Technabob » mario kart

MIT Student Constructs Mario Kart Racer, Cafeteria Runs out of Bananas

Conner Flynn — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:00:06 +0000

Charles Guan, an MIT grad student, has created a working replica of the vehicles from Super Mario Kart. It is powered by four motors attached to the wheels and can reach speeds upwards of 26 mph. It can also do some crazy turns when the driver leans into the curves.

Even more amazing than the kart itself is how quickly he made the thing. He fabricated it in just three weeks. The vehicle, called the “Chibikart,” is built to be as lightweight as possible. The frame is just 30-inches long and 18-inches wide. Check it out in action in the video clip below:

So, how did he make it so fast? Guan installed a 32-volt battery and electrical system along with an e-bike controller from China to run the power plant of the vehicle. Installed underneath the seat, this drives each of the electrical motors installed in the four small wheels. Sweet. Now he needs to build more and hold Mario Kart races once a year.

[via Kotaku via Geek]

Mole Kart for iPhone, It’s-a-Not-Me!

Conner Flynn — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:00:54 +0000

Nintendo’s lawyers just got more work thrown their way. Mole Kart is a Mario Kart knock-off for iPhone that you will probably never see via the App Store. It doesn’t look half bad for a rip-off, but then again all you really have to do is throw in some mushrooms, make it all colorful and shoot items from your Kart.

It looks like they stole the level designs nearly completely. It looks like the same old game with visually horrible karts and characters. This fake Mario wannabee comes from Chinese developer Taomee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mbbhc9bHsHQ

You can probably find it for free eventually if you really want to try it, over file-sharing networks. And since the real Mario is not available for iPhone, who could blame you.

[via Kotaku via Geek]

GameStop Giving Away Life-Size Mario Kart, Blue Shells Not Included

Lambert Varias — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:00:47 +0000

Remember the life-sized Mario Kart that Nintendo and West Coast Customs unveiled at the LA Auto Show? Want it? Good news! Here’s your chance to own it, thanks to GameStop. The video game retailer has began taking raffle entries for the one of a kind vehicle. Remi Gaillard must be beside himself right now.

There are several ways of entering the raffle. Members of the PowerUp Rewards and PowerUp Rewards Pro clubs can earn up to two entries daily by going to a GameStop branch to either make a purchase or trade-in transaction. Now here’s the slightly weird bit: it’s actually easier to enter the raffle if you’re not a member of either club. All you have to do is fill out this form. No purchase required. No leaving your house required. You have to be at least 18-years old though, and you can only enter once that way.

The contest ends on December 31, and the raffle will be held on January 15, 2012. Remember, this is for a functional (but obviously not street legal) electric Mario Kart kart, valued at $9,130 (USD). Couple that with the free and easy entry requirement, and the only reason why you wouldn’t enter this raffle is if you’re not a resident of the United States (or its territories). The rest of us will have to stick with the game.

[Gamestop via Joystiq]

Mario Kart Characters Made from Non-Warp-Pipe-Cleaners

Conner Flynn — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:30:08 +0000

I don’t know about you, but I find these little guys to be absolutely adorable. These are fuzzy Mario Kart characters made from ~~warp~~ pipe-cleaners. And they have real wheels which means that you can race them too!

The wheels are attached to a little LEGO base. They come from Etsy seller Oskar Robles (aka fuzzyfigureguy) and they are just $10 (USD) each. He has a long list of characters that he can build you, which seems like it might include every Mario Kart character.

You name it, he will build it. He sells all kinds of cool pipe-cleaner creations like Megaman, Samus, Optimus Prime, Nintendo’s R.O.B. and a whole lot more. Currently he has so many requests that you have to allow up to 3 to 6 weeks for delivery. I can see why.

Kindle Fire Hacked to Run Nintendo 64 Games

Conner Flynn — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:00:54 +0000

Not happy with the lineup of games available for the Kindle Fire? Here’s some good news if you want some N64 action on your tablet. A developer has created an emulator that will allow you to play classic Nintendo 64 games on Amazon’s Kindle Fire. It’s time for some Mario Kindle. I mean Kart.

We don’t have much of information about this hack, but we know that the emulator will allow the Kindle to play at least two games: Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The controls are on the screen of the tablet.

Your Kindle Fire playing N64 games. What could be better than that? Not much I say. (Except maybe your iPad playing Nintendo games.) To see the demo video, head on over to Kotaku. Now I want to play some Mario Kart. Thanks, Internet!

Nintendo Builds Life-Sized Mario Karts, Turtle Shells Will Fly

Conner Flynn — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:00:51 +0000

Nintendo has unveiled two full size Mario Karts made by West Coast Customs and you know what that means. Soon we will be tossing bananas and turtle shells at each other while on the way to work.

The Karts were made to celebrate the launch of the new Mario Cart 7 game which will arrive in December. The two Karts are Mario’s Standard kart with glider attachment, and the Luigi Bumble V kart, which has a rear propeller for underwater fun.

These things are awesome. I just want to see real Mario Kart races on our highways now. I’ll be the one wiping you out. If you want to win one of these awesome karts, you just need to be a member of GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards program, and make a purchase or trade in during the month of December. These Karts will be shown off on an upcoming episode of Inside West Coast Customs that will be aired in 2012.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Geeky-Gadgets]

Hori Steering Wheel for Mario Kart 3DS: 3D-Wheel-Drive

Conner Flynn — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:00:01 +0000

Playing a game like Mario Kart on the 3DS might not sound ideal to some people because of the size of the screen and the lack of a steering wheel, but Hori has the latter covered. Behold their steering wheel peripheral designed specifically for Mario Kart on the 3DS.

It is officially licensed by Nintendo and has large L and R buttons for your gaming pleasure. Other features include… Uh, sadly that’s about it. You won’t be able to use it to control your kart in the game – although the 3DS’ motion sensors might do the trick. Looks like this is meant to be mostly decorative and make you feel like you are more in the game.

This somewhat useless steering wheel is Japan only right now and will be available on December 1st for about $17 (USD). No word on whether it will come to the States or not.

[via Techcrunch via Ubergizmo]

Super Deluxe Mario R/C Cars Are the Best Yet

Conner Flynn — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:48:03 +0000

There have been several versions of Mario Kart racers and most range from okay to pretty decent, but these Super Deluxe versions put the rest to shame. They are larger than the rest and they zip around super fast.

They look like a ton of fun and the detail is pretty amazing. The only drawback is that they come in Yoshi and Mario versions only, but maybe they will add other characters later if they sell a lot of cars. I for one would love to race Yoshi against Mario in real life.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

For the price of $119.99 (USD) over at ThinkGeek, you get the huge RC Mario or Yoshi car, remote control, an AC charging adapter, a 9.6V Ni-MH rechargeable battery, a 9V alkaline battery for the remote and the trusty old manual.

Sadly these don’t launch banana peels and turtle shells, but you can’t have everything.

Turtle Shell Robot Races Bring Mario Kart One Step Closer to Reality

Conner Flynn — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:00:51 +0000

When driving down the road, you never stop to think that a Koopa shell could slam into you and knock you off course, but it might be time to start worrying about this possibility. Why? Because Turtle Shell robots are now having real life races.

It won’t be long before we have to start throwing bananas at these things, when they make our roads something out of a Mad Max movie produced by Nintendo, but for now it looks like a whole lot of fun. Michael Overstreet and a bunch of fellow makers are having turtle shell races in Kansas City. Many of the parts used to create these bots were printed on a MakerBot 3D printer. We don’t have much info yet, but it looks like they are remote controlled from smartphones and not a Wii-mote.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

According to Michael, there will be more info coming in the next few weeks and a website. Could we be looking at the birth of a new racing fad? Stay tuned. And drive safe.

[via Robots-Dreams]

A Little Bit World: Classic Video Game Characters Make The World Their Stage

Lambert Varias — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:14:41 +0000

Made by Jonas and Simon Schwarzer, A Little Bit World sees classic video game characters emerge from a question mark block. It’s practically the low-budget version of Pixels by onemoreprod and Patrick Jean, though I wouldn’t call it a rip-off.

The animation is perfect, and it’s nice to see other games like Worms and Lemmings share the spotlight with the heavyweights:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you touch Pac-Man’s mouth, you deserve whatever happens next. You can download the soundtrack at Rams Le Prince’s website. It’s the one called Russian Stealth Fighter Test Flight.

[via Gamefreaks]

Q-Steer Mario Kart Remote Contol Cars Bring Video Game Races to the Real World

Technabob — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:55:40 +0000

Fresh off the boat from Japan, these miniature remote control cars let you tool around as the characters from Mario Kart.

These Q-Steer cars from TakaraTomy let drive around using a pocket-size infrared remote control. Each one features the likeness of one of your favorite characters, and they can run on different frequencies so you can race against your friends. There’s even a kit available that includes race track obstacles.

And while this video clip deceptively shows a whole bunch of additional characters including Donkey Kong, Wario, Toadstool and Princess Peach among others, it turns out that all of those other guys in the video aren’t part of the collection (Boo! Hiss!). Still, you should check out the clip to see Mario Q-Steer in action.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Audiocubes carries the Mario and Luigi versions, but with a little digging over on eBay, you might be able to find the other characters and the race track too.

Paper Mario + Paper Clips + Mario Kart = Awesome

Technabob — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 00:08:10 +0000

I love this little Mario Kart sculpture made out of coins, binder clips, wire, and other found office supplies. From the creative mind of Donald Kennedy (aka Kody Koala).

[via MAKE via Sprite Stitch]

Tiny Wii-Mote Projector Shines Mario Kart on Your Wall

Technabob — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:40:13 +0000

Is that a Wii-mote in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? That’s the question your friends will be asking when you pop these mini Wii controller keychains into your pants.

These weensy Wii-motes (just 2.25″ tall) don’t just look cool. They each project a cartoon image from Mario Kart on your when you jam on the “1″ button.

In addition to Mario, there are versions with Luigi, Wario, Princess Peach, Yoshi and Baby Mario. If you collect all six, you could project an illuminated Mario Kart puppet show on your wall. How cool would that be?

These unique collectibles are officially licensed by Nintendo, and available in limited quantities over at ThinkGeek for just $5.99 each.