Miyamoto Critical of Customization Options in Mario Kart 7

Nintendo is trying to make software push to increase the popularity of the Nintendo 3DS handheld for the crucial holiday sales period and one of the avenues of attack is the launch of Mario Kart 7, a game that takes the core racing experience and brings it into a 3D world.

Speaking to Famitsu, the Japanese gaming magazine, Shigeru Miyamoto, who is the best-known game developer at Nintendo, stated, “The basic message here is ‘Mario Kart’s been powered up for the Nintendo 3DS,’ and I think the online upgrades in particular are pretty neat. A lot of time was spent on how to get all the individual components working together — Wi-Fi and Street Pass, local and Internet play.”

The developer believes that the mechanics of the series are pretty well developed at the moment and that there's no urgent need to try and change them with new releases.

Miyamoto also spoke about the elements of Mario Kart on the 3DS that he did not like, adding, “It can be fun to win money for racing and use it to buy parts and such, but I didn’t think that had much to do with the core fun of the series. The idea for that came from the studio staff, though, and my final response was ‘If you can build this customization on top of a solid control and gameplay foundation, then go ahead.’”

Miyamoto believes that gamers will appreciate the familiarity of the experience and that developers don't need to mess with successful gameplay mechanics too much .

The Nintendo 3DS version of Mario Kart features underwater driving and an alternative first-person mode that uses gyroscopic controls.

Mario Kart 7 will be launched exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS on December 1 in Japan, one day later in Europe, and on December 4 in North America.