Mario Kart 8 (Wii-U)

[G-Force]

I'm just going to assume that the point of Pink Gold Peach is so that they can have Light, Medium, and Heavy versions of the male and female leads.  Like, it's just a practical choice, or whatever.

[Conando]

Pretty much. I mean, they have it with Mario so it makes sense they do it with Peach. Let's hope they actually gave her different animations and voice clips like they did with Metal Mario, though (in MK 8. In 7 he was a straight clone).

[Marcello]

Because nearly an entire third of the roster is dedicated to them? Add in the babies and Metal clones and that's literally half the roster. That's ridiculous no matter how you look at it.

You might as well complain that Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Peach, Daisy and Rosalina take up nearly an entire third of the cast.

[Indigo Rush]

My thought is that they were so proud of themselves for creating a cool metallic effect on Metal Mario, that they wanted to try it out on someone else for fun and add it to the roster. Bada-bing bada-boom, let's pick Peach. And to be fair, it does look cool.

 

Now, perhaps it's just me, but it's those kinds of additions that strike me as "extra bonus" rather than "lazy filler." Same for "clones" in All Stars Racing and the like. The alternative to those kinds of characters would be none at all, so I'm fine with it.

 

Same perhaps for Baby Rosalina. On one hand, it's a new character, on the other hand, she looks like a color-swap of Baby Peach or Daisy. I don't really know the process behind it, but I feel like can't complain too much over it. Doesn't bug me much.

 

As for the Koopalings, I don't have a strong opinion for or against them, but if we're going to add a troupe of Bowser's minions to the roster, it makes sense to use them over multiple variations of the Koopa Troopa or something. Could be worse, really.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

My thought is that they were so proud of themselves for creating a cool metallic effect on Metal Mario, that they wanted to try it out on someone else for fun and add it to the roster. Bada-bing bada-boom, let's pick Peach. And to be fair, it does look cool.

 

Now, perhaps it's just me, but it's those kinds of additions that strike me as "extra bonus" rather than "lazy filler." Same for "clones" in All Stars Racing and the like. The alternative to those kinds of characters would be none at all, so I'm fine with it.

 

Same perhaps for Baby Rosalina. On one hand, it's a new character, on the other hand, she looks like a color-swap of Baby Peach or Daisy. I don't really know the process behind it, but I feel like can't complain too much over it. Doesn't bug me much.

 

As for the Koopalings, I don't have a strong opinion for or against them, but if we're going to add a troupe of Bowser's minions to the roster, it makes sense to use them over multiple variations of the Koopa Troopa or something. Could be worse, really.

I second this

Also I wouldnt be surprise if they keep a couple characters hidden in the wings as unlockable surprises that cant be shown yet and Them using the time post release to add more via free DLC to keep up the hype throughout the year, I mean they were willing to pay Sega to develop 2 bonus levels for a third party game, who says they wouldnt do the same thing with characters for one of the Their most popular francises around?

[Your Vest Friend]

I dunno if I can agree with the people defending the Metals. I mean, Sonic Heroes pulled the metal thing off better in terms of aesthetic differentiation. And I don't mean Metal Sonic, I mean the skins that you get as a quick cheat in multiplayer mode that you won't likely be seeing for more than a couple of minutes. Pink Gold Peach literally looks like Peach with all her surfaces replaced with the metallic effect. 

[YoshiUnity]

 

"With it's sleek standard issue body and shock-absorbent Monster Tires, this MK-issue ATV is tough enough to any handle even the most difficult terrains and the Konkiest of Konkey Dongs. Guaranteed to put what we believe to be a smile on anyone's face."

 

I was going to throw a Silver Luigi, Diamond Rosalina, Black Gold Bowser and Orange Sapphire Daisy joke in here, but I think that Iron Horse was beaten enough when it left the station. *rimshot*

Anyway, besides the ho-hum addition of more metal and babies, everything else is looking freaking awesome! The in-depth look on the extra features was pretty good, I can't even freaking BEGIN to explain how much that music makes me hype! The vehicles all look freaking cool and I'm anxious to mix them up. Also, finally! And anti-blue shell weapon! Overall, the direct was pretty sweet!

 

I'm a little disappointed to see that Yoshi Valley doesn't conceal your placing in MK8, since that was one of my favorite things about the course in MK64! But, I'm sure it will still be pretty fun regardless. Also, seeing battle mode change up a bit is... interesting. Hopefully it actually will be when I play it!

 

And, shoot... free downloadable full-priced Wii U games? I'm definitely going for either Pikmin 3 or Windwaker HD! Man, May 30th needs to put it in drive and get here!

[Conando]

From what I understand, Yoshi Valley actually concealed your placing just because the game seriously couldn't tell.

[Endy]

I would say the atrocious roster has something to do with them wanting to balance out weight classes, but there are 4 more lightweights than the other two. Seriously, what is up with this game's awful character variety?

[YoshiUnity]

From what I understand, Yoshi Valley actually concealed your placing just because the game seriously couldn't tell.

 

I can understand that. But still, I would had really liked it if they kept that in. It was always priceless seeing the reaction of others when they crossed that finish line and saw what place they were in, and the mystery made me enjoy it even more.

 

I sure it will still be fun, yeah. But still, I will miss that.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

I would say the atrocious roster has something to do with them wanting to balance out weight classes, but there are 4 more lightweights than the other two. Seriously, what is up with this game's awful character variety?

Time constraints? I mean the have to make the Core classics, then add in all 7 koopalings which took away even more development time, then any easy duplicates to round out the roster for release, but on the upside any additional characters that they had in development or planned they move to the postgame DLC stage

And all the other time was eaten by Gameplay, Courses, MKTV and Online

[StaticMania]

The game could tell(Mini Map tells you at all times), they really just chose to hide the placements because, not knowing what place you're in makes it suspenseful(...?)even though it was easy to tell already and it was adding to the track's gimmick.

[VO.SUPER]

Here you go guys. 

 

The game will sport a filesize of 4.2 GB

 

[Daisy-Fan]

The game is looking very good, can't wait for tomorrow, getting my Wii-U : P

[Person]

Well, this is shaping up to be a fantastic game. I'll be getting it day 1 for sure.

 

The 2 new characters didn't do anything for me, but they made up for it with all of the awesome new features and stages. I'll miss Diddy, but at least I still have Wario and Luigi.

 

I'd have to say this is probably the most excited I've ever been for a new MK game!

[Sami]

You might as well complain that Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Peach, Daisy and Rosalina take up nearly an entire third of the cast.

That's an unbelievable false equivalency and you know it. ._.

I'm not particularly interested in arguing the merits of the Koopalings any further, but to suggest that they're anywhere near as worthwhile as the characters you listed is beyond silly.

[PSI Wind]

I swear, Nintendo has some magic fairy dust that compresses these games.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

All 32 of the track videos from the website strung into a sequence, this is worth just listening to because of the pure sound track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaj13izHbFQ&feature=player_detailpage

 

I believe the wii-u may have a partial saviour in this game, I mean the detail and care put into every aspect of this game is simply amazing, I mean alone, the soundtrack, the courses, and the mechanics could sell tons, them all combined into one package is simply awedropping

[SilentDoom]

4.2 GB?  Woah that's small enough to fit on a Wii disc o.O  Talk about efficiency.  Mind you, this still obviously couldn't be a Wii game.

[VO.SUPER]

4.2 GB?  Woah that's small enough to fit on a Wii disc o.O  Talk about efficiency.  Mind you, this still obviously couldn't be a Wii game.

 

I don't know how Nintendo does it sometimes. They seem to be the masters of making every game as compact as it possibly can without losing fidelity. 

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

I don't know how Nintendo does it sometimes. They seem to be the masters of making every game as compact as it possibly can without losing fidelity. 

Yep, it helps that they also dont bloat their games up with unneeded effects and extra unneeded stupid stuff

[Sami]

It's not really all that impressive? The texture work isn't insane or anything, and I haven't really seen what would make it take up an absurd amount of space. The biggest reason why it looks as good as it does is just the lighting, which wouldn't be taking up physical space on the disc. 

 

I mean it's cool that they compressed it for convenience but it's not really impressive.

[VO.SUPER]

It's not really all that impressive? The texture work isn't insane or anything, and I haven't really seen what would make it take up an absurd amount of space. The biggest reason why it looks as good as it does is just the lighting, which wouldn't be taking up physical space on the disc. 

 

I mean it's cool that they compressed it for convenience but it's not really impressive.

 

Eh... you have a point, but it's still great that they can compress things well. 

[Alluusio]

I don't really understand how games work on the more technical side, but does smaller file size mean shorter loading times? Because one thing I really love about Mario Kart games is that the loading times have always been nearly nonexistent when playing in single player. I'd love to see this game keep that up. 

[jords]

http://youtu.be/ydIVgCcuYCw

 

Even Gamexplain thought that Rainbow road wasn't all that. The level looks good but the level design is too simple. And the space station just feels empty. N64 Rainbow road was just full of excitement. Where is the hard difficulty in rainbow road?

 

I have to say though, Mount Wario is looking like its going to be my favourite. The music is happening, the track design is happening and starting on a helicopter is definitely happening.