Talk:Mario Kart DS

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pre-2006 January - March 2006

Archived

I've archived this page; all topics with no 2006 discussion are now available under the page Talk:Mario Kart DS/Archive1. --Stratadrake 00:30, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

...And apparently, I have more to learn about how to archive a page properly (used Move method for the first archive, which copied all discussion, past and present alike). I extracted the January through March discussions into a second Archive page. The MKDS article is rather stable (compared to articles like the Wii); monthly archiving might actually be too often. Okay, enough practice with the archiving for now. --Stratadrake 04:18, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Mini Turbos

Quit changing it back. Nintendo has not confirmed snaking is intentional. If it is, produce a reference. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.147.113.244 (talk • contribs) .

There used to be a reference to a forum post, it seems it was deleted during the vandalism time. -- ReyBrujo 16:40, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Here's your reference: http://forums.nintendo.com/nintendo/board/message?board.id=mario_kart_ds&message.id=165162&query.id=0#M165162

That is from a forum so you can't be sure how reliable it is. Dlong 20:47, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Supposedly, one of the Nintendo execs has officially confirmed snaking as not part of the game's intended design. But can we verify that? Stratadrake 03:47, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

The link to the Nintendo forum should be enough. He is one of Nintendo playtesters, so he should know. Maybe it was not intentional when it was first created, but that post should confirm it. -- ReyBrujo 03:50, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I disagree, myself. That's why an official answer on the subject would be ideal -- forum posts aren't necessarily as credible.Stratadrake 00:15, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

http://www.nintendo.com/newsarticle?articleid=Ln6VXJsPH0N3bG3US-eV1Hi8CfRY2Qum&page

A news article is more officiated than a forum post, but personally, I'm still labelling it as just his opinion on the subject. --Stratadrake 03:00, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

You guys didn't even mention PRB

PRB = Prolonged Rocket Boost, its starting to become common

(Sort of like Snaking, but timed perfectly with the starting boost so that when you go offroad you lose no speed) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.54.187.181 (talk • contribs) .

Do we need this?

Someone added this to the article -- I'm unsure if it's actually noteworthy, so I'll post it here in the meantime.

====Leading On====
Another tactic is the use of "leading on." It is done when a player goes
in the path of a dropped item, like a banana or a shell when there is an
opponent behind the player. Once the player reaches within mere feet of
the item, he or she will move out of the way. If done correctly, the
opponent will smash into that item.

My thoughts:

• Not specific to MKDS, or even the Mario Kart series -- can be done in just about any racing game featuring items and/or obstacles.
• Not actually a feature (unlike drafting).
• Unsure if this is even a common tactic in the first place (unlike snaking).

--Stratadrake 01:33, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Wikibooks links

We don't need an edit war over whether to include the Wikibooks links or not. Should they stay?

My thoughts:

• Keep the main Wikibooks link for sure.

--Stratadrake 00:35, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

The book has been DELETED! We don't need links to deleted books! Gerard Foley 00:59, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Oh, sorry. I guess I didn't understand what the edit summaries were saying. --Stratadrake 01:55, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

It was me who originally put the links there, and I started the book. There's even an extra note from me just above. I was hoping people would come and help, but they never did. Gerard Foley 02:16, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Random item?

The article says "receive a randomly-selected item." but that's not true. The item boxes are not random. --Zeno McDohl ^(talk) 03:19, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Items are sorted into various categories depending on your position in the race when you hit the item box, but exactly which item in the 'set' you get is indeed determined randomly. For example, in 1st place you'll either get a Green Shell, Banana, Fake Item Box, or Bob-omb, but you never know which one of those it will be. The only times in the game where an item box does NOT give you a random item is in certain Mission mode levels where it always gives you a certain item (typically triple Mushrooms or Stars) to help complete the mission with. In those cases you can tell because it doesn't bother to flip through the list, it gives you the item instantly after hitting the item box.

In all other game modes though, it is indeed random, because you never know what item it will give you. --Stratadrake 12:29, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Technically they aren't random. When you have a list of possibilities and you select them at random, you'll have a chance to get any of them. When it's predetermined that you will never select certain ones, that isn't random. --Zeno McDohl ^(talk) 14:41, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

I think you're getting too technical. The article should probably point out that losing players get better items (if it doesn't already), but the wording should stay. -- gakon5

I agree with gakon5. The idea is that the casual reader learns what an item box is and that it can give the player an item, not whether if it is random, pseudo-random, predetermined or the probability of getting an item. -- ReyBrujo 16:55, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, I wasn't suggesting the line be removed or replaced. I'm with Gakon as well, a note should be made. "Depending on the players position..." or something of the sort. --Zeno McDohl ^(talk) 17:24, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

A bit of rewording then, since the article already mentions that players will "tend to" receive different items depending on whether they're closer to the front or the rear of the pack. --Stratadrake 23:56, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Rainbow Road as Beta for Mario Kart 64

In the trivia section for this site and the Mario Kart 64 one it says something like this: "The Rainbow Road in Mario Kart DS is the beta version from Mario Kart 64." Can anyone verify this with a link or something? --Thaddius 17:54, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

Since the Mario Kart DS RR uses features that did not exist in Mario Kart 64, it's extremely unlikely. I've removed the bullet point, as there seems to be no real evidence supporting the claim (developers comments, unused data in MK64, etc) Mike 19:18, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Someone keeps adding it back so I put a thing in there to coax a source. --Thaddius 12:15, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Drifting

The section on drifting is incorrect. The Wikipedia page on drifting reads, "When the rear wheels are slipping at a greater angle than the front wheels, the car is drifting or oversteering." The action described in this section is not drifting, rather, it is slip streaming. Now, it's possible that Nintendo used the term drifting incorrectly, and if that's the case there should be a citation for this, if this isn't the case, then it should be titled "slip streaming" and not "drifting." —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.17.83.24 (talk • contribs) .

A.k.a. "drafting". Whomever thought it was about power-sliding (drifting) (aka This edit) was in error. Fixed. --Stratadrake 12:34, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

hack

I was racing with wifi and i was racing with hackers. How do you hack into it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.133.6.117 (talk • contribs) .

What do you mean? If they were suddenly in front of you, that's lag, either you or they have slow internet. Otherwise, you need a Passme.--Zxcvbnm 21:57, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

Remember this page is meant for discussion of the article, not how to hack the game. -- Steel 22:01, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

Some people are making it so it loads a shorter course so they finish earlier. Use google to find out how to hack it, but this should be mentioned in the main page I guess as it is a concern to the wifi community. --Thaddius 12:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

"Slithering" vs. Snaking

Removed this info from the article:

There is an other version of snaking, Slithering. This is similar to
snaking, but instead of going side to side the kart drifts the same way
each time. This is an easier and more effective way of snaking and is
gaining popularity. Slithering is an evolvement on snaking and many true
snaking fanatics may disagree, but they can't argue that it is faster and
easier.

My thoughts:

• No sources or references cited -- possible neologism or fancruft.
• Snaking is named for the back-and-forth motion produced by generating MT's on a straight segment of track. Some players will argue that, because of this definition, snaking is never possible on a corner.
• It is not more effective than snaking. It is merely more intuitive to generate MT's on a corner, than on a straight. This arguably makes it less effective than snaking.
• Inclusion is already contested on this article.

--Stratadrake 01:30, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

I completely agree. Indeed, I removed it once from the article as well. I've been around Mario Kart forums for yonks, and I've never heard of it. Seems like blatant neologism to me. -- Steel 15:37, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

I attend a MKDS forum too, and over there we have no accepted term for the behavior other than "mini-turbos". I've used the term "multi mini-turbo" a few times over there to see if it might catch on, but even then it would be a neologism if included here. --Stratadrake 00:18, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

Drafting in previous Mario Kart games?

See this revision. I've never seen drafting as a gameplay feature in any previous Mario Kart games I've played. Disagreeing with that revision, rewriting for now. If the claim is true, then where is a good source to cite? --Stratadrake 09:12, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

It was in MK64 as well. Don't have a source handy, but I'll find one later if I have the time. -- Steel 16:05, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I did some searching on GameFAQs, and it didn't take long to find a MK64 guide mentioning the subject. I've got to try that myself though... I never knew of drafting in any previous MK games. --Stratadrake 01:13, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

Include this? BSD + PRB

There have been a few revisions attempting to mention these terms:

PRB: "Prolonged Rocket Boost" - A glitch combining the rocket start with snaking. If executed properly, allows the player to cross rough terrain with no speed loss. See this revision.

BSD: "Blue Shell Dodging" - Combining a mini-turbo boost and hop to jump clear of a Spiny Shell's explosion without being hit. See this revision.

I know these terms are mentioned frequently on the NSider (Nintendo of America) forums, but are they noteworthy enough for Wikipedia inclusion?

Support or Oppose inclusion? --Stratadrake 07:42, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Survey

• Myself, Oppose -- I don't know of any sources other than forums and GameFAQs which refer to these terms. --Stratadrake 07:42, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
• Oppose, per WP:NOT, Wikipedia should not include Howto's. -- ReyBrujo 12:30, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Comment Not necessarily a "how-to" inclusion, but just mentioning the fact that some players have figured this out, be it a glitch or otherwise. That's the question mark. --Stratadrake 18:22, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

  If the article states that it is virtually impossible to evade, add a link to a renowned site that lists how to evade it as reference, and done. No need to explain how it is possible to evade it, not even mention it. -- ReyBrujo 15:52, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Comic

That online comic sucked Cfive 23:10, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Start-up on DS Lite.

*When the game loads for the first time Mario yells "Here we go!", every other time he yells "YA-hoo!" When played in a DS Lite, Mario yells "Here we go!" every time the game is started.[1] [2]

Simply is not true. "Here we go!" is said only for the first time Mario Kart DS is booted on any DS (original or Lite). Afterwards, he still says "YA-hoo!" I've played it on my DS Lite after transferring my Wi-Fi Connection info from DS to DS Lite, and it is the latter message. Unless someone can provide proof that it is ALWAYS "Here we go!" (Both of those videos only show MKDS being booted up once on DS Lite), I'm removing that bit from the Trivia section. --BPM 22:56, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Mario Kart DS Beta Version

I've been looking into MKDS Betas lately, and on sites, I have found some good info about some Beta Versions of Mario Kart DS, though I'm not sure if I should add what I've found to MKDS' Wikipedia article... Here is what I've found so far...

A user on YouTube with the alias of "mkdsbeta" has a hacked Beta version of Mario kart DS, which contains 4 courses not found in the Final version of the game, and 1 course available in the final game(with differences)... They include Mario Circuit from Mario Kart: Double Dash (Though no goombas or pirahna plants are seen)[3], What seems to be Koopa Troopa Beach from Mario Kart 64(using Cheep-Cheep beach textures)[4], The Block city battle stage from Mario Kart: Double Dash[5], a test stage(With Tubing and many curves)[6], and a Beta version of Waluigi Pinball(Which has more obstacles, and less jumps)[7].

Another Youtube user with the alias "NeoKamek" has an early retail demo copy of the game, which includes a very early version of Waluigi Pinball(Which has more alternating paths, different obstacles, and different textures)[8], and a Beta version of DK Pass(Which has less walls, No snowy textures, as well as more bumps, less turns, a smaller boost pad, and a Thwomp near the end)[9].

It is also possible to access 4 Beta tracks in the final version of the game, either by hacking, or by using an Action replay DS... They include GCN mario Circuit(Same as in early betas, but without textures), N64 Koopa Troopa beach(Same as early betas, but without textures), a very simple test circle course(A very small circle shaped track, that' shorter than baby Park, and has only 1 lap, and no textures), and the test stage with the tubing(Without textures)...

Joe EchidnaFox 02:05, 19 August 2006 (UTC)