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53-789: Mario Kart DS is a 2005 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console . It was released in November 2005 in North America, Europe, and Australia, and on December 8, 2005, in Japan. The game was re-released for the Wii U 's Virtual Console in North America and PAL regions in April 2015 and in Japan in May 2016. The game is the fifth main entry in

106-431: A Mario Kart game for the Nintendo DS , releasing some gameplay video footage at the same time. The company offered the game for the public to play for the first time at the 2005 Game Developers Conference , where the game's wireless feature was also showcased. Mario Kart DS was produced by Hideki Konno . The game runs at a consistent 60 frames per second and uses full 3D characters and environments. Mario Kart DS

159-707: A game. The goal of the 4th annual Game Design Challenge was to create a game which was a religion , or which could become one. It was won by Jason Rohrer who designed a one-player at a time multiplayer game named Chain World contained entirely on a USB flash drive . The Experimental Gameplay Workshop is an influential 2-hour game presentation session held annually at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco . The event showcases experimental video games and game prototypes. The workshop

212-684: A multiplayer mode, in which eight players race each other using the DS Download Play feature for consoles without a cartridge or a multi-card wireless LAN connection. This version has limited courses available, and players with no cartridges play as Shy Guy , a character unavailable in normal play. Until its discontinuation on May 20, 2014, Mario Kart DS supported online play via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection , in which up to 4 players could play together. Nintendo announced on May 11, 2004, that they planned to release

265-466: A new red-colored Nintendo DS starting on November 28, 2005, along with "a checkered-flag wrist strap, and racing-inspired decals to customize new red handheld". Mario Kart DS was released to critical acclaim; it holds an aggregated score of 91% on Metacritic . Praise focused on the game's graphics and gameplay, while criticism targeted its repetitive single-player mode. Mario Kart DS received Editors' Choice awards from GameSpot and IGN . The game

318-464: A speed boost. Typically, in such games, vehicles move more like go-karts and scooters , lacking anything along the lines of a gear stick and clutch pedal . Kart racing games are distinct from and not to be confused with kart simulators, which is a minor subgenre of racing simulator games that simulates actual kart racing without over-the-top gameplay elements. Power Drift featured go-kart racing in 1988, but Super Mario Kart (1992)

371-564: A wide range of background music and various action elements. Kart racers are also known to cast fictional characters, particularly from animated media franchises , as the drivers of vehicles with unusual designs, often reflecting the distinct trait or personality of the character driving it. Kart racing games are a more arcade-like experience than other racing games and usually offer over-the-top gameplay in which player characters can shoot projectiles against one another, collect power-ups to gain advantage, or perform special techniques to gain

424-432: Is a section of panels dedicated to a sub-segment of the game industry, also usually held on the first two days of the conference. Past and current summit topics include mobile games, independent games, game education (for students aspiring to join the industry), serious games , social games , artificial intelligence , and online games. Regularly, Sony Computer Entertainment , Microsoft and Nintendo deliver keynotes at

477-570: Is cited to have popularized the kart racing genre, being the first kart racing game to implement combat elements within races. The game was also slower than other racing games of the time due to hardware limitations, prompting its developers to use a go-kart theme. Since then, many kart racing games have been released, with franchises such as Nicktoons and South Park featuring such games. The Crash Bandicoot franchise in particular (starting with Crash Team Racing in 1999) consists of numerous kart racing video games. The Mario Kart series

530-420: Is often considered as the pioneer of kart racing series, and is the most successful in the genre, topping other popular games such as Diddy Kong Racing . Though the genre seems to have been the most popular among developers during the 1990s, Mario Kart DS (2005), and Mario Kart Wii (2008) became two of the best-selling kart racing games. In the late 2010s, Mario Kart 8 and its Deluxe port became

583-629: Is the first Mario Kart iteration to support online play. Konno remarked that although both Mario Kart DS and the Halo series feature online play, he noted that most of the people who use the feature in Halo games were " hardcore gamers ". With Mario Kart DS , Konno wanted "everyone to go online, and the technology and time is right for that to happen". As the Mario Kart game for the Nintendo DS,

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636-594: The Mario Kart series, and the first to be playable via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online service. Like other games in the series, Mario Kart DS features characters from the Mario series and pits them against each other as they race in karts on tracks based on locations in the Mario series. The game received critical acclaim and was praised for its graphics and gameplay as well as its Battle and Versus mode but

689-853: The Spotlight Awards from 1997 to 1999, the Independent Games Festival since 1999 and the Game Developers Choice Awards since 2001. The GDC is also used for the annual meeting of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is the first and largest competition for independent games, and highlights the innovative achievements of developers ranging in size from individuals building PC titles to studio teams creating console downloadable titles. A pool of judges from

742-419: The "rant" panel has been one of the most popular sessions at the conference. Moderated by Eric Zimmerman and Jason Della Rocca , a selection of notable industry figures are invited to speak on industry-related subjects they are passionate about. According to Zimmerman, the idea of the panel "is to really take those grumblings and mutterings and bring them out into the light, speak truth to power, cut through to

795-479: The 2021 event, the organizers dropped the in-person portion in February 2021 due to continued concerns from COVID-19, maintaining the virtual events. UBM TechWeb brought its flagship event to Shanghai in 2007, where GDC China was held annually until 2015. GDC China hosted the annual Independent Games Festival China (IGF China) from 2009, calling for entries developed by independent game studios and individuals in

848-888: The Asia-Pacific region. IGF China includes the Independent Games Summit, the Independent Games Festival Pavilion, and the Independent Games Festival Awards Ceremony. About half of the time during the first two days of GDC are given over to tutorials, one- or two-day-long sessions on a given topic. Tutorials take the form of hands-on workshops and cover a variety of technical subjects such as game design, audio, topics in computer programming (such as physics, graphics programming or web technologies), production and business management. A summit

901-624: The Austin Game Developers Conference. The 2020 GDC notably was the first to be fully postponed from its planned March 2020 dates, as a result of several companies having pulled out due to fears from the COVID-19 pandemic . Organizers ran the 2020 GDC as a virtual conference and announced GDC Summer as the next live event to take place in August. While initially planning on a mixed in-person and virtual conference for

954-830: The Computer Game Developers Conference, the first conference was organized in April 1988 by Chris Crawford in his San Jose, California -area living room. About twenty-seven designers attended, including Don Daglow , Brenda Laurel , Brian Moriarty , Gordon Walton , Tim Brengle, Cliff Johnson , Dave Menconi, and Carol and Ivan Manley. The second conference, held that same year at a Holiday Inn at Milpitas , attracted about 125 developers. Early conference directors included Brenda Laurel , Tim Brengle, Sara Reeder, Dave Menconi, Jeff Johannigman, Stephen Friedman, Chris Crawford, and Stephanie Barrett. Later directors include John Powers, Nicky Robinson , Anne Westfall , Susan Lee-Merrow, and Ernest W. Adams . In

1007-642: The Education Summit, or rants during the Indie Game Summit). Eric Zimmerman created the Game Design Challenge. "The idea of the challenge, he said, was to give everyone a sense of the process behind game design, and to attempt to get everyone thinking about new kinds of games." No actual game needs to be built, just designed. The goal of the 2nd annual Game Design Challenge was to create a game based on Emily Dickinson . It

1060-560: The GDC in recent years. At the GDC Expo, developers display the latest techniques useful in game development. "GDC Mobile", first held in 2002, focuses on developing games for mobile phones . Starting in 2004, the GDC partnered with Game Connection to present Game Connection @ GDC, a live matchmaking service for developers and publishers, which in 2007 expanded to include Game Connection Services for outsourcing and other services. Starting in 2006,

1113-446: The GDC moved to the new Moscone Center West , in the heart of San Francisco 's SOMA district, and reported over 12,000 attendees. The GDC returned to San Jose in 2006, reporting over 12,500 attendees, and moved to San Francisco in 2007 – where the organizers expect it will stay for the foreseeable future. Attendance figures continued to rise in following years, with 18,000 attendees in the 2008 event. The 2009 Game Developers Conference

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1166-436: The GDC partnered with Video Games Live to feature their symphonic performance of videogame music as the closing night event. In addition, the GDC has hosted a number of conference-wide game experiments designed by GameLab. The 2017 GDC included a Board Game Design Day, featuring talks from developers and publishers of tabletop games on their design processes. UBM TechWeb has also produced several spinoff events. For example,

1219-946: The Hollywood and Games Summit in conjunction with The Hollywood Reporter first held in June 2006. Additional events include the Game Advertising Summit, the Game Outsourcing Summit, the Game Career Seminar, GDC Russia, the China Game Summit, GDC London, the London Games Summit, the London Game Career Fair, and many others. In late 2006, UBM TechWeb acquired The Game Initiative, and now produces

1272-440: The Nintendo DS as of March 2016 and the third best-selling Mario Kart game, behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Wii , with 23.6 million units sold worldwide. Mario Kart DS is a racing game in which the player, as a Mario franchise character, races in a kart against seven other characters. Each course features item boxes that the player can drive through to receive a randomly selected item. Some items allow

1325-437: The audience. Crawford also founded The Journal of Computer Game Design in 1987 in parallel to beginning the GDC, and served as publisher and editor of the academic-style journal through 1996. During the late 1990s, the conference expanded from its original strict focus on game design to include topics such as marketing and legal issues. The CGDC changed its name to "Game Developers Conference" in 1999. The GDC has also hosted

1378-522: The best-selling racing video game of all time. The kart racing mobile game GKART / QQ Speed (2010), which was heavily inspired by Mario Kart , became one of the highest-grossing mobile games. A notable recent addition to the genre is Smash Kart (2023). It's a kart racing game. It combines traditional racing with combat and customizable karts. Smash Kart aims to please both competitive and casual gamers. It has dynamic tracks and fun online multiplayer. Critics praised it, comparing it to classic games in

1431-576: The categories of " Racing Game of the Year " and " Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay ". Several reviews praised the game for living up to the standards set by its predecessors. Finding the game's online shortcomings annoying, GameSpy still believed that the single-player mode and local wireless gameplay more than made up for them. Nintendo World Report noticed that "the best features of past Mario Kart games are back" and work well with

1484-437: The computer. The latter occurrence allowed for the simulation to delete itself. The 3rd time, the task was to create a game worthy of a Nobel Prize . Harvey Smith won with his PeaceBomb game. It would utilize wireless devices to organize flash mobs to engage in random acts of charity. For the first 3 challenges, Eric Zimmerman has always ended the challenge by indicating that all the contestants' ideas could really be made into

1537-520: The conference showcasing upcoming products and technologies. Next to the Electronic Entertainment Expo , GDC keynotes are one of the more significant sources of news about upcoming console hardware and platforms, but with a focus on the developer audience instead of the wider press. A number of games in development or upcoming releases are also showcased, but generally far fewer than at traditional gaming conventions. Since 2005,

1590-755: The console's release. In the United States, it sold 910,000 copies and earned $ 31 million by August 2006. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, it was the 23rd highest-selling game launched for the Game Boy Advance , Nintendo DS , or PlayStation Portable in that country. In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine ranked the game 26th on a list of greatest Nintendo games. As of March 2016, Mario Kart DS has sold 23.6 million units worldwide. Kart racing game Kart racing games are known to have simplified driving mechanics while adding obstacles, over-the-top racetrack designs,

1643-560: The developers tested several features that took advantage of the device's bottom touchscreen . They considered letting players place items anywhere on the track instead of just behind their kart. However, the developers found it too confusing because the game already had too many distractions, making it difficult to control where to place items while racing. In an interview, Konno noted that tracks from previous Mario Kart games were included in Mario Kart DS so that players who played

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1696-549: The early years the conference changed venue each year to accommodate its increases in size. Attendance in this period grew from 525 to 2,387. By 1994 the CGDC could afford to sponsor the creation of the Computer Game Developers Association with Adams as its founding director. Miller Freeman, Inc. took on the running of the conference in 1996, nearly doubling attendance to 4,000 that year. In 2005,

1749-623: The first GDC Europe (GDCE) was featured at the European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) in London between August 31 and September 1, 2001. Other GDC-related events include the Serious Games Summit, first held in 2004 as a GDC tutorial, and spun off as a standalone event in 2005, focusing on developing games for practical purposes, such as education, corporate training, military, and health care applications; and

1802-430: The game a "significant step forward" for the Mario Kart series, partly because it is the first in the series to feature online play. Game Revolution remarked that the game "goes the distance" with its single-player and multiplayer modes. 1Up.com complimented the "surprisingly compelling package", describing it as a "portable racing game on par with anything ever to appear on a console". Video game magazine GamePro

1855-553: The game development community. The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an event held during the main GDC in the early part of the year, open to games from small independent studios and from students at universities. The IGF culminates with the presentation of several awards to games which have been nominated and voted on in the months prior, and which are given space at the IGF to showcase their game. These awards have cash prizes associated with them, ranging from US$ 1,000 to US$ 30,000 for

1908-531: The game for being simply a "polishing of the Mario Kart concept and little else". The game was the first for the Nintendo DS to take advantage of the console's Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection feature. By the end of its debut week in the United States, 112,000 people purchased the game, of which 52,000 of them had logged onto Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to play against other people over the Internet. Mario Kart DS

1961-455: The game industry selects the finalists and winners, and the individual creators are named as the recipients of the awards. The IGF is managed and developed by UBM TechWeb , the organizer of the GDC. The Game Developers Choice Awards is the game industry's only open, peer-based awards show. Any member of the IGDA may nominate games, and then the membership votes on the finalists. As with the IGF,

2014-474: The game released in the US. In a 2009 interview, he however expressed some criticism of the format, saying the games chosen felt gimick-y and the presentations being uninteresting. Held at the main GDC event in the first part of the year, the presentation for the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) is held. The GDCAs are available for any game made in the previous calendar year, nominated and voted on by members of

2067-450: The game's unique use of Nintendo DS features, such as its microphone and wireless connectivity. GamesRadar named Mario Kart DS the best DS game of all time, beating out Pokémon Black and White (2nd) and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (3rd). Finding it hard to imagine how Nintendo could make a Mario Kart game better than Mario Kart DS , IGN lauded Mario Kart DS ' s gameplay and depth in its design. GameSpot called

2120-570: The genre. They also noted its unique, fresh elements that set it apart. Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference ( GDC ) is an annual conference for video game developers . The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival , and a variety of tutorials , lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming , design , audio, production, business and management, and visual arts. Originally called

2173-618: The individual creators are named as the recipients of the awards. Specialty awards such as Lifetime Achievement and First Penguin are determined by the GDCA committee, and all are revealed at the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony at the GDC. The IGF and the GDCA are presented back to back, in an awards show produced by UBM TechWeb, typically on the Wednesday of the GDC. UBM TechWeb has added several other events to

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2226-562: The new features in Mario Kart DS , calling the result "the most impressive game to ever hit the Nintendo DS and also the best game in the Mario Kart series". X-Play shared this sentiment, and remarked that the game shattered all of its expectations, making it the "best kart racing game ever released—handheld or otherwise". GameZone also believed that Mario Kart DS "lives up to its legacy" with its inventive courses, "stellar" multiplayer, and "more replay value than any other racer in its class". Alejandro K. Brown of CBS News appreciated

2279-669: The original Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System would feel more familiar with the DS iteration of the series. Mario Kart DS was released by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS in North America on November 14, 2005, in Australia on November 17, 2005, in Europe in November 2005, and in Japan on December 8, 2005. Nintendo later revealed that Mario Kart DS would also be sold bundled with

2332-655: The player to attack other racers to slow them down, while other items can be used to speed up their own kart to pass other racers more easily. The game features a base roster of the eight playable characters from Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit , along with four unlockable characters Daisy , Dry Bones, Waluigi , and R.O.B. for a total of 12. Each character has three unique karts to choose from, each of which vary in attributes such as top speed, acceleration, and handling. The game features five single-player game modes : Grand Prix , Time Trial , Versus, Battle, and Mission. The Grand Prix and Versus modes require

2385-481: The player to choose an engine class from among 50cc , 100cc, and 150cc. The classes serve as difficulty levels —the higher the engine class, the faster all karts go. In addition, a Mirror mode can be unlocked, in which karts use 150cc engines and tracks are horizontally flipped. The game features 32 courses across eight cups, half of which are new tracks and half of which contain tracks from previous Mario Kart games (known as Retro Grand Prix). The game also features

2438-426: The real s***, and talk about what is going on in our industry—what's wrong and what we can do to change it." Many rants inspire controversy, discussion and a good deal of media coverage in industry press. Most rant sessions focus on a particular segment of the industry to draw their speakers from: The Rant panel has inspired similarly structured sessions, with more specialized topics (e.g., "Game Educators Rant" during

2491-418: Was criticized for its repetitive single-player mode . Mario Kart DS received several awards, including Editors' Choice Awards from GameSpot and IGN , G-Phoria ' s Best Handheld Game award, and IGN's Best Racing/Driving Game. Mario Kart DS was the best-selling game in its first month of release and held that position the following month. Overall, Mario Kart DS is the third best-selling game for

2544-462: Was founded by Jonathan Blow , the developer behind the game Braid . As of 2021, it was headed by Robin Hunicke and Daniel Benmergui . The session generally showcases 20 titles from over 250 submissions each year. Keita Takahashi showcased his title Katamari Damacy before it was released in the US at the workshop in 2004. At lecture at the GDC in 2005, Keita credited the session for helping get

2597-469: Was held in San Francisco, on March 23–27, 2009. The IGDA awarded 25 scholarships to send qualified students to attend the 2009 GDC. Crawford continued to give the conference keynote address for the first several years of the conference, including one in the early 1990s where he punctuated a point about game tuning and player involvement by cracking a bullwhip perilously close to the front row of

2650-468: Was nominated by GameSpot for several Best of 2005 awards, including Best Multiplayer Game, Best Driving Game, and Best DS Game, winning the lattermost. The game received G-Phoria ' s Best Handheld Game award. IGN gave the game the awards for Best Racing/Driving Game. During the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards , the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Mario Kart DS in

2703-486: Was pleased with the variety of racers, courses, modes, and multiplayer options offered, toting the game as a "must play" for any Nintendo fan and a requisite for any Nintendo DS owner to purchase. Computer and Video Games described Mario Kart DS as the "most complete" Mario Kart game, despite a few graphical shortcomings. Eurogamer enjoyed the game's multiplayer mode, calling it "genuinely practical to play with other people". British publication GamesTM criticized

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2756-404: Was the best-selling handheld game in its debut month of November 2005 in the United States. It was the 10th best-selling game of 2008, and the best-selling Nintendo DS game of that year. In Japan, the game sold 224,411 copies in its first week. Mario Kart DS sold 3,112,363 units as of July 2008, and 3,224,996 copies as of January 2009, making it the sixth best-selling game for the Nintendo DS since

2809-406: Was won by Will Wright who designed an Emily Dickinson personality simulator contained entirely on a USB flash drive . The personality would interact with the player by sending Instant Messages and email . The goal was to maintain a stable relationship and avoid the two extremes: romantic obsession with the player or suicidal depression. The first occurrence meant constant interruptions when using

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