Occasionally the framerate could drop while at long distances, and I had a few anomalies where the on-screen gameplay would halt and then skip ahead to where the real-life kart actually was. That said, most of the connection issues I had were limited to being too far from the Switch – or one time from having the course gates separated by walls, which Nintendo does not recommend doing for this very reason. The console and kart are connected through Wi-Fi, so if you have slow internet speeds you could run into problems. Nintendo recommends a room of 15 x 15 max and 10 x 12 for 150 CC speed with the kart never going more than five meters away from your Switch. It’s genuinely magical even before you set up your first real course.īringing a race track to life requires an ample amount of space and has some restrictions in order to maintain a good connection.
#Nintendo switch mario kart live zip#
This tutorial phase takes just a few moments, but I found myself taking my time with each step – not because I needed more driving practice, but because it was so freaking cool to zip Mario around my living room, through my kitchen, and under my sofa as my cat playfully followed this strange new device.
#Nintendo switch mario kart live code#
All you have to do is point the kart’s camera toward a QR code on your screen, spend some time learning its controls, and set up the cardboard gates. Setting up Mario Kart Live for the first time is a delightfully simple process. It’s incredibly novel, though not always as smooth as that sounds. An augmented version of that camera feed is displayed on the Switch itself, overlaying 3D item boxes, opposing AI racers, and all the other things you might expect from a regular Mario Kart game. Each course is made by placing the four included cardboard gates (no more, no less) which the camera on the car reads as you go through each one in order, but any additional loops and turns you take along the way are entirely up to you. You use your Switch to control an actual RC car around tracks you set up in your own home, viewing the action through the car’s camera. Mario Kart Live is a wild hybrid mix of a traditional Mario Kart video game and a physical, remote-controlled toy. All too often, frustrating technical limitations can throw a banana peel into the works. The joy of driving around my living space from a worm’s-eye view while familiar Mario characters zoom by and Koopa Shells fly across the screen is refreshingly different – at least when everything is running smoothly. That’s what taking control of Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit’s augmented reality RC kart for the first time felt like. There are moments in some games that instantly bring a smile to my face, transporting me back to my childhood while the rest of the world melts into the background.