Mario Kart World started development back in 2017 as a game for the original Switch, but ended up becoming a Switch 2 one because it devs felt the tech boost was necessary to deliver the world bit of it. Said devs have also offered us some more info about its most important character – Cow.

Yep, that’s right. Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, they can all go do one. Moo Moo Meadows cow is the king of these streets, with an aura so powerful she can momentarily stop even the most outraged of Ninty fans from being unhappy about prices or worrying that they might not be able to make the switch to Switch 2 right away.

These tidbits and more come from a new interview Nintendo’s put out with Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki, programming director Kenta Sato, art director Masaaki Ishikawa, planning team lead Shintaro Jikumaru, and music lead Atsuko Asahi that so long it’s been divided into four parts. So, make sure you go grab your beverage of choice first if you plan on reading it all in one go.

We were thinking about what to do for the next Mario Kart game even during the development of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and we began prototyping in March 2017,” Yabuki explained, “It was at the end of that year when we officially started work on it as a project. I felt that in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, we were able to perfect the formula that we’d been following in the series up to that point, where players race on individual courses. That’s why, this time, we wanted the gameplay to involve players driving around a large world, and we began creating a world map like this.”

“When we were developing for the Nintendo Switch system,” Sato explained further on in the chat, “it was difficult for us to incorporate everything we wanted, so we were always conscious of what we were giving up in return. We discussed things like toning down the visuals, lowering the resolution, and we even considered dropping the frame rate to 30 fps in some cases. It was a tough situation.

“Yabuki-san first brought [the idea of switching to Switch 2] up around 2020. Back then, we already had an idea of the next system’s expected specs, but it wasn’t until a bit later that we actually received working development units. Until then, we just had to proceed with development based on provisional estimates.”

“Of course, the graphics needed to be more detailed [due to being on Switch 2],” Ishikawa added, “But like Sato-san, I also felt like it was outweighed by the sense of relief. From the beginning, the designers were saying they wanted to make the art richer, so I thought we could achieve that now.”

The devs also explained how the driving Cow came to be, and offered a glimpse into her…er…mindset.

“Each new Mario Kart game features new characters to race with, but since we added so many to the previous game, we wondered where we could go from there,” Ishikawa explained, “And then one of the designers came up with [a] silly sketch of Cow cruising along, and I thought to myself, “This is it!” (Laughs) So that’s when we realized the course surroundings actually contained a lot of untapped resources.”

MK World’s devs call these environmental decoration characters who’ve gotten behind the wheel “NPC drivers”, with Yabuki noting that “it’s pretty funny to see a four-legged Cow holding onto motorcycle handlebars with her front hooves.”

Though, you shouldn’t worry, as Ishikawa insisted that he’s pretty sure Cow is “still in touch with her animal nature” due to the pose she assumes when she jumps, and that she’s “actually a pivotal character in the Mario Kart series” as a legacy of giving the devs ideas for other characters.

Will Cow become a pivotal character in your life once you get your hands on Mario Kart World? Let us know below!

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons has received a surprise patch today to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the life sim series. The update, version 3.0.2, is available across the Switch and Switch 2 versions of the game.

The patch brings a single new addition to New Horizons – a leaf item. Everyone gets it, too, so you don’t have to do anything special to acquire it.

After installing the patch, simply head to your in-house mailbox to claim it. The mail includes a hearty message to fans who supported the series for years, featuring an appropriate Nintendo N64 stamp.

The Leaf Statue, as it’s referred to in-game, lights up when placed.

April 14, 2011 marks the release of the original, lesser-known version of Animal Crossing in Japan. The game was initially released as Animal Forest (Dobutsu no Mori) on the Nintendo N64, before later making its way to the Nintendo GameCube in December of the same year as Dobutsu no Mori+ with some extra features.

That same, original design of the package is also available for display in your game. The rest of the patch notes are entirely about various bug fixes, so not much more there. You can see the full change log on Nintendo’s support website.

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