Haha, that also came to mind, it’s pretty poor. Paraphrasing: "Users on Metacritic saying it “ruined” the online mode - an indicator that they are very displeased. "
This was suggested in another repost of this article. It does really have that vibe, yes. It’s giving off this uncanny valley feeling of journalism. Lots of words, that… kinda say something?, but there’s a lot of like, overlap? I’m having a hard time explaining it.
Definitely pumping up the word count. The paragraph used to come around to the fact that Metacritic (not steam) is the site where SMKW is being review bombed gave me visceral feelings of anger.
Now, the fans has taken over on Metacritic by starting a review bomb, the user score of Mario Kart World has dropped from 8.3 to 7.7 in just a few days and that is definitely big. We can see tons of negative reviews, and it truly looks like the players aren’t happy at all.
The message is clear, the new update has ruined the entire online gaming experience. We saw many reviews using the word “ruined” which clearly shows how upset these fans are.
Is it possible that this is ESL instead of LLM? Or maybe a mix of both? I’m getting way more ESL vibes from the first paragraph, but the generally meandering nature of the piece does point to an LLM too.
I think ESL could be a factor. Definitely LLMs have better English prose than this. I’m so used to seeing long running AI slop articles answering basic questions in 1000 words (rather than 10) and this reads similar.
I’ll add some context, as I actually own a Switch 2 and Mario Kart World.
The game is full of “intermission tracks”, where the next race starts at the previous track and you effectively drive to the next track for the first two laps, then complete a single lap of the destination track. For example, in the Mushroom Cup, rather than start the second race at Crown City, you’d instead start at Mario Bros Circuit (the 1st track in the cup), drive to Crown City for two “laps” then complete a single lap of Crown City.
Many people voted Random in online multiplayer instead of picking one of the three interconnecting tracks, because the intermission tracks frankly suck for the most part, and are just straight-line roads. By picking Random, the game would actually pick a completely different course and you’d do a standard 3-lap race, like you would by selecting the course in Time Trial mode.
At least that’s what used to happen, before the latest patch… Now, random actually picks one of the three interconnecting courses, and no longer picks a random course.
To be honest, I think intermission tracks only really work in Free Roam and Knockout Tour. It doesn’t feel innovative to effectively drive to the next racetrack when you still have to wait between race results and loading screens.
This explanation helps a lot. I was watching Maxamillion_Dood play online and it seemed like every other track they selected was random. And when it wasn’t he clearly didn’t know what lap they started on. Like the race would be over the first time they crossed the finish line. Everytime that happened Max was confused. Even to me as a viewer that seemed weird. I couldn’t tell what was going on either. First time I ever watched a Mario Kart game and had a hard time telling what was going on.
Anyone who knows how Mario Kart World works well enough to be bothered by this change already gave Nintendo $500 for the game. What are they gonna do? Refund it to Walmart?
I didn’t buy and don’t have the console. But either way, refunds wouldn’t “hurt” Nintendo the way they would on a platform like Steam - you can’t refund Nintendo digital products, and even if Walmart accepted a return on a Switch 2 with the digital account-based (non-transferable per TOS) Mario Kart redeemed, Nintendo already made their sale by getting the thing on a Wal-Mart shelf in the first place.
It’s just silly to see a comment about “keeping” giving Nintendo $80 for mario kart when the people affected by stuff like this… Already gave Nintendo $80/$500 for Mario Kart. The “support” has already been delivered.
Word from SkillUp is that you can still load the desktop experience the same way you can on Steam Deck, so that would make it neither locked down nor anti-mods.
Too bad there aren’t existing platforms where Microsoft and other devs could just make their games available to play on and not keep trying to monopolize everything through their service
Don’t get me wrong—I love SteamOS and Bazzite as much as anyone. But like it or not, Windows has been the backbone of PC gaming for decades. Most developers still build for Windows first. Even on Linux, you’re usually running Windows games through Proton, not true Linux ports.
And honestly, it’s not Microsoft that’s closest to monopolizing PC gaming. It’s Valve. They control 85% of the storefront market. If SteamOS takes off, I doubt most people will bother installing Heroic just to run GOG or Epic games. Sure, it’s possible—but for the average gamer, it’s more hassle than it’s worth.
What we really need is more competition. I want to see an Xbox handheld running Windows, but also a GOG Deck, an EGS Deck, maybe even an Itch.io Deck.
Hell, imagine if Apple finally woke up to gaming and made a Mac Deck. Now that would shake things up.
Hell, imagine if Apple finally woke up to gaming and made a Mac Deck. Now that would shake things up.
They have the hardware (any current gen iphone or ipad), they only need to release a version with console-like controller buttons, but they lack the willingness to really invest in games. Apple arcade is a joke compared to nearly everything else on offer.
Personally I think it’d be super cool to see some platform independent handhelds rather than something like a gog deck or an epic deck. I’ve fankensteined SteamOS to be that way but it def still prioritizes steam which ain’t great
consoles have mods these days, though they do need developer support
not everyone cares about mods, I’d go out on a limb and say most pc players don’t use mods
this new Xbox thing is not an OS, it’s an app. The device still has full windows in there and it is accessible. But when you’re using the Xbox app windows suspends many of its functions.
The next Xbox will simply be a prebuilt PC and it won’t be subsidized (or it will be subsidized less) so expect a $700-$900 price tag for the Series X, and a $500 for the Series S. It wouldn’t make sense any other way. Steam et all will be usable, as it is usable in the Xbox Ally as well.
Now tell me what would you rather buy? The PS5, which is absurdly locked down (even more so than the current Xbox when it comes to mods)? Deal with the gpu market shenanigans? Or buy the prebuilt Xbox PC that lets you play all your Steam games as well?
Mods on Xbox only exist for games where the game itself officially added mod support. I mean, sure it’s great when a game maker does that but usually it’s not as good as community-made mod support because community mods don’t require approval and can’t get censored/removed because the vendor doesn’t like it.
Remember: Microsoft’s vision of mods is what you get with the Bedrock version of Minecraft. Yet the mods available in the Java version are so vastly superior the difference is like night and day.
Console players—that are used to living without mods—don’t understand. Once mods become a regular thing that you expect in popular games going without them feels like going back into the dark ages.
I keep screaming about how the TPM 2.0 requirements of Windows 11 are insidious due to the ability to implement remote attestation now. I don’t think they’ll spring the trap immediately, but it’s locked and set and you’d be a fool to believe it won’t happen eventually.
Remote attestation allows changes to the user’s computer to be detected by authorized parties. For example, software companies can identify unauthorized changes to software, including users modifying their software to circumvent commercial digital rights restrictions. It works by having the hardware generate a certificate stating what software is currently running. The computer can then present this certificate to a remote party to show that unaltered software is currently executing.
They added mod support to MS Store/Game Pass games ages ago. If locking it down like that was their intention they would’ve never even done that to begin with.
Not only that, the three available choices are "intermission tracks", that is the half tracks between courses. These are not full 3-lap courses, and are significantly more boring and shorter than the 3-lap courses. They're more likely to appear in the "random" selection now.
Their ultimate play is to turn gaming into the same model as Spotify. You no longer own games, but subscribe to a service that allows you to play them.
We already no longer own games. It’s been that way since the DMCA robbed consumers of digital ownership. If your game includes DRM or a EULA, you don’t own it.
It’s somewhat odd that the two top-down Zelda games on Switch are getting free Switch 2 upgrades, while Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will require you to purchase the respective upgrades.
How is it odd that Nintendo wants every dollar they can reasonably make off of us?
I’ll be honest: as much as I love Xbox—I still have my OG and a 360—PC gaming has completely leapfrogged it in terms of value.
The whole appeal of the original Xbox was that it brought PC-style gaming to consoles. I never liked playing FPS games on console until Halo came along and proved it could actually work.
But over the last 15 years, Valve has basically turned PC gaming into a console experience. These days, instead of hooking up an Xbox to my TV, I just connect a PC tower. Honestly, it’s way easier than it used to be.
The last console that really offered something unique for me was the original Switch, mostly because it made going from handheld to TV effortless. But with the new wave of handhelds running SteamOS or Bazzite, that same seamless experience is now possible on PC hardware.
If Microsoft can make Windows as smooth and intuitive as SteamOS, then maybe they’ll be back in the game.
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