Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack 2 was released on April 23, 2015. The addition of Animal Crossing’s Villager and Isabelle as well as Dry Bowser don’t do much for me. Likewise, new karts have never been something I glamour for, often selecting the standard kart for every race. (I dig classic!) However, the new Crossing and Bell cups include some of the most gorgeous video game visuals I have come across, Nintendo game or otherwise.

As I was racing through the new and original Wild Woods track, I was itching for Dry Bowser to hop out of his kart and explore. (I’ve experienced similar feelings racing through Shy Guy Falls, Dolphin Shoals, and Toad Harbor.) Likewise, the Animal Crossing track turns the traditionally isometric town into a truly inhabitable world.

A racing game feeling inhabitable speaks volumes.

A breathtaking “open-world” Legend of Zelda is a reality. Likewise, Nintendo has shown stellar execution of HD visuals in Mario Kart 8. This adds up to trigger a craving for the next iteration of 3D Mario games to be set in a seamless HD universe; freeing itself from stage selection and selective star quests and instead opting in for a connected Mushroom Kingdom.

This does not mean an “open-world” Mario game. I am no champion for open-world games. In fact, I often loathe them. I become distracted by side-quests and/or feel forced spend hours completing unnecessary tasks to progress the story or grow the game only to be forced to backtrack or fast-travel to previously completed areas. More and more I feel “open-world” means “lock-in”, encouraging players to invest obscene amounts of time in a single game to the point where they are afraid or ashamed to give it up.

I would love to see the next iteration of 3D Mario games open up into semi-open, adventure style platformers à la Jak and Daxter. No overworld. No stage select. No “painting portals”. Missions are discovered throughout the Mushroom Kingdom in lands akin to Thwomp Ruins, Cheep Cheep Beach, and Moo Moo Meadows, each gated by the traditional “star-requirement”.

I previously posted some thoughts on Iterative vs. Redesigned Experiences:

Super Mario 64 could have just as easily been another side-scroller, albeit with better visuals. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time could have been another top-down adventure. Donkey Kong 64 could have gone a number of pre-existing directions. Sure the Metroid series skipped the Nintendo 64 generation but Metroid Prime could have been another 2D platformer. The fact of the matter is that these titles reinvented their respective franchises. The worlds and characters we loved were shown in a new light and perspective. Sure, they are great games but they reinvented the way we thought about the franchises. This is what makes them so special.

More than just a great racing game, I believe Mario Kart 8 provides a glimpse at the future of the Mushroom Kingdom. Like Super Mario 64 dropped the “3D game design” mic, a fully connected Mushroom Kingdom could bring the 3D adventure-platformer back into the limelight and showcase exactly how it should have been done 15+ years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngElkyQ6Rhs

1. I could have sworn they were pulling audio from Return of the Jedi. (Mark Hamill still sounds youthful.) Until Luke’s line: “You have that power, too.”
2. And if this is truly new dialogue, Luke state’s that his ‘father has it.” Has. Not had.
3. It’s fun to imagine Vader is still around, but whether it’s clever audio splicing or Luke referring to the omnipresent (Force ghost¹) Anakin, I say Vader is dead and gone.
4. Finn is a trepidatious Stormtrooper recruit. The chaotic stormtrooper battle scene affirms his worries and he chooses to leave the Empire (or equivalent faction). This is the first time we witness the weight of war and death on soldiers in the post-prequel films.²
5. I need to figure out a way to be a part of this upcoming series of Disney Star Wars films.
6. I hate zoom. (1:28)

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¹ Thanks for the heads up to @AlexandreSitbon. The term was slipping my mind.

² Correction: Sad Ewok.

Over the weekend, I had an interesting conversation with a relative. The conversation was not interesting so much as my reaction was interesting.

This relative asked what school I had gone to and I replied with the addition that I had majored in political science. Without hesitation, he responded, “let’s talk about politics.” My reply, “let’s not,” went in one ear and out the other.

To backtrack, I had become extremely passionate about politics during my senior year of high school. Over the course of my college career, I shied away from pursuing my innate passion to debate ethics, policy, and humanitarian issues. However, after many twists-and-turns, majors and minors, I found myself holding a BA in political science.

Back to the conversation.

Naturally, it veered into Hillary Clinton’s announcement for the 2016 presidential bid. My relative’s qualm against her was that electing her as president “would put Bill back in the White House,” but “Bill was a good president.” My confusion began here.

Then my blood began to boil. I hadn’t felt this way in a long time. But I wouldn’t let it get the better of me. I was wiser than I was in high school and college. I had learned not to speak up when I didn’t know 110% of what I was talking about.

But I snapped.

After a few unproven assumptions about how things would pan out if she were president, I interrupted:

“If Hillary is elected, there are going to be folks that never let go of the email scandal. If Ted Cruz is elected, there are going to be folks that never let go of the fact that he was born in Canada. Just like the folks that wasted four years plus another four years questioning Obama’s birth certificate.

“Too much time is wasted. This shit doesn’t matter.”

It was quick, tame, and uneducated in the context of all things political. But even without all the answers and a well crafted strategy (of which I only ever had in school), I fought back; something I hadn’t done in years.

To be clear, I do believe that Hillary’s email scandal is a big deal. But under the context of my argument, it helped… maybe. I’m rusty. Cut me some slack.

In any case, the campaign season is upon us. Every four years, many “sports ball” tech nerds like myself get fired up during this time. It is a spectator sport we get interested in. And unlike fantasy sports, selecting your candidates and propositions actually affect real-life.

In the next week or so, my passion around campaign season will likely cool down. Like the baseball season, I’ll stay focused during opening week, putter out during mid-season, and ramp back up during the final third. But for once in quite some time, I feel fired up. And I like it.

Seth Godin on The Moment with Brian Koppelman:

If you think that you were born to paint in oils, or you were born to speak the truth about income inequality, or you were born— it’s just not true. If Vincent Van Gogh were born today, he would not work in oils. If Steve Jobs had been born 500 years ago, he would have done something else.

So what is the authentic version of Vincent Van Gogh? There isn’t one. What there is is someone who sought out a series of emotions that he could create for himself and gifts he could give other people through his work. And what I’m getting at is yes, we need to be consistent in honoring the truth of what we came to say.

But I also know that if I’d been born one block away from where I was born to different parents, or if I had been born in Yugoslavia, the fact that I’m here talking to you about these things would not have occurred. This is not the authentic expression of my DNA.

Excellent reminder.

American jazz and hip-hop vocalist José James during a ‘Meet the Musician’ event at the Apple Store, Kurfürstendamm:

I couldn’t believe one artist had made 50 albums. I pull one out and I look at the back and it has four tracks on it and each track is 18-minutes long. I’m thinking, “I can’t listen to this. I want value.” I was looking for the one with twelve tracks on it.

So incredibly peculiar how we subscribe value. I too ran into the same quandary when experiencing Miles Davis for the first time. Then I thought back to listening to ”The Decline” on repeat. And ”2113” after that. And ”Goodbye Sky Harbor” after that. And ”Cicatriz E.S.P.” after that. And ”Drop” after that. And ”Chimera Obscurant” after that. And ”Dauðalagið” after that.

Cumulative time does not equate to value. I’ll be damned if I couldn’t listen to ”So What” on loop for the rest of my life.