Latest news with #KentaSato
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Mario Kart World was 'saved' by Switch 2 console, Nintendo officials claim
Nintendo claims that the upcoming Switch 2 console was crucial in "saving" the development of Mario Kart World. The company's officials have noted that the title, which was previously planned to launch on the original Switch, faced significant technical challenges on the older hardware. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The game, featuring a 24-player concept, also began development more than five years ago exclusively for the original Nintendo Switch. However, Nintendo's development team reportedly struggled to make the game's ambitious multiplayer vision work on the ageing hardware without making substantial technological compromises. In 2020, when developers working on Mario Kart World reportedly gained a rough understanding of the Switch 2's technical specifications. This led to discussions about delaying the project to launch on Nintendo's next-generation machine. During a recent "Ask the Developer" interview (as seen by IGN), Nintendo's Mario Kart World team stated they initially approached the concept of incorporating open-world gameplay and 24-player multiplayer "from a calm and collected programming perspective" to assess its feasibility. However, the team quickly determined it would not be possible on the existing hardware. What Mario Kart World team said about delaying the launch of the game Mario Kart World programming director Kenta Sato said: 'It was difficult for us to incorporate everything we wanted, so we were always conscious of what we were giving up in return. We discussed things like toning down the visuals, lowering the resolution, and we even considered dropping the framerate to 30 fps in some cases. It was a tough situation.' Despite their confidence in the concept, the Mario Kart World team kept pushing to make it work, but producer Kosuke Yabuki said they felt they were 'kicking the can down the road.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'We knew it was going to get messy. But as we'd decided to release Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 's Booster Course Pass, we thought that would give us a bit more time to continue development. That's when the conversation of moving it to the Nintendo Switch 2 system came up, and this suddenly opened up a bunch of possibilities on what we could do. It was truly a ray of hope.' Yabuki continued. The interview also reveals that this took place 'around 2020,' when Nintendo developers had 'an idea of the next system [Switch 2]'s expected specs' but hadn't yet received working development units. Consequently, the Mario Kart World team pressed on using those estimated Switch 2 capabilities. 'If we had included everything we wanted to in this game's vast world, then it wouldn't have run at 60 fps and would have suffered from constant framerate drops. I think there were a lot of people on the team who were worried about whether we could really manage it. But once we decided to release this game on Switch 2, we expected our worries to evaporate all at once. I remember being overjoyed when I discovered we could express even more than we'd originally set out to,' Sato added.
The Drive
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Drive
Mario Kart World Almost Came Out for the Original Switch. Good Thing It Didn't
The latest car news, reviews, and features. We're less than two weeks away from the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and, by extension, Mario Kart World . Nintendo's taken the run-up to share one of its insightful developer deep dives around the game, and it's brought some interesting nuggets to light. Like, for example, how the dev team was originally planning to release MK World on the original Switch—seriously. As some of the game's core minds tell it in the latest edition of Nintendo's 'Ask the Developer' interview series, it was decided early on that the sequel to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe would be a more sprawling experience, rather than one constrained to closed circuits. The team was also committed to doubling the number of competitors in races from 12 to 24. With MK8 already pushing the original Switch to its limits, it was clear that cutbacks would be required to make all that possible on existing hardware. 'When we were developing for Nintendo Switch, we often worried whether we could find the right balance between planning and performance,' programming director Kenta Sato said. 'Of course, the Switch system's performance is sufficient for developing different kinds of games, but if we had included everything we wanted to in this game's vast world, then it wouldn't have run at 60 fps and would have suffered from constant framerate drops. I think there were a lot of people on the team who were worried about whether we could really manage it.' Nintendo of America via YouTube Sato recalls feeling 'overjoyed' when the decision was made in 2020 to move the game to Switch 2, because it meant he and his colleagues would be able to express their full vision for MK World without the concessions to performance and visual fidelity that would've assuredly been necessary on Nintendo's current platform. The team had begun prototyping the game as far back as 2017, meaning that it's truly been in development for the entire eight years of the Switch's lifecycle, up to this point. At that time, five years ago, Sato and company still didn't know the specifics of the Switch 2 architecture, and it wasn't 'until a bit later' that they had working dev kits. But the move appeared to energize the team all the same. 'Of course, the graphics needed to be more detailed,' art director Masaaki Ishikawa said. 'But like Sato-san, I also felt like it was outweighed by the sense of relief. From the beginning, the designers were saying they wanted to make the art richer, so I thought we could achieve that now. For example, team members who were creating the terrain in the scenery were really happy because they could now place more trees, which were key to giving the world a more natural look.' It would've been quite jarring to go from MK8's lush, albeit constrained environments, to a sparse map devoid of trees and other environmental details that give richness to a game's world. Couple that with a 30 fps performance target—negatively impacting the game's smoothness, responsiveness, and sense of speed—and it's clear MK World on the original Switch would've lacked the quality that has made MK8 so enduring more than a decade since its original release on the Wii U. If you're eagerly anticipating Mario Kart World , I highly recommend reading the rest of Nintendo's interviews, because they cover everything from the challenges in designing a soundtrack for a seamless open world, to the intricacies of the game's new day/night cycle and weather system. It'll surely be tough to top Mario Kart 8 , but World certainly has the ambition behind it to try. Yes, that's a course inspired by the original Donkey Kong in the distance at left. Nintendo of America via YouTube Got tips? Send 'em to tips@ Adam Ismail is the News Editor at The Drive, coordinating the site's slate of daily stories as well as reporting his own and contributing the occasional car or racing game review. He lives in the suburbs outside Philly, where there's ample road for his hot hatch to stretch its legs, and ample space in his condo for his dusty retro game consoles.
Tom's Guide
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
Mario Kart World was supposed to be a Nintendo Switch 1 game — but I'm glad it's not
Mario Kart World is the Switch 2 launch title that most people will recognize, but it wasn't always intended to be one. In fact, the game's developers have revealed they actually wanted to release the open-world racer on the original Switch console. But the older hardware just couldn't handle it. Speaking in an interview on the Nintendo website, Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki confirmed that the game had actually been in development since 2017. But programming director Kenta Sato said that apparently developing for the Switch 1 means it "was difficult for [them] to incorporate [they] wanted." Evidently developers were always conscious of what they'd have to give up to get the game running on the Switch. They discussed things like lowering resolution, dropping visuals, and even reducing the frame rate to 30fps. But in the end the team realized they couldn't let any of that go. 60fps was something the team felt was particularly important for Mario Kart games — something that even Mario Kart 8 could handle consistently. Eventually the team decided to simply make more DLC for Mario Kart 8, as a way to bide time and figure Mario Kart World out. It was only after the Booster Course Pass was released that the topic of switching to Switch 2 came about. According to Yabuki this "suddenly opened up a bunch of possibilities on what [they] could do." noting that "It was truly a ray of hope." Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. If that means we get an uncompromised version of Mario Kart World, then that's definitely a good thing. Considering the expansive new environments and the 24-player races, it's not surprising that this is better off on the Switch 2 than the original console. It's enough to make me wonder what other games went through a similar situation. Considering how long ago Metroid Prime 4 was announced, and how good the game looks, I wouldn't be surprised if there were similar conversations happening behind the scenes. But we may never know for sure. And if you plan to play Mario Kart World on the Switch 2 for yourself but haven't got hold of a console yet, we're tracking pre-order restocks as they happen on our Switch 2 pre-order live blog.
Engadget
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Mario Kart World was initially planned for the original Switch
The upcoming Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World was originally intended for the OG Switch console, according to an interview with the game's developers . This was the goal until the dev team realized that the console couldn't handle it. "It was difficult for us to incorporate everything we wanted, so we were always conscious of what we were giving up in return,' said programming director Kenta Sato. A big sticking point seemed to be that the original Switch would have had to run the game at 30FPS. Mario Kart games have always run at 60FPS, for obvious reasons. You can't simulate speed without, uh, simulating speed. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Developers pecked away at the "tough situation" until finally deciding to create more DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as a way to bide time as the team figured out what to do. "As we'd decided to release Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — Booster Course Pass , we thought that would give us a bit more time to continue development," said producer Kosuke Yabuki. "That's when the conversation of moving it to the Nintendo Switch 2 system came up, and this suddenly opened up a bunch of possibilities on what we could do. It was truly a ray of hope.' This interview also revealed that the game has been in development since 2017, which is a heck of a long time. However, it makes a certain amount of sense given that the original Mario Kart 8 came out in 2014. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. The upcoming racer was always set in an open world and it was never going to be called Mario Kart 9. The developers wanted to "take the series to the next level." The big, connected world seems to do just that. "I felt that in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe , we were able to perfect the formula that we'd been following in the series up to that point, where players race on individual courses," Yabuki continued. "That's why, this time, we wanted the gameplay to involve players driving around a large world, and we began creating a world map like this.' I personally think the company made the right call by delaying this game until the Switch 2. Recent first-party Switch titles have experienced massive framerate issues, and there's no way the console could have handled races with 24 participants. In any event, we only have a couple of weeks until we get to play Mario Kart World , if you've successfully reserved the Switch 2 for the June 5 launch.
The Verge
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Nintendo explains why it's not called Mario Kart 9
Nintendo's latest entry in its 'ask the developer' interview series has some fun new details about the Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World. Among the many things discussed is an explanation for why the game isn't called Mario Kart 9, despite being a sequel to the best-selling Mario Kart 8 — and it has to do with the game's approach to open-world design. 'If the idea had just been to add more courses, then I think we would've called it Mario Kart 9,' explained producer Kosuke Yabuki. 'But, that wasn't our approach this time. We wanted to take the series to the next level. So, we decided to drop the numbering this time and go with a completely new title, Mario Kart World. So, we'd already added ' MARIO KART WORLD ' to the concept art from the early stages of development.' The development team also discussed the game's origins on the original Switch. Many of the key aspects of World — including its interconnected map and increasing the number of players per race from 12 to 24 — were in place early on, but they apparently proved to be a challenge on the previous hardware. 'When we were developing for the Nintendo Switch system, it was difficult for us to incorporate everything we wanted, so we were always conscious of what we were giving up in return,' programming director Kenta Sato said. 'We discussed things like toning down the visuals, lowering the resolution, and we even considered dropping the frame rate to 30 fps in some cases. It was a tough situation.' Yabuki added that when the idea of moving the game to the Switch 2 came up, 'It was truly a ray of hope.' There's a lot more to dig into in the four-part Q&A, including the fact that there will be 200 tracks to listen to and how important food is to the game from a worldbuilding perspective. So you should definitely check out the full thing. My favorite detail, though, is how a character named Cow made it onto the roster of racers. As art director Masaaki Ishikawa explains it 'Cow is actually a pivotal character in the Mario Kart series.' After looking at this concept art, I can't help but agree:
