Assuming everyone gets tired of spending every waking hour playing video games while socializing away from home, Nintendo last year launched two IRL video game experiences that seem to be unofficially combined to create a even better Mario in real life the experience.
Although a bit expensive ($ 100 for a car, plus the cost of a Nintendo Switch console for each vehicle) I found Mario Kart Live, which turns your house into a real-life Mario Kart track, to be almost as satisfying and enjoyable to play as the popular racing game, while Lego Super Mario It was a great alternative for those who want the Mario experience, but lacking hand-eye coordination for mastering a controller.
Both experiences are based on image recognition to bring those games to life, Mario Kart Live using a camera on the car to recognize track markings such as corners and starting gates, while Lego Super Mario has a scanner to read codes of special bars printed on other characters and obstacles. Both were designed in reverse, allowing anyone to create their own tracking markers (using Lego bricks in this case) and barcodes (using a regular household printer), which allowed the people behind Playfool YouTube channel to create this mashup that works so well, you would be tempted to think that Nintendo planned it that way.
To allow the Lego Super Mario figurine to ride with RC Mario Kart, you’ll need to print and fold a custom paper saddle created by Playfool ( the template can be downloaded here) which has the figure hanging from the rear of the vehicle so that the scanner below can read any barcodes it drives. The most complicated part could be the addition of a piece of tape, so that it does not fall apart during a particularly interesting tour.
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You’ll also need to incorporate special Lego Super Mario barcode elements into the Mario Kart Live racetrack, including start and finish markers that activate the timer on the Lego Mario figure, power-ups, and even bad guys on to lead them. But this is as easy as downloading, printing and cutting one collection of course items that Playfool has already faced the difficulty of creating and putting them on your track.
Keep in mind that maintaining the score and achievements you can collect and unlock in Mario Kart Live and Lego Super Mario remain completely separate; the Lego Mario figure still can’t connect to the Nintendo Switch and can’t influence your race scores and vice versa. The hack doesn’t do much to enhance the Mario Kart Live experience, but if you’re bored of manually guiding Lego Super Mario around a Lego version of the Mushroom Kingdom you’ve built, this mashup should breathe some life again in that toy.