Okay, grab yourself a big ol' fistful of salt, everyone. A little datamined detail which is just plausible enough to be true suggests there might be a Nintendo game coming to PC at some point in the nearish future.
According to datamined information from the latest update to the mobile free-to-play racer Mario Kart Tour, Nintendo has added not only mouse support, but also various code references to 'native emulation' that suggest a PC port could — repeat, could — be in the works.
As noted by MondoMega on Resetera (thanks, My Nintendo News), the information was reportedly found by the Mario Kart Tour Community Discord. Updates to the mobile title have been the source of various advanced leaked details over the years.
While mouse support could be a leftover developer tool that will never be unlocked for the public, or even an accessibility option, the references to emulation potentially indicate the game's inclusion in the Google Play Games PC program (which will bring certain mobile Google Play games to PC) or that it could be playable on Windows 11 in the future.
To be clear, we're very much in the realms of speculation here. As @kart_tour points out on Twitter, this could also be the result of Nintendo switching between game engine versions:
So, does this mean Mario Kart Tour is definitely coming to PC? No. It's possible, but certainly nowhere near confirmed. Does this mean Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will soon be playable in an official capacity on a personal computer near you? No. No no no. MK8D is one of Nintendo's evergreen jewels, a regular fixture of the gaming charts over five years after its release — over eight if you count the original non-Deluxe Wii U release.
However, Nintendo has repeatedly stated it strives to drive engagement with its hardware and console games by connecting a wider audience with Nintendo's IP through mobile. With the arrival of Mario Kart Tour circuits in the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, there seems to be no change in that strategy, and there's certainly logic to expanding this particular game into the realm of the PC.
Exactly how the MK Tour experience — which is very much built around vertical screen gameplay — would translate to a monitor and mouse is another question, but seeing an official Nintendo software release on PC in the 21st century would be most unusual.
Would you play MK Tour on PC? Let us know if you'd be down for revisiting mobile Mazza-K on your mighty rig. Yes, you heard us. Mazza-K.
[source resetera.com, via mynintendonews.com]
Comments 54
"Mario Kart: Master Race"
Uhhhh... I hope that's not the name of any official Mario Kart project ever.
That is disturbing...
With any luck though, probably meaningless.
@Royalblues if Nintendo were to pick a common platform, they would just go to iOS and Android. Those user bases are larger than Windows.
@Royalblues If they did, they’d need to do a whole lot of polishing and simplifying in order for anyone to buy into it. Cloud gaming needs tons of work to be a better alternative, and PC gaming is noticeably less accessible than on console. For as easy as those who are savvy with it may be, it’s a lot to ask a kid to log onto their computer, navigate a desktop to steam or another website (that may not even be secure), find their account/downloads/owned games section, and then find the games to the want to play, rather than just hitting the power button on switch and clicking on Mario’s face.
With Nintendo, I'm surprised they're not preparing it for Windows 98 😏
I don't believe there's a precedent for this kind of thing with Nintendo games though, is there? The only thing that's comparable in a way is Pokemon Trading Card Game Online but that's not really affiliated with Nintendo in the slightest so it'll be interesting to see if this goes anywhere. How would you even begin to port MK Tour's control style over?
Remember Resident Evil 3 Remake (probably cloud) Nintendo Switch datamine?
Remember the SMT V datamine for PC and PS4?
Yeah, nothing has been announced for those games so far. SMT V might be possible for PC and PS4 releases but resident evil 3 cloud version should have been announced by now…
Datamine’s don’t necessarily mean anything though. So this could be nothing for all we know.
@CharlieGirl "Mario Kart the third race"
Weird jokes aside, seeing a Mario game coming to PC, potentially, is very surreal. Especially since Nintendo is probably the last company to port their games to PC. They're especially stingy when it comes to change, so them doing this is probably a good idea since Sony has started doing it.
PC gaming is the Alpha and Omega.
Why would anyone be grabbing “a big ol' fistful of salt” over this, even if true? We got many gorgeous-looking games from PC and we had no complains, so why would we now? The more people are playing these games the better. We’re not Nintendo employees to give a penny. We simply play games.
I don’t think that Nintendo will put any of their main games on switch because the whole reason Nintendo sells so much software is because of fans that will buy pretty much anything Nintendo put out (me) so putting their games on PC will boost those games in sales but take away from others
@Royalblues The Xbox may be going away, possibly PlayStation. But I doubt Nintendo will be getting rid of their consoles anytime soon. 1. It makes them so much money and 2. The switch can’t be replaced by cloud gaming because you can play it anywhere, even if you have unlimited data game streaming on data seems awful and nobody wants to play games on their phone
@Slowdive - Definitely a likely possibility. Many mobile games are developed using the PC, and likely these can just be relics of of development before they started testing all on mobile devices.
If it came out on PC Nintendo would figure out someway to make it silly. You’ll probably have to connect your phone and use that as a controller or only be allowed to use 1 joycon which has to be tethered with a special tool which also needs an app
haha, they can have tour if that really is the case
When nintendo finally opens their minds and sees that they have the biggest and best game franchises, they will finally be ready to be the biggest developer in the world with no competitors, and that includes multiplatform Nintendo games. Mario + Rabbids, for me, is a game that should be cross-platform.
Today I learned it's still okay to say 'master race' even when referring to electronics.
I've never even played MK Tour on my phone. So I doubt a PC version is gonna make me start playing. I'm perfectly fine with Mario Kart on an actual console. Nothing against PC gaming or those who do.
@Royalblues
The whole reason for consoles to exist is to provide something easier to access than trying to set up PCs for gaming. At the end of the day, PCs aren't 100% made for gaming, and there are a lot more things to maintain because of that. Consoles won't be going away unless we get a PC that does not compromise simplicity and accessibility - Steam Deck could be the closest we get.
For those who don't get the reference in the subtitle:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Master_Race
@Royalblues
It will largely depend on how those demographics are affected. Those with iPads are almost guaranteed to be exposed to the bandwagon of either buying a console or a gaming PC thanks to YouTube. As much as they spend time on their iPads, there's a certain age they'll hit where they would realize that their iPad can only do so much, and this would be where they'll start asking for more.
I can almost say the same about cloud gaming. So far, only Microsoft has successfully maintained a cloud gaming platform because said platform is only a hybrid cloud platform. The progression of internet also involves the cost and interest - internet is becoming stupidly expensive for what it's actually worth, even when some governments try to intervene.
Of course, that's also tolerating the demographics of markets like Japan, where it's basically the complete opposite of what we have elsewhere. It's a lot more console-dominant than PC or mobile, and I would like to think the interest in cloud gaming there would be from the consoles, rather than mobile.
@SteamEngenius if it's meant as a joke, or a play on words, then what's the harm? No need to be alarmed.
@Royalblues from comment boards, message threads and social media posts; gamers don’t pay attention to what people use. Instead, they just impose their preferences on the rest of us.
" Does this mean Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will soon be playable in an official capacity on a personal computer near you? No. No no no."
You just had to put that out there, as if anyone is really asking that question.
Probably a leftover from development testing. It's not uncommon to make mobile games run on computers during development
@Yorumi Same happened with the Animal Crossing mobile game which got far more love than New Horizons a game which 30+ million people bought and convinced multiple people to get a Switch for. And Fire Emblem Heroes has made 1 billion in revenue and it feels like Intelligent Systems spends more money on making memes for that game around April Fools than actually using it on a FE game. I really hope that they're currently working on a new FE game that will look and run much better than Three Houses did.
I often think of how Nintendo could benefit from releasing their games on PC. Games like Three Houses or Age of Calamity could shine all the brighter on a system that could play them with a smooth, consistent frame rate, and if they had their own storefront, they could sell their own ROMs of older games, and possibly their own emulators as well, making emulation less of a legal mess than it currently is. I would happily pay $5 for an NES game again if it meant I could keep it on my computer and use it however the hell I please, like with many SEGA Genesis ROMs that are available on Steam. Even if Nintendo removed that NES game, like SEGA did with Sonic 3 & Knuckles, I'd still have a legal copy of it that I purchased.
I'm sure this rumor won't become anything more than that, and Nintendo is probably more concerned with using their older games as a means to leverage shady subscription services, but there's a potential market on PC that they're ignoring and I think that unless they start making their systems powerful enough to match their developers' ambition, they should absolutely be making certain games available on PC, but not until after they've had a good run on their consoles.
Many will inevitably disagree with me, because the last thing they want to see is Nintendo make their favorite games available with better quality on another system, but Sony and Microsoft have had their exclusives make the jump to PC, and also I bought a Wii U so your argument is invalid.
@russell-marlow remember when we trough Nintendo would never release games on mobile, never say never for the possibilty of Nintendo releasing it bighest franchises on PC, waste of oportunity not giving Nintendo franchises on PC, Nintendo stop be been so stingy with your franchises.
@Fizza Apparently, someone has forgotten the critically-acclaimed masterpiece that is Mario Teaches Typing, smh.
@Royalblues possibly. Nintendo will likely be fine since it wouldn’t take much to reposition their Switch, but I can see consoles evolving into something different. Depending what Nintendo unveils next year, plus whatever Microsoft and Sony have in mind, they could be around for a while. Again, it’ll change, especially if the other two decide to ditch X64-86 for Arm. Bulky systems will be a thing of the past.
@Not_Soos Damn it, you're right. Maybe I'll need a Time Machine in order to remember?
Master race is not a good title, sounds like something from “Mein kempf”.
@Yorumi The gap between PCs and consoles are getting much smaller, but I think the overall issue revolves around that design of being plug and play. PCs are much easier to set up now than ever before, but maintaining and upgrading are on a whole different level. Not everyone owns a gaming PC at the end of the day.
I see these events as a sign that platform-exclusive games, even from 1st party companies, are going to die in a near future, and I think Microsoft already realized that, and now we see Sony doing more or less the same as well.
Think about this way: the main objective of a company is to make as much money as possible, so it's a much better financial decision to port games to PC and mobile than expect someone to buy a console to play just a single game.
Nowadays, games can be easily ported from one platform to another, so it's definitely worth it (in my view) for these companies
PC don't need this.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wacky_Wheels
I mean Microsoft and now Sony do it. Seems inevitable that this is just one of those stepping stones for the gaming industry moving forward that they'll all eventually take, just like cross-platform play before it.
I have something like a gaming PC, but I don't have anything but emulators. I rip my save data off the system to PC like Project 64, Dolphin emulators. But RetroArch on Kindle is better than any PC game.
Google will soon make Android games playable on PC via Google play Games, so all of Nintendo's currently active mobile games should be playable on PC soon.
Best article subtitle ever lmao
@westman98 And we already have Bluestacks, which is sorta official, too.
Yeah heavily doubt it. I don’t blame Nintendo doing random FTPs Gacha mobile games because they are a much bigger market then PC audience, but there has been no recent enthusiasm from Nintendo actually putting their real games onto other platforms.
They are perfectly fine with having tons of popular exclusives that gives them huge sales anyway even on one platform [their own platform so they don’t have to pay fees to Valve, Sony, etc] that also results into huge hardware sales because said exclusives raises value of said platform. Why try to fix something that isn’t broken?
Also people that emulate Nintendo games on PC are an insignificant fraction of PC gamers that does very little to no damage on Nintendo hardware sales unlike official ports would for a much wider PC audience because now you will have a bunch of gamers with the “I’ll just wait for the X platform port that has better specs” now. Sony is already starting to have to deal with that from the PC crowd despite just dipping their toes on ports
90% of my game time is playing on Steam (PC).
Now I´m gonna play Soulcalibur VI ranked matches! I come back later
Mario Kart on Steam - free online (more quality) multiplayer. Impossible, but.....very nice idea!
I care about games, not platforms. I have no loyalty to any company.
@westman98 yep, people seem to be making a mountain out of molehill here. Mario Kart Tour sucks anyways.
Some of the people in this thread: "Oh no, not Nintendo games on PC"
lol, who cares if more people are playing
I've been a Nintendo fan since 1983 and I welcome this (it will happen eventually even if this is a mistake, Sony and Microsoft rake in PC port cash)
kinda technically has always been playable on PC since release so this isn't new
Already got mario kart arcade GP DX on my pc so I'm good
@zaka "Developers that are serious about their software, should make their own hardware"
Nintendo going third party will be deadly. They will become another generic third party developer and go to hell.
Like it happened to Sega
And to Hudson soft
and Atari
So no, ENOUGH with this "Nintendo should go THIRD PARTY!" BS. I'm sick and tired of hearing this from so called Nintendo "fans" that have never looked into history
Google play games is getting a PC store. Could be one of the titles optimized for it.
@Yorumi
How about when someone doesn't know the basics of a computer? What if they were the type of people who would run 10 different apps in the background and have like 50 tabs open on Chrome? How about potential viruses? There are many reasons why a PC simply isn't as approachable as a console, and even the most basic problems can seem complex to someone trying to get into gaming.
Nintendo porting their first-party games to PC is a pipe dream I'll always hold onto.
Still read this site frequently, and haven’t commented in awhile, or much ever, but…that subtitle is in really poor taste. I get the reference, and it’s clear that others do, too, but there are going to be readers who won’t, and on top of that, it coming at a time when antisemitic violence is on the rise across the globe just further perpetuates a general apathy to that problem at best, if not outright promoting it as “funny”. I’m sure it seemed like a good joke, but I’d urge y’all to reconsider that position.
I would try it on PC if FTP, and would likely purchase it if the business model went to a more buy-to-play approach. Pay 60 USD for all tracks/carts/DLC released to date with no further in-game purchases and permit LAN play or personal server hosting tools so that multiplayer is possible when dedicated servers eventually close, and I'm in. That doesn't sound like something they would do, though. The PC kart racing scene has some competition, from free open-source options like tuxcart that trade polish for full modability to more tailored experiences like the upcoming Disney raceway or Sega's Sonic Racing series. Nintendo's the king of kart racing, though - nothing feels quite like hitting a green shell. What I would really want is Double-Dash at 4K locked at 30 or 60 fps, or even a way to legally purchase ROMs of games I can't dump myself to use on any emulator with whatever upscaling/anti-aliasing/modding I want, but that's likely never going to be on the cards.
PC gaming is all about custom hardware and software to tailor an experience, whether that means playing with a driving wheel, replacing a character with neo from the Matrix, playing on a handheld device you stream locally to in another room, crafting your own splitscreen support or creating a custom-made accessibility controller for your specific needs. Nintendo's polish comes in part from really understanding its hardware and they seem quite protective of their IP (they don't want Mario showing up with potentially adult-oriented custom content), so it might not always be the best fit.
More Nintendo games on PC!!!!!!
If Nintendo put their games on PC I would actually start getting interested in them again
@DK-Fan Atari, Hudson Soft and Sega didn't have the most popular franchises in the world, and I didn't say that Nintendo should go to a third party, I just a multiplataform Mario Kart game or another Mario game could run on other consoles like a door in to new generations players who never listened say on Mario or something. I couldn't think in Nintendo dead like Sega or Atari, how I saied, Nintendo could be the biggest developer in the world. But I respect your opinion.
@Royalblues
I would agree with you, but look at how mixed cloud games are. While there are great games that run well, such as Hitman 3, there are also AMAZING games hindered by the technology, such as Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and Kingdom Hearts.
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