Game:

Mario Kart Tour (2019)

Duration: 5:29

19,148 views

821

A child's attempts to sue Nintendo of America over lootboxes in Mario Kart Tour is actually part of a bigger attempt to battle gambling mechanics in games.

Which is probably not a surprise, because let's be real: the legal system isn't actually set up to be accessible to underage children. There needs to be a grown-up pulling the strings here.

Sorry TOTK Ganondorf fans, you'll have to wait for us to provide the authentic explanation from developers as to why Ganon is so hot.

Mario Kart Tour is not a game that I personally have played, because I already own Mario Kart on devices with, y'know, actual controllers, so a free-to-pay mobile game doesn't exactly fill me with excitement. These are exactly the kinds of games that I keep my daughter away from for this exact reason.

She's been allowed precisely one mobile game that features microtransactions, but I've disabled the ability for the game to make purchases, and in fairness she hasn't touched it for years because she prefers games on the Switch. The kinds of games where you pay once and then you "own" the thing, rather than the kind where you think it's free until you realise you've spend over £100.

My mother, on the other hand, goes in for this kind of freemium nonsense with a dangerous excitement. That's a story for another day, though.

The one exception to my rule about free-to-play mobile games is good old Pokemon Go, a game that I have absolutely never put a single penny into, because in my opinion it would entirely ruin the fun if resources were any less scarce.

As a matter of fact, I haven't touched that game for a couple of years now too, simply because I filled up my inventory with items and couldn't be bothered to grind gyms just for more storage space. That's silly.

I like to think that my beloved Snorlax, Foreman, is still waiting for me.

Anyway, what was this video about?

Oh yeaaaaaahhhhh, Mario Kart Tour. I'm sure it's perfectly fine. I own Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, though, so I don't think I need a mobile version in my life. I don't even need the Switch port, really. It's all good.

Ummmmm what else should I say? Don't buy lootboxes, I guess. We don't want to encourage this kind of awful behaviour from game developers.

To be honest, I feel like the big lootbox panic is mostly over now, but that might just be because the games I play are less likely to feature them. As stated, I'm not paying very close attention to the kinds of games that are glorified slot machines for children.

Lots of love,
Kotor

PS Oops, I just noticed I used an endslate that said that BretonStripes did the speaky on this one. Don't worry, she'll be back next time. This video just felt like more like it should be one of mine.

Sources for this video:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67403533/1/2/na-v-nintendo-of-america-inc/
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/P214800%20Dark%20Patterns%20Report%209.14.2022%20-%20FINAL.pdf