Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit Adds a Slice of AR Racing to Nintendo Switch
There’s no doubt that Nintendo has some inventive and surprising ideas to keep fans entertained. The latest product fitting this mould is Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, a mixture of physical toy and augmented reality (AR) gameplay due for launch in October.
Combining both real world and digital gaming the karts in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit are designed to be driven around your home as they feature a camera placed just above the characters head. You setup four gates to race through and then map out a course by driving the kart around, all from the Nintendo Switch.
Once the course is complete you can then race, with a digital overlay dropping in track markers and environments like the ocean depths, jungles or a sandy desert from Mario Kart. Of course, no Mario Kart race would be complete without opponents and items so you can race against the Koopalings in eight Grand Prix cups. There’s even a four-person local multiplayer mode, they just need their own kart, Nintendo Switch console and a copy of the software.
As for the items these don’t just have an in-game effect, they’ll also affect how the real kart handles. Use a mushroom and the kart will gain a small speed burst. Get hit by another racer’s red shell and the kart will suddenly stop.
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is scheduled to launch on 16th October in Mario or Luigi sets for $99.99 USD. That price includes one kart, 4 gates, 2 arrow markers and a USB charging cable. The software itself is a free download from the Nintendo eShop on launch day.
This continues Nintendo’s embrace of immersive gaming for the Switch, with the Labo VR Kit launching last year. Not quite in the same league as other VR devices, the effort received a mixed response. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, on the other hand, looks like it could be quite the product for the festive season. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
https://www.vrfocus.com/2020/09/mario-kart-live-home-circuit-adds-a-slice-of-ar-racing-to-nintendo-switch/
