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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Well, it’s happened. The Nintendo Switch 2 has reportedly emerged into the wild ahead of time, into the hands of people on the internet who’re keen to make videos showing off the fact that you open the box and boom – there’s a Switch 2 in there. It doesn’t look like any such folks are actually able to play games on the console though, thanks to an impending update.

As spotted by IGN, a YouTuber with the handle a2dubai appears to have posted a short video of them unboxing what’s either a Switch 2 or a convincing replica of the new console on May 27. In case you forgot, the Switch 2 isn’t set to properly come out until June 5.

Said video has since been nuked via a copyright claim by Web Capio, a company which “offers bespoke anti-piracy services”.

Prior to that, a commenter had reportedly asked for “more video please” – very polite for a Youtube comments section, good work rando – leading a2dubai to respond: “Nintendo locked the Switch 2, it needs [an] update to function, so I’m waiting for June 5th to unlock it.”

So, no clips of this potentially real Switch 2 actually playing any games, with news and deals aggregator Wario64 having claimed to have heard from a second person who’s acquired a Switch 2 early. “I have no permission to post pics but can share that when they try to boot a Switch 1 game, a message prompts ‘Please connect to the internet and update your system’,” they posted, “Needs update to boot a game.”

As fellow poster Stealth40k put it, if these are real Switch 2s and the need for an update’s also genuine, that would mean the console’s “basically a very nice paperweight” until release. To be fair, that’ll at least be handy for these alleged early adopters if Ninty and its lawyers decide to hunt them down and deliver some sheets of paper that say something to the effect of ‘please don’t do this again’ in legalese.

Do you think this is all a sneaky 4D chess marketing campaign to make us all want Nintendo to start selling actual Switch 2-shaped paperweights? Let us know below, and make sure to check out the rest of our Switch 2 coverage in the run up to release. You know you’re keen to find out more about Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut’s Red Light Raid Mode.

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