Kart. Mario Kart: Arcade GP has been shown off at the Amusement Operators' Union (AOU) show, taking place February 18 and 19 in Japan. Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto released a video message on the game "The Mario Kart series has been enjoyed by a much wider age range than we had originally anticipated," Miyamoto said in the address. "It's a racing game, but it plays a lot like a party game... I was worried about how Mario Kart: Arcade GP would turn out [since it's based on a home console game], but it's very well balanced for the arcades."

Miyamoto addressed some of the ways in which Mario Kart was adapted for arcade gameplay. "Players take their time [and play over and over] when they're enjoying Mario Kart at home, but it's different for arcade games, and it's not ideal for anyone to be seriously lagging behind. The Mario Kart series features an item system so that players can catch up by using them when they're trailing behind, but with the new rubber-band system that Namco implemented [in Mario Kart Arcade GP], the races become a really close-pitched match,"

The game also gets a special guest from Namco. Pac-Man has been included as a driver on the game. This is probably as a result of Miyamoto recent work on a Pacman game for Nintendo and his revelation that he was a big fan of the original game.

No comments: