https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__qp9iPKeNs
Mario Kart 8 - New Features Trailer

source: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=824056

This game is coming out soon. The coins being back is great. Don't like that they've kept that Blooper item which I absolutely hated in Mario Kart DS.

source: Digital Foundry

Wonder what Nintendo's response to this will be. It is a bit disappointing since the team sought out 60 fps.

Nintendo's got a LOT more to worry about than a couple less frames.

Ditto.

God, it's freaking annoying how everyone is worried about "resolution" and "FPS" crap these days. It's the blast processing of this gen I swear.

Is the game fun? How's the gameplay? Those are practically alien questions anymore.

Hell, I just replayed Diablo on the PC and the resolution on that is insanely meager... it was still fun.

Also, this slight issue with the frames... couldn't they eventually fix that with a patch? Not saying that is ideal (too many companies release things with a "fix it later" mentality) but it's probably within their ability.

While I agree, it's all about having fun and the internet likes to nit pick...there's something to be said about 'primary' system seller titles...I need to call out Microsoft's Flagship 3rd party game - "Titanfall" - this is supposedly a really fun game, but I wouldn't know, because I get terribly annoyed and taken out of the experience at the screen tearing...this is a major league amateur move...drop the resolution to whatever the system can handle... That said, I'm curious what anyone here who's played MK8 thinks of this '1 frame less' Mario Kart Gate conspiracy...sounds infinitesimal unimportant on the surface

This whole thing is beyond ridiculous.
I could understand the hullabaloo if the main game ran at 30 FPS instead of 60, but Jesus Christ it's at 59 people.
This frame-f*cking really pisses me off (although I appreciate that this is Digital Foundry's thing and I do enjoy their technical reviews).

And yeah, there's no way Nintendo is going to "address" this, because that would be ridiculous too.

Except that Blast Processing was never a real thing, and resolution and FPS are actually measurable specs.
I agree that gameplay always comes first, and I personally don't care very much about resolution either (the difference between 720p and 1080p is also vastly overrated), but it IS very nice to play games that run at a constant 60 FPS though.
I'm not saying it's required or anything, but man does it ever look nice.

I've played an in-store demo and didn't take issue with the frame rate at all. I found the lack of anti-aliasing slightly jarring; I'm not picky about graphics and ultimately don't care, it just took me off-guard to see so many jagged edges in a 2014 game.

Mercedes Benz dlc confirmed for Japan

commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AkgJZGspCM

I played a couple of races in 50cc yesterday, and the game looks/runs great.

It did reaffirm that I'm just kind of done with this series though, or maybe just racing games in general.
There's nothing bad about it, but I just don't find it enjoyable anymore.

Battle Mode is getting slagged a lot:
For:

Against:

sources: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/700050-m … 8/69339085 and http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=828877

Curious how this compares to the free-for-all combat in Twisted Metal: Black.

Anti-gravity inclusion has been met with lukewarm response from gamefaqs posters.

source: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/700050-m … 8/69339416

I put a bunch of time into this over the weekend, and it's a lot fun; a huge improvement over Mario Kart Wii. I haven't played enough to say if I like it better than my favorite MK of all time (DS), but it's quite good. The changes to battle mode are baffling, but the the regular racing is good stuff. My biggest criticisms are around the interface and button config. On the interface, just like in MK7, it's a huge pain in the ass to compare racers and parts to figure out which combinations have the stats you want. I'm disappointed that Nintendo didn't attempt to improve this from MK7. As for the buttons, I'm left scratching my head as to why there is no config option that would allow for SNES-style controls, instead forcing the very awkward NES-style controls on four-button layouts. Makes no sense at all. Would it have really been that hard to include a config option? It's also somewhat irritating that the map has moved to the gamepad screen, so you have to glance away from the main screen if you want to see it. I setup my gamepad on its stand and am playing with the Pro controller, so it's a little easier, but still not a great decision. Like I said earlier, the game itself is still a lot of fun, but there's just a lot of these little boneheaded design decisions that show a very un-Nintendo lack of polish.

Agreed on all of XLord's points.  I'm having way more fun with a MK title than I could've imagined.  Everything's clicking with me gameplay wise; the bikes feel particularly great, and I've never been able to drift with this level of accuracy before.

The interface could have used more refining, yeah.  Cycling through all the various vehicle/tire/gliding options and their stats isn't intuitive, and I too am using the Pro Controller with the Wii U gamepad awkwardly propped next to the bottom of the TV in order to see the course map.  The configuration of the controls themselves might have bothered me if I didn't realize that you can also use the Y button to accelerate, as an alternative to A.  (Right thumbstick, too, but that feels a bit too extrinsic for me.)

The online works extremely well; simple but effective infrastructure, and no discernible lag as far as I can tell.  I'm getting massively slaughtered by the competition, mind, but it's a testament to the game's online fluidity and overall fun factor that I often rank at sub -9th place, and want to keep coming back for more. :)

I also agree with absuplendous; the 60fps 59fps framerate is solid, and the graphics and lighting are fantastic with plenty of neat background touches -- but the jaggies are very pronounced.  Maybe I got too spoiled in seeing those pristine bullshots that lead up to the release of the game.

I've finally gotten around to giving this game a spin, and as someone whose never really been a Mario Kart or racing fanatic, I'm surprised by how enjoyable I've found the game thus far. I've played a bit of Double Dash, but the bulk of my Kart experience lies in the SNES original; the game's evolved quite a bit. Despite my tendency to resist change in games, the numerous upgrades aren't as daunting as I thought they'd be.

The graphics and sound are fantastic. Of note is that the jaggies I mentioned earlier aren't really noticeable to me now; they're there, no doubt, but sitting a few feet away on my couch versus standing directly in front of the screen at a store demo makes a big difference. The live music recordings sound excellent. Even the voices aren't terrible--in that you don't hear them too often. I don't think I'll ever understand their casting/voice directions, though.

I feel like the items can be very intrusive. Back in the day, the items' potency seemed a bit conservative and took a little skill to use effectively. Now they're just ridiculous, with screen-obscuring Bloopers and the once-rare Lightning Bolt now striking at least once per race. I wish there was a way to toggle them a la Smash Bros.

Playing with the Pro Controller left my hand a bit cramped/fatigued; I'm not sure, but it might be the button placement. I too was disappointed to see not button configuration options. I'll try the old Classic Controller Pro and see if that's any more comfortable. That all said, maneuvering your character is easy--like Angela, I don't think I've ever been able to drift this well before.

By the way, have you heard of the overblown and somehow controversial Fire-hopping technique?

Yeah, the Blooper obscures more of the action than it used to while other items like the once potent red shells are basically useless. I find that the only way to win is to be in first by a large margin so you can survive the inevitable blue shells. Even in last place, none of the items you get are particularly helpful. I don't know that I'd want to turn items off, but I'd like them to actually mean something like they used to.

I started out with the Classic Controller Pro and ended up switching to the Pro Controller, but neither are ideal due to the button config.

Yeah, I read about that, but that only matters at the ultra competitive level. I just play for fun, and don't get worked up about stuff like that. At PAX East, I had to tell the Capcom rep to stop talking about recovery times and frame data when talking to me about USF4. I just wanted to know how many new stages there were.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpxDuNFBVj8
Luigi Ridin' Dirty - Death Stare in Mario Kart 8

Overblown as in too many people complaining about it even though it's a technique that essentially was in the original Mario Kart on the SNES already? I find it odd that some people think this is a bug or accidentally got into the game.

XLord007, I actually wound up preferring the Classic Controller Pro, except for the AA's dying mid-match (the game automatically paused when that happened, but I don't know what it'd do in multiplayer/online mode). I wonder how the SFC Classic Controller would fare... I don't want to turn off all items, but it would be nice to have a House Rules option where we could disable Bloopers only or something. There is something to that effect in Online mode, where you can select from a range of Items options (but not customize them yourself), but it doesn't seem to be a popular feature as any time I've tried it, no one else was using it at the time.

Datschge, exactly. A lot of people seem to think that an "unintended" technique (an argument for which there is little evidence) makes it the equivalent of a bug. The hubbub seems especially disproportionate when you consider what a negligible advantage it offers.

I haven't played MK8 yet, but "fire hopping" doesn't seem to me to be anywhere near the ridiculous exploit that snaking was especially considering how it's limited to only when you're getting a speed boost.  There's a difference between using a technique that requires at least a small amount of control, like doing multiple genuine power slides on a long turn, and exploiting the mechanism in a way that is clearly unintended to get endless speed boosts on a long straight track.

I'm just glad to see that heavy-weights are actually competitive in this one (Wario has a world record in some course time trial using fire hopping). In Mario Kart DS snaking benefitted light-weights too much; you could not win a race with a heavy-weight against a light-weight.

edit: Played the game today at the mall. The course is way too big and the wall riding ability makes it even bigger. The carts handling feels a bit ballooned out (like the Wii U controller) than tight hopping machines of 64. Watching the game it looks quite stunning. Playing it isn't as exhilarating as it looks.

http://store.nintendo.co.uk/wii-u-ddc/t … 91121.html

The packs look great but it seems insane that they would add these characters and ads to the roster when some are nine months away.

Has anyone else tried the new courses that came out recently? Pretty solid additions if you ask me. I particularly like the F-Zero course with the jazzy music and how they replace the victory music with the F-Zero victory music.

Is Nintendo making a mistake by not bundling MK8D with a wheel?
What do you guys think of the wheel controller?

I never used the Mario Kart Wii wheel that I had because I preferred non motion controls.

Yes, I opted not have to have another piece of junk laying around as well. Plays just fine with a normal controller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkHw2WLVj10
Firehopping is removed

Good.  They let snaking ruin online competition in the past so fixing bugs in the power slide mechanism is for the best.