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Disney, on the verge of a lawsuit… for ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ in a kart racing game

At some point, someone must have realized that by removing the option, the public would have no choice but to empty their wallets.

Have you ever played Mario Kart and thought “It’s good, but I wish I could drive with the characters from ‘Frozen’ instead of Nintendo’s”? Well, of course, Disney has thought of you. Well, more or less. ‘Disney Speedstorm’ has been available for some time now for those who want to try out more or less quality spin-offs. The game is free for PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. And of course. There’s the problem. In the free part.

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To go through the checkout

From the beginning, ‘Disney Speedstorm’ had it very clear: season passes (called “gold pass”), which have racers, advantages, and skins, can be purchased with the game’s official currency, thus avoiding people spending more money than necessary. But of course, at some point, someone must have realized that if they removed the option, the public would have no choice but to empty their wallet.

Said and done: with the pass that will be released on the 17th of this month, based on ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ (the seventh in total), the kart game from Disney will inaugurate a “Premium Gold Pass” for 9.99 euros or 19.99 euros if you want to level up as well. Additionally, if you want to have it all, there will be two Gold Passes in each season, so you’ll have to loosen your wallet. And for some reason, the audience who used to get it for free is not happy about this daylight robbery.

‘Disney Speedstorm’ has been on the market for a year, and players have gotten used to how it works. So much so, that they are willing to sue Disney: after all, the official terms and conditions still state that the game’s own currency (Tokens) can be used to purchase the Gold Pass. If this is true, Gameloft may have no choice but to return to the previous system.

Meanwhile, I guess, we will always have ‘Mario Kart’, right?

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The Mario Kart of Bloodborne exists, but it is no longer called Bloodborne

Nightmare Kart is a fusion between Bloodborne and Mario Kart that is coming out very soon, even after its legal issues with Sony.

Working with foreign IPs is always risky. Even if they have flexible policies and usually don’t pursue people who use them, it is still someone else’s intellectual property. At any moment, they can send their lawyers to let us know that we shouldn’t be doing that. Something that happens very often with Nintendo, although the most striking case so far this year has had Sony as the protagonist.

An independent developer named Bunlith has been developing a game that is a mix of Bloodborne and Mario Kart for years, called Bloodborne Kart. Starting as an April Fool’s joke in 2021, it would become a full-fledged project during 2022. All so that, when it was about to be released at the end of 2023, Sony told them that they couldn’t release the game with the name Bloodborne or its most distinctive elements.

Far from giving up, what Bunlith and his team have done is rename it and change the most distinctive elements of the game. The game is now called Nightmare Kart and features 20 racers, 16 maps, a campaign with boss fights, and a battle mode. All of this with enough changes to be different enough from Bloodborne to avoid a lawsuit.

This is especially peculiar because Bunlith’s previous game was Bloodborne PSX, a reimagining of Bloodborne as if it were a game for the original PlayStation, which Sony had no problem with. In any case, Nightmare Kart will be released for free on May 31st for Steam and itch.io.

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From Madrid to nothing: Mario Kart Tour is over!

‘Mario Kart’ closes its latest great project, ‘Mario Kart Tour’ perhaps opening up to, finally, that ninth part for Switch… or its successor.

There’s a game that has managed to break through the walls of hardcore gaming and become part of popular culture. Phrases like “You get hit by a shell” or “Watch out for the banana” are notably popular on any road trip worth its salt. Now, ‘Mario Kart‘ is concluding its latest major project, ‘Mario Kart Tour,’ perhaps paving the way for that long-awaited ninth installment for the Nintendo Switch… or its successor.

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Luigi wins!

Since ‘Mario Kart Tour’ was launched on September 25, 2019, it has received all sorts of free updates every fifteen days, constantly changing the game to prevent it from becoming stagnant. Among the extra tracks, we’ve had locations like Madrid, Rome, and Athens, among other places we never thought we’d see invaded by Goombas and other Mushroom Kingdom creatures.

So, there are two tours left: the anniversary tour starting on November 20, and the battle tour starting on October 4. After that, they will begin to replay the best tours, starting with a special Halloween tour. Additionally, ‘Mario Kart Tour’ will abandon the gacha game model and sell items in a dedicated in-game store.

Not all of Nintendo’s attempts to conquer the mobile game market have been successful, that’s for sure. Titles like ‘Miitomo,’ ‘Dragalia Lost,’ or ‘Dr. Mario World’ no longer receive updates, and since 2021, Nintendo hasn’t tried its luck with a new mobile game release. During that time, they released ‘Pikmin Bloom,’ a kind of ‘Pokémon Go‘ spinoff based on the popular Nintendo game, but it hasn’t had much impact.

It’s possible that the Japanese company has decided to focus on what truly works for them, console titles, or that they are simply regrouping to come back with a ‘Mario Kart Tour 2’ or a similar application. After all, who can resist the idea of driving a kart with Yoshi through Madrid‘s Plaza Mayor?

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Unconventional Arrival: Mario Kart Takes a Surprising Spin Through the Streets of Madrid

Mario Kart arrives in Madrid with the most bizarre and meaningless collaboration that we have seen in a long time, but that we think we will enjoy.

Mario Kart Tour, the mobile game from Nintendo’s racing franchise, may not generate as much noise as its console big brother. But that doesn’t mean it’s quiet. With an established player base and regularly introducing new content, it’s a game that performs well for Nintendo and in which they invest resources regularly. To the extent that it’s now arriving in Spain. Within the game itself.

As part of the Summer Tour event, Mario Kart Tour will introduce a map set in Spain, specifically in the city of Madrid. This will allow us to pass through Plaza Mayor to enjoy a relaxing cup of café con leche, all while racing past the renowned Torrijas Churros bar. The game has put in significant effort to capture the essence of Madrid, including establishments featuring tablao flamenco.

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The game has already featured other city-inspired tracks, such as New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Berlin, Sydney, and Amsterdam. Before continuing its journey around the world, it will make a stop in the capital of Spain. However, don’t rest on your laurels, because there’s not much time. The Summer Tour will run from August 23rd to September 6th, after which the Madrid circuit will no longer be accessible.

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Brick by Brick Race: LEGO’s Latest Creation Challenges Mario Kart

LEGO has set to work to put all its pieces together and create a competitor to match: LEGO 2K Drive

Since Super Mario Kart took Super Nintendo by storm thirty years ago, there have been hundreds of games that have tried to follow in its wake with all kinds of results. We have seen characters from Nickelodeon, Disney and even from the Crash Bandicoot or Sonic sagas racing in karts, but nothing has ever been able to stand up to our friends from the Mushroom Kingdom.

Open world, destroyed parts

However, LEGO has set to work to put all its pieces together and create a competitor to match: LEGO 2K Drive, which will bring together the toy construction magnate with 2K, responsible for sagas like Bioshock or NBA 2K. The weirdest thing is that it has not only been announced as a racing game, but also… Open world!

At the moment, besides some images, only the name of the first tracks where we will race has been leaked: Runaway Roundabout, Rapid Falls, Swampus, Cat Scratch Freeway, Down on the Farm, Glazed Overdrive, Headless Horsepower and Chasm Crossing. How will the classic kart tracks fit in with the open world concept? That is something that nobody knows yet, but in the menus of the game it has been possible to see the indication of “Shared World” that perhaps unites, in an online way, all the circuits.

Of course, and this should come as no surprise to anyone, 2K is already planning on how to monetize the game with in-game purchases. Since it’s still in the testing process, we’re still a while away from seeing it. It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time LEGO has been attracted to the smell of burning tire on asphalt (so to speak): LEGO Racers was already a hit on Nintendo 64, and Drome Racers, set in the future and dangerous year 2015, made its appearance on PlayStation 2, GameCube and Game Boy Advance.

Ready to leave the asphalt full of blocks?

10 best GameCube games

What games made the Nintendo GameCube legendary?

The early 2000s was a monumental turning point in video game history. Sony began the new millennium with the PlayStation 2, and Microsoft ended 2001 with the Xbox. These two systems were pillars in video game history.

However, we’re not here to talk about those two consoles. We are here to discuss the one that came out between these two, the Nintendo GameCube.

During this time, Nintendo was going through a weird era. Sure, they were definitely still doing well. The Nintendo 64 left a great legacy and the Game Boy Advance came out earlier that year and had phenomenal sales. Unfortunately, the Gamecube did not sell as well as the Xbox, and not nearly as well as the PlayStation 2.

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With that being said, that doesn’t mean the GameCube didn’t have great games. The GameCube had a rich library of games that set it up for success. The Xbox and PS2 just had a leg-up with revolutionary first-person shooters like Halo and regularly updating franchises like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter.

For this list, we looked for the games that still made the GameCube worth buying. They didn’t win the console war, but they did win over the fans.

Top 10 GameCube games

10. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

A lot of the reason why people buy Nintendo’s mobile consoles like the Nintendo DS and the Game Boy Advance is so that they can play Pokémon games. While fans wanted Pokémon games on Nintendo’s home consoles, we never expected them.

Not only did the GameCube get a Pokémon game, but it got the best home console Pokémon game ever made. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness has some of the same mechanics as your typical Pokémon game, but it focuses more on the story rather than collecting mons and badges.

It’s also a much harder Pokémon game than what we were used to seeing. The final boss is so hard it just seems cruel. Also, rather than you getting the opportunity to hunt in the wild for whatever mons you want, you are at the mercy of using only the mons you snagged from other trainers.

If you’re a Pokémon fan, you can’t go wrong with this classic.

9. Soul Calibur 2

Soul Calibur 2 was on the PS2 and Xbox as well as the GameCube. However, what made it better on the GameCube was the inclusion of our favorite sword-wielding fairy boy, Link. Each game had its exclusive character depending on what console you played. Xbox got the comic book character Spawn, and the PS2 got Mishima from Tekken.

Both of those characters were fun, but they’re no Link.

Soul Calibur 2 is a tournament fighter game where the characters fight with swords, staffs, axes, nunchaku, and even magic. Sure, you can mash buttons and do fairly well, but the more experienced player plays the game like a chess match.

8. Mario Kart: Double Dash

If you were to ask the average Mario Kart fan which game in the series is their favorite, you probably wouldn’t hear anyone mention Mario Kart: Double Dash. However, the game is still a lot of fun.

Double Dash had a unique mechanic where you picked two characters instead of one. One character sits up front driving the kart while the other one sits in back throwing items at other drivers.

This made for some interesting decisions. Maybe you want to have a lighter character up front like Toad, and then throw a heavy character like Donkey Kong on the back to help balance it out.

This might not be our favorite Mario Kart game, but we can pop this one in any day of the week.

7. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle

First, let’s start this off right:

Ahh, if only Sonic’s transition to film went over as well as his transition to Nintendo.

After the demise of the Sega Dreamcast, Sonic the Hedgehog made his way over to the Nintendo GameCube. His stay had… mixed results. Sonic Heroes was a decent title, but the original Sonic Adventure had quite possibly the ugliest talking animation ever.

That said, the crown jewel was Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. The game was animated well for the time, and the gameplay had actual 3D platforming mechanics fitting for the blue hedgehog.

This was the first Sonic title to get the 3D formula right. It wasn’t buggy and game-breaking like future titles, and it was more polished and clean than its predecessor.

The game also introduced us to Shadow the Hedgehog who would go on to be a major anti-hero in the series. The game was divided into a hero and villain side where you could choose to play on the side of good or evil. Each side had three different types of levels. Sonic and Shadow had fast-paced 3D platforming levels. Knuckles and Rouge were treasure hunters in a race to collect all the pieces of the Master Emerald. Tails and Dr. Eggman drove their mechs through levels, shooting down everything in their paths.

One of the things that really makes this game stick out is the Chao Garden. Chao are blue fairy-like creatures that also look like onions.

In the game, you raise them from the moment they hatch. You feed them, train them, and take care of them. It definitely is not enough to merit its own game, but it’s definitely a fun break from the main game.

6. Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64 set the course for every 3D platformer thereafter. The essence of the game is in its control. Mario feels like he can move wherever you want him to go. His limits are not set by the game, but by your own limitations as a gamer.

That game set such a high standard that Super Mario Sunshine, unfortunately, did not entirely meet. However, that doesn’t mean that this game isn’t fun.

Super Mario Sunshine is an absolute jam. The same feeling of control from Super Mario 64 is still present here. Also, this time Mario has a water hose/water-powered jetpack called FLUDD. This tool gives Mario a whole new dimension to how he can maneuver through the world.

You might be thinking, “Okay, so why isn’t this game as good as Super Mario 64?” Its shortcoming lies in its level designs. When you think of Mario 64, your mind jumps to Bomb-Omb Battlefield, Shifting Sands Land, or Wet-Dry World. Mario Sunshine just doesn’t have the same memorable worlds.

Mario Sunshine is a great game, but it is far from being a legend.

5. Metroid Prime

Nobody thought this game was going to work out as well as it did.

While Link and Mario had 3D incarnations on the Nintendo 64, our favorite bounty-hunting baddie Samus did not get a game. Our thought process was that we couldn’t get a Metroid game was because a 3D Metroid game wasn’t possible. Thank God we were wrong.

Metroid Prime didn’t have the online multiplayer of the Halo franchise, but it had the best alien-hunting campaign of its time. The labyrinth of the original Metroid games is back in a 3D environment that translated so well to the GameCube.

You get to use Samus’s power-ups like the Morph Ball and Grapple Beam to navigate the 3D environment. Eventually, you get to take down some of the most challenging bosses in video game history.

4. Resident Evil 4

The video game era of the early 2000s was defined by graphics.

Nobody thought that the GameCube had the same graphics capabilities of the Xbox or the PS2. People thought GameCube games had such cartoonish graphics because they couldn’t make characters look realistic. Resident Evil 4 was the game that shut them all up.

Resident Evil 4 is about an agent named Leon who is sent into essentially a cultist’s dystopia where he needs to find and rescue the president’s daughter. While there, Leon encounters humans infected with a parasite that takes over their mind and makes them stronger.

Throughout the game, the bosses get harder as your arsenal of guns gets larger. The game isn’t about bringing the biggest, baddest gun to the fight, but bringing the right equipment for the job. Plug in this game, and you’re in for arguably the best Resident Evil game in the entire franchise.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

After the success of Ocarina of Time and Majora Mask, fans of the Zelda franchise were expecting another fantastic title just as dark as its predecessors. We were also expecting more realistic graphics. What we got wasn’t exactly dark:

So many fans wrote off “The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker” based on the graphics alone. Those fans missed out on an incredible game.

Wind Waker has some of the best sword-fighting mechanics in any video game. Link moves around like a Jedi, parrying blows while flipping through the air.

The story is also great. Link is on a journey to rescue his sister who was kidnapped by a giant albatross. From there, he gets roped into a mission by a talking boat to defeat the evil Ganondorf while unlocking secrets from Hyrule’s past.

Along the way, you meet a colorful cast of characters while you sail the high seas in one of the best adventures in the series.

2. The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess feels like the Zelda game fans wanted for the GameCube. The game is dark and abysmal. Everywhere you go, you encounter characters who just seem to have zero joy left in them. However, once you get to know them, they inspire you, even more, to conquer evil and save the land of Hyrule.

Also, we finally got the graphics we wanted:

Speaking of characters, Twilight Princess introduced us to Midna who is, without a doubt, the best companion to journey alongside Link in any Zelda game. Midna is charismatic, sassy, and, most importantly, flawed. Throughout the game, we see the chinks in her armor as she lets her guard down more and more to the player. By the end, you care about her making it out alive more than Link.

The game was released as a launch title for the Nintendo Wii as well as one of the final titles for the GameCube. Although the game is pretty fun on the Wii, the GameCube was the console that not only deserved it but made it a legend.

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee

The more we thought about it, the more we realized that there simply is not another GameCube game worth of this spot.

Super Smash Bros Melee is not only the best Smash Bros. game and the best GameCube game, but it’s quite possibly the best platforming fighting game ever created.

Three Super Smash Bros. games have been released since Melee, and yet this is the one you still see at tournaments.

The fighting is fast-paced and fluid in a way that Nintendo hasn’t been able to capture since. When you plug this in, hours fly by without you noticing.

Melee showed truly what the GameCube could be. It showed that it could have you and three friends huddle on a cramped couch that smelled like Cheetos and stale Dr. Pepper, and you’d be fine with it.

Wrapping up

Yeah, Pikmin didn’t make the list. We’re sorry, there just wasn’t enough room. What games do you think should have made the list? Let us know in the comments below? As for us, we have to go 1v1 Fox only on Final Destination.

10 best SNES games

How do you narrow down one of the greatest console libraries down to 10 games? Well, we’re gonna try!

Back in the days before the Xbox-PlayStation-Nintendo console wars, there was just the Nintendo-Sega console war.

Sega had a phenomenal advertising campaign that used the made-up term “blast processing” to sell the Sega Genesis.

Kids on the playground and buses would quote the commercials saying things like, “Genesis does what Ninen-don’t.” However, when it came to what games were better, they shut their mouths when they saw the Super Nintendo library.

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Holy mother of God, this console has some classics.

Sure, the Genesis had a few classics, but nothing even compared to the treasure trove of games the SNES had to offer. The Genesis simply could not compete.

Remember that commercial above that had the nerve to infer that Super Mario Kart was boring? Even if you think the game isn’t as high paced as a racing game on the Genesis, take a look at the SNES exclusive F-Zero:

Is that 16-bit action intense enough for you?

We could make a list of the top 50 SNES games, and even that would leave off some classic titles. Narrowing it down to 10 seems like a fool’s errand, but we’re willing to give it a try. Let us know in the comments below what games you think should have made it!

Top 10 SNES games

10. Street Fighter II Turbo

We were torn between putting this one and Mortal Kombat III on this list. As much as we love ripping the heads off our enemies, we love Hadoukens more.

Street Fighter II Turbo was the most fast-paced tournament fighting game of its time. At the arcade, we wasted quarter after quarter on this game. When we found out we could play this bad boy at home, we were thrilled.

Street Fighter II Turbo was fast but efficient. After a few goes, you could commit combos to memory, and watch your enemies cower in fear. It was a fighting game unlike any we had seen before, and, arguably, haven’t seen since.

9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time

The Ninja Turtles are no stranger to Nintendo Games. The turtle-trilogy on the NES was decent but had room for improvement. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time gave the franchise the shot of adrenaline the franchise needed.

This time, the turtles must travel through time in order to stop Shredder and the Foot Clan. This brings them to different eras in history including the Jurassic Period where the turtles fight a “prehistoric turtlesaurus.”

Come on, do we really need to say more?

8. Yoshi’s Island

For many of us, Super Mario World was the game that introduced us to Yoshi.

In that game, Yoshi can fly, shoot fire, and cause the Earth to shake under him. That’s cool and all, but here’s the thing: Mario can do those things too. However, Yoshi’s Island gave Yoshi a whole new repertoire of moves. Now, Yoshi can turn eaten enemies into eggs, throw eggs at enemies, hover jump, turn into a whole assortment of vehicles, and even ground-pound.

Levels feel much different from what you see in a Mario game. Rather than being a typical sidescrolling platformer, levels feel more like small dungeons. You need to hunt for the exits, secrets, and fun power-ups to enhance your experience.

7. Mega Man X

Mega Man had quite a long stay on the NES. Six games, in fact. When the series came to the SNES, it certainly didn’t tip-toe into the 16-bit world.

Mega Man X was and is an absolute smash hit.

You go through the same spiel of fighting a slew of robot bosses while stealing their powers. However, even after six games on the NES, this title still feels fresh.

One of the bosses is named “Boomer Kuwanger.” You can’t go wrong with Boomer Kuwanger.

6. Super Mario Kart

There are three certainties in life: death, the inevitable extinction of us all, and that the red shells will always hit you.

Nowadays, the Mario Kart franchise is pretty crazy. We got power-ups that will turn you into a Bullet Bill, courses taking place on an erupting volcano, and now even Link from Zelda is a playable character!

Back in the day, we didn’t have any of that, but we didn’t need it. We need two things: the Grand Prix and balloon battles.

Dust off this cartridge, and you can play for hours without noticing.

5. Donkey Kong Country

Let’s start this off right:

He’s bigger, faster, and stronger, too. He’s the first member of the DK crew.

Donkey Kong Country was the first in a DK trilogy on the SNES. It is also the best one by a mile. Donkey Kong and his BFF Diddy Kong are out to thwart the evil King K. Rool who has stolen their entire banana horde.

If that sounds weird, it’s only because it is.

Donkey Kong Country celebrates its 25 year anniversary this year, and might we say this game has aged like fine wine. This sidescrolling platformer is still fun to pick up to this day. Donkey Kong and Diddy can bounce on tires, throw barrels at baddies, and ride an assortment of animals.

The soundtrack?

Perfection.

If you can track down a copy, get ready for one of the best adventures the franchise has to offer.

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4. Super Castlevania IV

Everything before this game on this list is a great game. However, we have now entered the realm of legends.

Super Castlevania IV is one of the best looking games ever created. You play as a whip-wielding hero on a quest through a gothic, horror landscape to find and kill Dracula.

Along the way, you fight Frankenstein’s monster, Medusa, and even Death itself. The game uses a password system, so if you want to jump to the best parts we’ve got you covered:

This game feels like it was created by the same people who made the classic Universal monster movies. There are so many creative enemies and stages that feel like they were ripped from the pages of a classic horror novel.

It’s a game for people who love horror, monsters, and just great side-scrolling action in general.

3. Super Mario World

Oh yeah, you know this list is serious business when Super Mario World only takes the number 3 spot.

There’s really nothing we can say about this game that hasn’t been said before. It’s side-scrolling Mario at his best. He has a slew of power-ups both new and old. You can break out the new Feather to become a cape-wearing Mario who can soar through the sky. You can also down the Fire Flower which will allow you to mow down enemies with fireballs.

The game encourages you to plot your own course. If you want, you can avoid all hidden levels and bonuses, and get through the game in a day or two. You can be a full completionist and beat the game in a week or so. Or, you could go crazy and take advantage of every warp zone and beat the game in less than 10 minutes like this guy:

Look, most of you reading this list have probably played this game. If you have, then you know firsthand just how awesome this game is. If you haven’t, then finish reading, and go track down a copy!

2. Super Metroid

The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace…

Super Metroid turns 25 this year. If you think Donkey Kong Country aged well, wait until you see this beast.

The first two Metroid games dealt with the hero Samus Aran destroying the parasitic Metroids from spreading across the galaxy. The games build these creatures up to be mindless, killing machines. At the end of Metroid II: Return of Samus, Samus almost uncharacteristically spares the life of the last Metroid.

In the events of Super Metroid, the last Metroid is kidnapped by space pirates who plan to use it to take over the galaxy. After making her way through their base, Samus is confronted by their leader, Mother Brain.

Mother Brain kicks. your. ass.

All hope seems lost. You just spent hours navigating this labyrinth while collecting power-ups and honing your skills. You thought you were a pro at this game who could handle whatever was throw at you, but you just lost and it wasn’t even close.

Suddenly…

In one fell swoop, the game throws a complete curveball at the player. It takes a huge risk by changing up the villains of the last two games in one of the biggest twists in video game history.

Super Metroid is one of the greatest non-linear platformers ever made. It transcends the realm of being a video game and turns into an experience.

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

When it comes to video game top 10 lists, it’s almost unfair if there is an eligible Zelda title. Zelda titles are some of the best if not THE best titles in every Nintendo console’s library.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is no exception.

This game introduced us to some of the best weapons in all of Zelda including the Hookshot, Pegasus Boots, and the Mirror Shield. It gave us an incredible story with some of the coolest boss fights in the entire franchise.

Link to the Past is one of the greatest Zelda games ever created, which makes it one of the greatest video games ever created.

Link to the Past captures all the things that make Zelda one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. It is also undoubtedly the greatest SNES game ever made.

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The 5 coolest upcoming high tech theme park rides

Join us for a look at the mind-blowing next-gen theme park rides under construction right now.

Long before video games or virtual reality, theme parks offered the most immersive fantasy experiences you could find. From exploring the syrupy Americana of Disneyland’s Main Street to making a bike escape with E.T. at Universal Studios, the grand scale and careful design of theme parks have enchanted audiences for decades. Now that digital technology is rapidly improving, the theme park industry is going to see massive shakeups with new high tech, immersive rides. Here are a few of the most exciting ones.

5 coolest high-tech theme park rides of the future

5. Donkey Kong Minecart Coaster – Universal Studios

Anyone who’s played the excellent Donkey Kong Country series can tell you about the minecart levels. These infamously difficult sections have players flying through caves on jumping minecarts, dodging enemies and flinging over gaps in the track. If you’ve ever hoped to experience these death-defying antics in person, then you’re in luck.

A Donkey Kong minecart coaster is underway as part of Universal Studios’ Super Nintendo Land area. While it is currently unconfirmed as to where Super Nintendo Land will be located within the Universal parks, it is rumored that the Donkey Kong coaster, along with ride we’ll get to later on this list, will be part of a brand new Universal Orlando park.

Revealed via patent, the Donkey Kong minecart coaster will see guests jumping around on minecarts through an expansive cave.

As shown by the figure above, the ride simulates the famous jumping minecarts by placing an unseen track below the guests. Underneath guests, another cart rides attached via an extendable pole, safely jumping over the “gaps” in the track ridden on by guests. This is a brilliant piece of engineering that is sure to faithfully replicate the stress and chaos of a Donkey Kong minecart ride in real life.

4. Maxx Force – Six Flags Great America

Dubbed the “Thrill Capital of the Midwest,” Six Flags Great America is home to numerous dizzying roller coasters. For those looking for a new way to churn their stomach, Six Flags is currently building a coaster that will be the country’s fastest launch coaster ever. Maxx Force is a launch coaster that will accelerate guests from 0 to 78mph in less than 2 seconds (to put that into perspective, guests will feel more G-forces than astronauts do while rocketing into space). That isn’t the only record Maxx Force will break, however; the coaster also features the world’s fastest inversion (a Zero-G roll at 60mph) and the world’s highest double inversion at 175 feet.

Construction is still underway on the Maxx Force, and the coaster is expected to open sometime in 2019. A video simulating the experience can be seen below:

3. Tron Lightcycle Power Run – Walt Disney World

American theme park fans can rest assured that this popular Shanghai Disneyland attraction will hit the Magic Kingdom by 2021. Based off of Tron: Legacy’s fantastic Lightcycle sequence, Tron Lightcycle Power Run has guests mount the iconic Lightcycles, blazing through cyberspace at over 60 mph.

The ride has been one of the most popular attractions at Shanghai Disneyland for good reason. The strong theming of the ride helps to highlight the unique neon aesthetic of the Tron universe, aided by ambient music in the queue and blaring outrun chase music during the ride.

Uniquely, guests lie forward on their bikes, gripping the handlebars. By sitting closer to the ground, guests feel more visceral thrills, especially considering that this is Disney’s fastest roller coaster ever. Mirrors, screens, and other visual tricks simulate a race with an enemy Lightcycle team, giving the illusion that they are chasing down and trying to eliminate guests. The ride’s queue is a highly immersive experience in itself, featuring advanced LED technology that shows light trails as the coaster speeds by. At one point, the ride does go outside of its building, so ride at night for the most immersive experience.

A POV video of the Shanghai Disneyland version can be seen below:

2. Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run – Walt Disney World

“Chewie, we’re home.”

For years, Star Wars megafans have been hotly anticipating Galaxy’s Edge, a massive 14 acre Star Wars-themed addition to Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The section is supposed to represent an Outer Rim planet in the Star Wars universe and is set to be populated with droids, aliens, and other colorful characters. Galaxy’s Edge is set to open in late 2019, along with its most anticipated attraction: Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run.

Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run is one of the most unique and interactive attractions Disney has worked on to date. The simulator ride takes place inside of a massive, painstakingly-detailed replica of the Millennium Falcon. The ride comes complete with over 200 interactable controls, including joysticks, buttons, and switches. These aren’t just for show, however. All of these controls are fully functional, and they control the flight of the Millenium Falcon in real time. Depending on your group’s performance, the Millenium Falcon can either complete its smuggling run safely or in shambles. Characters in the area will chastise you for flying poorly or praise you for flying well. Plenty of flying scenarios, in addition to these controls, ensure that every ride will be a fresh experience.

A teaser trailer for the ride can be seen below:

1. Mario Kart Experience- Universal Studios

When Super Nintendo Land is finally finished, visitors will enter through a gigantic green warp pipe. One of the first things they’ll see is Bowser’s Castle, a gigantic and imposing landmark that hosts the Mario Kart Experience.

Universal Studios Mario Kart — These guests are surprisingly cool with the giant killer plants

Blending VR, AR, physical sets, and 360 screens, Universal promises the Mario Kart Experience will be “an attraction that is unlike any that the world has ever seen, the most immersive and cutting-edge technological attraction that we could have possibly have imagined.” Universal and Nintendo have been notoriously tight-lipped about the attraction, though a few details have slipped out. Judging from a few leaked patents, Universal isn’t just spouting empty words, the attraction does, in fact, look like the most advanced theme park ride the world has ever seen.

The Mario Kart Experience will be the world’s first ever theme park ride to use augmented reality. Using augmented reality goggles, riders can experience objects, such as items or fellow racers, imposed onto the ride’s physical sets. This allows the ride to have replayability, as the ride can place different items and obstacles, like bananas or Koopa shells, onto the track that can move or behave in unexpected ways. Augmented reality, when combined with immersive tube-like 360 screens, will give guests a sense of speed combined with the chaotic hazards Mario Kart is known for.

Half the fun of Mario Kart is power sliding around the track, which gives players a speed boost and allows them to conquer sharp turns. The ride designers clearly haven’t forgotten this, as the patent appears to show drifting capabilities in the ride’s cars. Being able to actually control your kart’s drift would add an awesome amount of interactivity to the ride. Judging from the picture, two riders enter each car (not unlike Mario Kart Double Dash), with the front rider driving and the other controlling something else (assumedly throwing items). This combination of advanced physical and virtual technology has never been seen in a ride, and we can’t wait to get our first look at the Mario Kart Experience.

Watch: Mario Kart VR looks INTENSE

Would you play this?

5 weirdest product placements in games

Uh, what’s that thing doing in your video game?

Any economist can tell you that video games are a goldmine. High profile games like Grand Theft Auto V have generated more revenue than any movie that’s ever released. Naturally, advertisers want in on the action. Just like in movies, the logic is that if a product is featured in a popular game, people are more likely to buy it. Product placement must be used carefully, however, as it can easily stick out like a sore thumb and turn people off from both the game and the product. Whether they worked or not, here are the five weirdest product placements that have ever been featured in a video game.

5 weirdest product placements in games

5. Mercedes-Benz in Mario Kart 8

Mayonnaise-colored Benz I push Miracle Whips!

Seeing Mario and friends hurling bananas and Koopa shells at each other out of a Benz will never not be hilarious. It’s so jarring that it actually works. It’s common for car companies to license their vehicles for racing games, but usually, it’s for realistic racers like Forza, not kart racers. Funnily enough, some car brands like Toyota don’t allow their cars to be featured in video games at all, because they fear that their brand would become devalued. Then, a luxury brand like Mercedes hops straight into the Mushroom Kingdom. You can’t exactly blame Mercedes-Benz for wanting their cars featured in the most popular racing game in the world, even if that game is cartoon chaos. Plus, the crossover gave us this amazing commercial:

These 10 NES cartridges are worth a fortune

Read now ►

4. Everquest II and Pizza Hut

Since the dawn of time MMO players and pizza deliveries have had a symbiotic relationship: one cannot exist without the other. Realizing this, Pizza Hut teamed up with popular MMO Everquest II to allow players to order pizza in-game. If you’re hours into a raid and IRL starvation is preventing you from getting your hard-earned loot, simply type “/pizza” into the all chat to get a pizza at your door within minutes. While many people mock MMO players for their fast food addictions, you have to hand it to Pizza Hut for this stroke of marketing genius.

Finally, a pizza delivery service for me!

3. Burnout Paradise and Barack Obama

Back in 2008, then president-elect Barack Obama was noted for using the internet to advertise his campaign. He took it a step further and bought advertising space in the racer Burnout Paradise. Burnout Paradise is famous for its massive open world that spans multiple American states. Billboards for Obama appeared in-game in Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, and Wisconsin, states that had voted Republican in the last election cycle. It’s unknown how well this campaign strategy worked, but look forward to seeing Trump’s face plastered all over the next GTA come 2020.

2. Sonic Adventure 2 and Soap Shoes

Sonic’s iconic buckle shoes vs. his TUBULAR Soap shoes

Sonic fans may have noticed that in Sonic Adventure 2 the titular blue hedgehog wears brand-new shoes. The new shoes are Soap shoes, which is actually a real brand of extreme sporting shoes. The shoes had a hard plastic indent on the bottom that allowed wearers to “grind” on rails, like so:

I will give you $50 if you can find a more early-2000’s picture than this one

As if Sonic wasn’t radical enough already, Sega teamed up with Soap to let the blue blur grind rails. I didn’t know anyone who wore Soap shoes back then, but I can only assume that attempts to grind rails with them led to countless injuries. Remember kids, just because Sonic can grind on rails and run through loops doesn’t mean you can.

Note: The final product placement truly needs to be seen to be believed. I truly believe, deep within the recesses of my heart, that no one will ever top how absolutely baffling this next product placement is.

1. Skittles and Darkened Skye

Look at the above screenshot, what do you see? At first glance, it may just look like another mid-2000’s fantasy game. But if you look in the bottom left corner, something looks extremely out of place. That something is a Skittle.

Back in 2002, publisher Simon & Shuster wanted to make video games based on Mars candy, like M&M’s and Skittles. After securing the rights to use the candies, S&S quickly got their developers at work creating the candy based games. The developers of Darkened Skye initially refused to make a Skittles-based game, but eventually agreed to make it on the condition that it would be a humorous fantasy game.

In Darkened Skye, the player uses different magic based on differently colored Skittles. It’s clear that the developers knew that making a high-fantasy Skittles game was incredibly stupid. as the characters in-game constantly use self-deprecating humor. The most hilarious part is that Skittles do not appear at all on the game’s box art, which instead appears as a normal fantasy game. I can only imagine the poor kid who bought the game expecting an epic fantasy adventure only to find themselves using the magical power of Skittles™ candy!

Do you think these ads actually worked? Any weird crossovers we missed? Let us know!

Watch Nintendo of Russia’s CEO attack his employees

The family-friendly company has a major problem in Russia.

You’re about to see a Nintendo villain far worse than Bowser or Ganon.

A video recently surfaced in which Nintendo of Russia CEO Yasha Haddaji losing his temper and launching into an explicit rant live and on camera during an official Mario Kart 8 live stream. The vulgar video can be seen below:

Yikes. Vulgar rants are a bad look for any company, much less a famously family-friendly one like Nintendo. The video has since gone viral, gaining around 250,000 views on YouTube alone. Nintendo has since issued a statement in response:

“We are aware of a video uploaded to YouTube recently in which Nintendo Russia’s General Manager, Yasha Haddaji, is seen losing his temper during an altercation with an external vendor in charge of a Mario Kart live stream. Mr. Haddaji’s conduct and choice of words are most certainly not in line with our company values.

We are also aware of further allegations that have appeared in the wake of this video and are now running a thorough investigation. We take these matters extremely seriously and will not comment further while we are running our investigation.”

The “further allegations” that Nintendo is referring to is a culture of abuse, blame, and incompetence due to Haddaji’s actions as NoR’s CEO.

According to sources who spoke to Nintendo Life, Haddaji propagated a culture of fear in the workplace. Haddaji allegedly would become extremely angry over minor mistakes, flying into outbursts and smashing keyboards and computer monitors. The report says Haddaji also used more psychological forms of intimidation. He would allegedly send embarrassing mass emails from the addresses of people who left their computers open as “punishment.” Also, Haddaji was a fan of foul language and ethnic slurs, his favorite being calling people he disliked “gypsies.”

Watch: Fastest Super Mario Bros. speedrun in history

Go, go, mario! ►

There have also been numerous accusations of sexual harassment leveled at Haddaji by women who have worked under him. He reportedly asked women to meet him outside of work and threatened to fire them if they didn’t show. He would also criticize female employees over their choice of clothing or the pictures they posted on their personal social media accounts. Russian gaming website GameGuru even reported that Haddaji forced a woman to call him “daddy Haddaji”, which only scratched the surface of the lewd jokes female employees had to endure.

Even if Haddaji had a squeaky-clean record, which is far from the case, he is largely reviled by Russian Nintendo fans for his perceived incompetence. Nintendo games rarely received Russian translations, and the amount of Nintendo games offered on the eShop was much more limited than other regions. He was particularly infamous among Pokémon fans. He made the decision to outright cancel the Pokémon Trading Card game in Russia, despite its enduring popularity. He was also responsible for ordering way more copies of Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu than Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee, making the Eevee edition incredibly difficult to find in Russia.

Do you think Nintendo will do something about Haddaji? Let us know!