If you happen to play Mario Kart in any of its iterations, you would know by now that there is a command that lets you flash a gesture for each character at other drivers on the screen -- coming in handy during those overtaking moments. Well, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is certainly not short on gestures when it comes to its characters, but there has been one particular gesture that would not go down too well in other places outside of the US, including Italy, Portugal and Spain. Hence, a patch has been released for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that removes that potentially upsetting gesture in some parts of the world that belongs to Inkling Girl.
The potentially offensive animation would see Inkling Girl’s hand rest flat on her bicep as she raises her fist. Those who would like to see the before and after screenshots can do so on this particular NeoGAF thread, with the update removing the rested hand, and Inkling Girl ends up giving a victory punch into the air instead. Of course, this is one of many tiny changes that the update for the new Mario Kart 8 Deluxe brings, but it does seem to be the one that has garnered the most amount of attention. Other changes made to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe include making it a snap to keep track of your opponents who are right on your tail by showing off their names in the rear view mirror, as well as gameplay feature tweaks including the amount of time given that enables you to remain invincible, or avoid damage, after a crash.
The world is a global village, and it is all too easy for something to go viral -- especially if it irks people in the wrong direction. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has proven to be a hit game, having been released on the Nintendo Switch hybrid console at the end of last month as well as on the older generation Nintendo Wii U a few years back. It has managed to end up as April's top selling game. What makes this all the more special is the fact that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe can be considered to be a 3 year old game, being ported over from the Wii U. Of course, you end up with better looking graphics on the outside (which is to be expected, taking into consideration the superior processing firepower of the Nintendo Switch compared to its predecessor), in addition to an increased number of multiplayer features.
However, it is a port at heart, racking up more than 8 million in sales on the Nintendo Wii U to date. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was launched on the Nintendo Switch on April 28, giving it just two days of sales to shoot right to the top of sales charts for the month of April 2017, overtaking the likes of Persona 5, Dragon Quest Heroes II, Outlast 2 and Yooka-Laylee in the process with a haul of 460,000 physical copies and 90,000 digital copies sold. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came in third in April, just for your information. This is testament to Nintendo’s ability to continue churning out quality games and titles, milking their fan base for all that it is worth without blinking or feeling guilty about it. Gamers themselves do not seem to mind either, and hopefully the latest Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update will make it more appealing across the world, without stepping on anyone’s toes in the process.
It is nice to see Nintendo take the feelings of gamers in different regions into consideration, going to show what a worldwide phenomenon Mario Kart is.
