Mario Kart 7 Uses StreetPass for Ghost Data, Finding Online Opponents

3DS

by Carmine Red - September 12, 2011, 11:28 pm EDT
Total comments: 6

Also: playable Lakitu and Metal Mario, gyroscope control, a first-person camera, and the Fire Flower.

Mario Kart 7 will take advantage of the Nintendo 3DS's StreetPass feature for multiplayer gameplay, Nintendo revealed during their recent 3DS Press Conference. The Nintendo 3DS StreetPass feature will automatically exchange pre-recorded ghost data for players to race against with other Nintendo 3DS systems nearby. Players will then be able to use the data of the people they meet anonymously via StreetPass to identify those same players online for live multiplayer.

Nintendo also revealed that Mario Kart 7 would allow players to steer using the Nintendo 3DS's gyroscope. Paired with a new first-person camera perspective option, this is an entirely new way to experience the Mario Kart series.

Finally, Nintendo also used the conference to reveal two new characters for their light-hearted racer: Lakitu, in a cloud-themed kart, and Metal Mario, whose entire kart, including the tires, was metallic. The Fire Flower item was also revealed, allowing a racer to launch individual bouncing fireballs either forward or backward.

Talkback

Killer_Man_JaroTom Malina, Associate Editor (Europe)September 13, 2011

If Lakitu is a racer, who will do the countdown and wave the chequered flag?

But seriously, these are great features. As long as the online experience is as solid as the Wii game (and in the presentation, it looked like a very similar interface), all is well.

EnnerSeptember 13, 2011

I really like the first-person perspective. I hope it has a back view mirror or back radar. Also, I hope you can use the slide pad in that perspective. An ultimate hope is that the new perspective will be a new standardized feature for Mario Kart.