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Mario Kart DS - IGN review

Friends list isnt too bad.

Lets say I have 10 people on my list. I want to play with my 3 close friends.

We set a time. 9pm. What are the odds that at that same time, one of my 7 others friends will be

1) Playing their DS
2) Playing Mario Kart DS
3) Playing Mario Kart DS online
4) Searching for a friend to play against
5) Doing this at exaclty 9pm
?

Very little.


I think the major problem is not tracking disconceting players.
 
SpeedRazor said:
Disconnected players get a loss in their win/loss record. You just don't get a win.
Click to expand...

Oh, thats slightly better then. I guess I misundertood the review.

Best would be having a seperate tracker for this and somehow penalizing the players that turn off their console.

Maybe setting up a game where all 4 players try to quit when losing. :lol
 
Shaheed79 said:
Man to man race is the ULTIMATE grudge settler. "I'm better than you in MKDS you N-tard!" "Screw you asswipe lets take it to Bowsers Castle!" Whoever wins absolutely no bitching about "Well so and so hit me with a blue shell and if it wasn't for that I would of smoked your ass!".

Grudge matches may not be what Nintendo wants to promote but they should include that option in the next iteration regardless. For a first generation Nintendo online game I think they did ok but the sequel should be damn near flawless.
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Not really, because 1 on 1 matches usually aren't very fair. That's what I was trying to say above - it mostly comes down to who gets the better item near the end of the race.

Races are loaded so that the more players there are, the more even the distribution of items/weapons, if that makes sense. The less players, the more unfair - in MK64 you could be right behind the other player in a 1 on 1 and still get a lightning bolt or whatever. That was pretty ridiculous.
 
jamesinclair said:
Oh, thats slightly better then. I guess I misundertood the review.

Best would be having a seperate tracker for this and somehow penalizing the players that turn off their console.

Maybe setting up a game where all 4 players try to quit when losing. :lol
Click to expand...


Also if one person disconnects and theres 4 racers total.. the races continue with just 3 and u will still get a win as long as 1 other stays.. so no worries there really.
 
PezRadar said:
Also if one person disconnects and theres 4 racers total.. the races continue with just 3 and u will still get a win as long as 1 other stays.. so no worries there really.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i got that, but if 4th place quits, then 3rd place quits, and then 2nd place gets a lightning...

:(

Which brings up a point....

2nd place = lose?
 
jamesinclair said:
Friends list isnt too bad.

Lets say I have 10 people on my list. I want to play with my 3 close friends.

We set a time. 9pm. What are the odds that at that same time, one of my 7 others friends will be

1) Playing their DS
2) Playing Mario Kart DS
3) Playing Mario Kart DS online
4) Searching for a friend to play against
5) Doing this at exaclty 9pm
?

Very little.
Click to expand...

I don't think Step 4 isn't necessary - I think there's a notification when your friend comes online, even if you're playing in a random match.

So really you could say, if your friends each have 7 other different friends, and they play Mario Kart for a half-hour between 7 and 12 every night, and they'll join in when they see a friend online, the odds you'll get a 5th player is almost 95%. Even if they only play online 30 mins once a week, the odds are almost 50%.

The only way to avoid it is to keep your friends list small.
 
antipode said:
I don't think Step 4 isn't necessary - I think there's a notification when your friend comes online, even if you're playing in a random match.

So really you could say, if your friends each have 7 other different friends, and they play Mario Kart for a half-hour between 7 and 12 every night, and they'll join in when they see a friend online, the odds you'll get a 5th player is almost 95%. Even if they only play online 30 mins once a week, the odds are almost 50%.

The only way to avoid it is to keep your friends list small.
Click to expand...

What if you planned it so that at EXACTLT 9pm you all hit friends play?

None of that lobby loitering.
 
Slurpy said:
Is it possible for firware to be downloaded in the future to improve stuff like this?
Click to expand...
Even the power of the mighty Rocky Mountains Subalpine Fir cannot alter an online setup that's part of the game card itself.
 
Juice said:
Friends don't let friends post drunk. Or stupid.

IGN, love them or hate them, is probably the most widely read voice in gaming. Their reviews are seen or heard of more than any other. Whether or not they're a bunch of retarded asshats is aside the point.
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No, it isn't. Have you read the replies?

Juice said:
I have no idea how this has anything to do with Christians.
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Friends don't let friends post drunk or stupid, lolol!!11

It has nothing to do with Christians in particular, but just raises the point of why so much credence is put into IGN reviews, relative to more obscure sites which are similarly just one person's opinion.
 
Drensch said:
Is matching done at the server level or on the ds? Couldn't it eventually change?
Click to expand...

What seems the most possible (not the most likely, but most possible) is for Nintendo to allow you to set up tournaments or specific player games via the web site. The server would them limit your matches to whoever you specified. I'm assuming the DS merely tells the server 1) your DS ID number, and 2) that you are looking for players of ___ type. If the server were already told to limit your matches to a specific set of people, it would provide the DS with people based on that rule.

Tournaments and specific matches are possible if Nintendo does provide this option, although it would require one (if not all) players to set it up via a web interface.
 
Single Card mode has the following:

* 2-8 player simultaneous wireless game play
* Choice of multiplayer racing, Balloon Battle, or Shine Thief modes
* Players who own Mario Kart DS can choose their own characters and use personalized icons
* Players who do not own Mario Kart DS must play as Shy Guy; they cannot use personalized player icons
* Track selection is limited to eight tracks for racing and three arenas for Balloon Battle and Shine Runner modes
* DS Download Play is limited to the 100 cc engine class
 
heidern said:
Single Card mode has the following:

* 2-8 player simultaneous wireless game play
* Choice of multiplayer racing, Balloon Battle, or Shine Thief modes
* Players who own Mario Kart DS can choose their own characters and use personalized icons
* Players who do not own Mario Kart DS must play as Shy Guy; they cannot use personalized player icons
* Track selection is limited to eight tracks for racing and three arenas for Balloon Battle and Shine Runner modes
* DS Download Play is limited to the 100 cc engine class
Click to expand...


Thanks!
 
About the friends list, posted in the official thread by pezradar
This is in regards to friend match playing.. That no review site has even listed.

In the manual page 40 in an orange box theres an area that talks about locking specific people on your friends list so that you dont accidently delete there entry.


Also in that box it states and i quote

"If both you and an opponent lock eachother's information on your friend rosters and then choose to race against friends on the Nintendo WFC at the same time, the chances of the two of you being matched up for a race INCREASE"


Woot even better chances of going agst certain people right there
Click to expand...
 
Some of you are over-exaggerating. In many courses, including the Yoshi one on MK:DD, "driving" skill is much more important than items. If another player can navigate the turns much better than you can, even items won't save you.
 
Can anyone tell me if the Mario Kart 64 Battle Track that ehm donut thing is in it? You know the big round track, with the lava in the middle and all you could do was drive around in circles :p
 
Brandon F said:
I'd buy whatever dongle works, but I fear driver hiccups and compatability. Need more guinea pigs!



Eating McDonalds for lunch sounds like a greater challenge than you would bring! ;)
Click to expand...

Get a salad!

Sounds like your best bet is to get yourself a dongle or go to McDonald's.

dongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledongledonglev
 
bummyhead said:
That's true, mario kart is never really good with less than 3 players anyway. (be they human or computer controlled)
Click to expand...

SuperMarioKart (the best of the series) was just fine in 2 player.

And the online setup sounds retarded if you can't choose who you want to race with.
 
Raiden said:
Can anyone tell me if the Mario Kart 64 Battle Track that ehm donut thing is in it? You know the big round track, with the lava in the middle and all you could do was drive around in circles :p
Click to expand...

god i hope not. luckilly we have the wonderfully stupid "DS" battle course to compensate....

ugh.
 
bionic77 said:
SuperMarioKart (the best of the series) was just fine in 2 player.

And the online setup sounds retarded if you can't choose who you want to race with.
Click to expand...


2 player battle mode? yes.

2 player gp with 6 computer xcontrolled racers? yes.

2 player 1 on 1? no.
 
Christ, how can he write three pages with so little content? I just read all that and I know nothing about the characters, items, weapons, controls or tracks (except there are some old ones in it). There are a couple of lines about the one-player and battle modes, and that's it. I don't want reviews just to tell me how much the reviewer likes the game, I want information to help discern whether I might like it.
 
snaildog said:
Christ, how can he write three pages with so little content? I just read all that and I know nothing about the characters, items, weapons, controls or tracks (except there are some old ones in it). There are a couple of lines about the one-player and battle modes, and that's it. I don't want reviews just to tell me how much the reviewer likes the game, I want information to help discern whether I might like it.
Click to expand...
I disagree, I like reviews to give me a feel for the game. I can get the facts from the PR material and whatnot.
 
heidern said:
Single Card mode has the following:

* 2-8 player simultaneous wireless game play
* Choice of multiplayer racing, Balloon Battle, or Shine Thief modes
* Players who own Mario Kart DS can choose their own characters and use personalized icons
* Players who do not own Mario Kart DS must play as Shy Guy; they cannot use personalized player icons
* Track selection is limited to eight tracks for racing and three arenas for Balloon Battle and Shine Runner modes
* DS Download Play is limited to the 100 cc engine class
Click to expand...

Wait, so if you have 8 people, and there are 3 copies of MK, theres a way for those 3 people to chose their character and the other 5 to play as shy guy?

I remember on GBA it was everyone ahd the game or one person had it. No middle ground.
 
jamesinclair said:
Wait, so if you have 8 people, and there are 3 copies of MK, theres a way for those 3 people to chose their character and the other 5 to play as shy guy?

I remember on GBA it was everyone ahd the game or one person had it. No middle ground.
Click to expand...
Well, there's middle ground now. It's been known for a while.
 
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