Are the Computers CHEATING in Mario Kart 8?

We've all had those moments where everything suddenly takes a turn for the worst when racing. You are about to 3 star rank that last set of courses, and then that blue shell arrives.
When it comes to videogames and computers, there are many cases where it seems like the AI is given an unfair advantage. In a way, they are "cheating". But is that always the case?
In this video I address the main points people make that "prove" the computer in Mario Kart 8 cheats and see if they actually hold any ground, or are just baseless remarks from salty racers.
NIKMOE's Video
• Is Mario Kart Unfair? ...

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

Hey guys! Just an update for everyone: I've noticed that there are a few too many inaccuracies for this video after looking back at it. While this doesn't change my overall opinion of the subject (I still don't think the computers are given an unfair advantage), I want to go over a few things. While my overall point still stands that 3 people who have a chance to get a blue shell is greater than if you were to get one, the math for calculating the overall percentage was wrong. Many people have pointed this out, so I appreciate it. The point I made about that still stands, however As said in a previous comment, there does seem to be some slight rubberbanding for the AI (I did the same test in the video but with items off). But as previously said, I believe this was only done to *help* players that are far behind. I will probably do more tests with 2 player mode for the future. Some are saying that the computers are getting triple reds despite what the item chart said. I just want to remind you that I said in the video that the chart was for the Wii U version, so it might be inaccurate. With that said, I haven't seen any computers with triple reds yet. But I am going to test this further. I also said that items are based off of *solely* distance. This was from my experience in the original game. But from what I have heard (and seen from videos) position also plays a factor in this game. Distance still plays a big part though, and this doesn't change the overall verdict of computers being given an unfair advantage. And smartbouncing...I'm still convinced that this exists within the game. I'm going to test it further however to confirm whether it exists or not (it certainly feels like it does at times). Yeah, so while I still stand by the overall verdict of this video there were a few too many things in it that were inaccurate for my taste. I could have just not said anything, but that isn't really the right thing to do in this situation. I'm planning to make a future video (a "second" part so to speak) so I can address all of this. Thanks for watching, and I hope you all have a great day!

[@marioaguilar3343]

NintendoBlackCrisis o

[@marioaguilar3343]

NintendoBlackCrisis k m8

[@pseudosilent]

Good catch, I'm really interested in knowing if smartbouncing is real, and if there is rubberbanding in MK8.

[@pseudosilent]

You can mash the "use item" button to force the box to decide which item it's going to give you quicker.

[@zeal6907]

You know, I’ve noticed in Wii and onward that their items seem to select faster than a players, as if it doesn’t have spin time like a player’s. That’s really it. I’ve thought about that green shell targeting too! It only happens when it’s hit a wall but not every time. I swear that happens! And yeah, seriously, bot advantages shouldn’t be too hard to cope with. Git gud

[@midlevelgamer]

The computers may not cheat but they're all gunning for you no matter what. Once I was in third and Mario threw a red shell BACKWARDS to hit me instead of trying to hit the driver in 1st. They aren't programmed to win. They're programmed to make you lose

[@MegAmi24]

Harry McDaniel “They aren’t programmed to win. They’re programmed to make you lose” That’s very fucking accurate

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

Yeah, I WILL agree that the whole backwards spam of reds is really stupid ;p

[@UltravioletNomad]

That's what I always thought. I never really find that lucky hit from second to be unfair, but the way half of the computers seemingly held onto their items instead of using them on each other, unloading them one by one as they drive by leaving me in a ditch, seems legit. Why I still haven't three starred all of 200cc.

[@Cheezmonka]

Harry McDaniel Yes, this is real. I'm not sure why things like this are sort of glossed-over in these videos.

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

Cheezmonka Because it's easy to forget certain things when making a video. When you have to collect information and present it in a short video, things will be missed.

[@TABBYMUSIC]

On 50cc? Nah. 200cc? Yes, how the hell do they not fall off of rainbow road??

[@RiriSion]

They use a button pretty much every mariokart player doesn't even know about : the brakes...

[@kamada2068]

Here's a little tip break occasional when drifting not too much maybe like a light tap it'll keep you from falling once you've mastered it takes a little practice but you'll get it

[@jessehutchings]

The CPU actually do have broken handling in 200cc but the trick is that if you know the track like the back of your hand you use 200cc mechanics to out pace them easily.... But I suck so I can't do it yet

[@sanskirby4055]

Its called pressing a and b at the same time *MAGIC*

[@wetsocks4460]

Yeah but it’s still unfairly accurate

[@straane4492]

You forgot about how every time you have a horn and there is a blue shell (or banana and red shell), the computer almost always steals your item or hits you with lighting. They arent programmed to increase their speed or get better items, they are programmed to use those items to make you loose. And they also profit around $60 when you buy a new controller.

[@Roxlecmc]

That isn’t true. Also in Wii U, there’s item spy on the game pad, so you can see what other items people have

[@joselynneroberts]

@@Roxlecmc yeah

[@oliveguardians4097]

When the AI hits a mystery box they get the item faster

[@crack4184]

If you spam the item button, you get the item faster

[@lighttank3905]

@@crack4184 you're right, that's why im also a Mario kart champ also

[@nintendowolf]

@@lighttank3905 Race me "Mario Kart champ"

[@crack4184]

@@Roxlecmc It is

[@VicenteYouTube-yr4ln]

It's true.

[@pyster11]

What about the fact that they get their items instantly after collecting an item box and don’t have to wait for it to finish spinning?

[@pachicore]

@Kanashimi in mario kart ds i think you can also skip the spin by pressing the item button

[@raykehr1832]

If you press the button immediately it stops spinning

[@ZanKronKa]

@@raykehr1832 really??

[@nintendowolf]

@@ZanKronKa yeah, I do it all the time. Soon as you get your item box, press the button once, and then wait like one second and push it again, and it'll stop way faster. Or you can just Spam the button

[@Leo-jh3kp]

@@nintendowolf Doesn't this give you worse items though?

[@vermilion1414]

Sees a blue shell: *Aaaaah!!!* Hears about smart bouncing: *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!*

[@Swodrian]

I ONLY GOT HIT BY MY OWN SHELLS!!!!!! AND YOU SAY SMARTBOUNCING IS CRAZY.

[@cadengreen6846]

Link

[@Confractus_]

@alex animations time broz in Mario Kart Wii you cant do that. If it was already aimed at you, even if you go back to like 2nd or 3rd you'll still get hit

[@nintendowolf]

I always wondered why it seemed so likely that I would get hit by a green shell

[@ashercinemayt]

lol

[@mrsauce9199]

Koopa troopa isn’t growing a green shell he’s throwing his brother

[@weirdchamp4601]

Lmao

[@Fran_5]

7:19 FINALLY, SOMEONE ELSE NOTICED. I'M NOT CRAZY! THE BOUNCE HAS ALWAYS BEEN WEIRD AND UNNATURAL! THANK YOU!

[@travisftw911]

What the heck

[@ludvigholst4767]

Makes video 9:59 *not all heroes wear capes*

[@rcowan_1149]

Love the idea

[@ninjaandocean3345]

Like the flash! Or Wonder Woman! Or lots of marvel superheroes!

[@kakyointhemilfhunter4273]

I know its a joke but im fine with people kind of stretching vids past 10 minutes as for alot of them KZbin is their job and they need to do all they can in order to make as much money as they can especially since KZbin has been demonetizing a lot of videos for rather stupid reasons.

[@henrystoes6508]

Kakyoin the milf hunter I agree they need to make money but it’s also very time consuming for a viewer to have to sit through pointless, stretches out rambling just to get to a short punchline/point

[@chimerical8746]

but it says 9:58 boi

[@sorcererkori]

I'm gonna have nightmares about green shells now.

[@jorgehoyos8468]

The Hunter and freinds show finish the video first before commenting

[@trident042]

Don't give in, "smartbouncing" has been debunked. The game's geometry allows for tricky green shell shots, but there is nothing that redirects shells towards players whatsoever. It has been tested extensively.

[@raykehr1832]

lmao or red ones

[@r.l.t7936]

+trident042 Clams aired on May 5, 2018.

[@Yoickson]

Coming from my tests in normal mk8: 1. Coms have max stats 2. They completely ignore everyone else and target you 3. They draft in less time and can do so from further away and to the complete side of you 4. They have a higher chance of getting items that would ruin your game over helping theirs 5. Green shells don’t just go straight and at a constant speed 6. Com in the back are on ~%50 throttle while com in the front are on ~%125 throttle.

[@YellowPhosphor44]

no

[@had0j]

is this true?

[@mentalitymamba1480]

@@had0j yh pretty much sums up mk8

[@ZomboidMania]

@@had0j Like most of it yeah, 6 and 1 are questionable though

[@_KaiTheGamer_]

Ah, I see the CPU's shortened draft time is just like the Wii's. Maybe a little less cheap, but still cheap nevertheless.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

They can use items in locations where players can't. And they can hit you in locations where you can't hit them if the situation were reversed. They can throw shells midair and hit you while you're also in the air. They don't have rubber banding, but they do have impossible speed. One or more CPU cars will sometimes just have an impossible top speed that you can't achieve even with 10 coins (and they do it with no coins).

[@izyaboicallume]

How do you know they don't have coins? :V and have you considered that they might be lightweight characters and that you're using a heavy one.

[@mtgstudios1556]

@@izyaboicallume this is a thing actually, but I feel like its more a glitch. I was playing online earlier in a team tournament with 3 other people and the cpus got first and second without the human players even having a chance to catch up. It felt like as soon as the race began a player finished and they were rubber banding to a player that didn't exist. as soon as one of the people left everything went back to normal though.

[@AverageGamerNub-qf6sp]

Mario kart 7 is unfair

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@AverageGamerNub-qf6sp They're all unfair to some degree. All the CPU players will usually gang up on you too no matter what position you're in. They can use items faster and in places that a real player can't, and also make impossible shots with shells. You're probably right in that 7 is more unfair, 8 at least doesn't have as blatant rubber banding (although it does give CPU players impossible top speeds - I mean impossible even with 10 coins and the highest top speed).

[@sofa_draws]

Once I was trying to do a 200cc grand prix and Waluigi was right behind me and GOT A GOLDEN MUSHROOM

[@Josh-py2in]

Heres a great test that I confirmed today. Look behind you and red shell the computer. They do not spin out, stop, or crash, the simply loose coins and keep going. I have tested the multiple times. if theyre not right in front of you when you hit them, they simply keep driving.

[@tomdrohan2018]

I was wondering why that happened!Thanks!

[@jessiehogue.]

...Seriously? ...Wow. Just, wow.

[@caledfwwlch]

@@bkballa989 even then there is literally no need to be aggressive.

[@bkballa989]

Velvet Kidd don’t care, because he’s extremely condescending

[@arkhilean7427]

@@bkballa989 Not really. You seem much more toxic in comparison

[@Swodrian]

I threw a green shell and it went BACKWARDS and HIT ME. IT WAS MY SHELL. Now I know why Mario uses them to finish a level...

[@MarkusBaldetGM]

If it went perfectly backwards, then its your fault for throwing it against a wall

[@Laughman-ih3db]

@@MarkusBaldetGM But what if it wasn't a wall right in front of him?

[@beddie_den]

The shell: RIGHT BACK AT YA, LOSER!

[@isaacsingh]

That happened to me quite a bit, but it never went backwards.

[@shaggyfromscoobydoo1899]

"Mario Kart 8 is my favourite Mario Kart of all time" Me: *angry Mario Kart Wii noises*

[@ethangordon0636]

Shaggy From scooby doo Omg same!!! Except with Mario Kart 7

[@nezbitnezbit5397]

Wii is kinda unbalanced, like Extremely unbalanced

[@m.c.ravioli1521]

Nezbit Nezbit unbalanced doesn’t not equal bad game. It’s up to you if you wanna choose a broken combination.

[@coriandersucks]

*angry gc and wii noises* sorry i loved double dash

[@user-pz1dz8xz5b]

lol

[@veetimelps]

3:30 There's no excuse. We all know it's true that if you are in 3rd, and 2nd place CPU has a red shell, they will choose to throw it back in attempt to hit player 1, when they could've thrown it forward to take out the CPU in front, possibly winning them the race.

[@Roxlecmc]

Never happens to me

[@Devour_]

@@Roxlecmc Lmao you reply to every comment with some dumb shit, you've clearly never played the game if its never happened to you.

[@ZomboidMania]

@@Roxlecmc Lucky you

[@crazycanyon3028]

Sure it’s unfair but not cheating just them being annoying

[@l0s_n4ch0s6]

Tee computers are actually rubberbanding, just in another way. If the player is driving too slow then the cpus will also slow down to make the race more even.

[@DWHClayton]

This is true, i've slowed down intentionally and I can see the computers slow right in front of me

[@mbccgliczsdnm7627]

Bandrubbering?

[@Roxlecmc]

I never noticed that when I was playing around NO WONDER ITS SO EASY TO CATCH UP. But I could see how that would be annoying when there holding something behind them

[@wurtknurte7283]

It is now dubbed "Concretebanding"

[@Laughman-ih3db]

I'm guessing they did this so that players with slower Karts have somewhat of an advantage.

[@Triiiplz]

I spent so much time around CPUs there placing and speed is programmed it’s like they are separated into groups For Example: Group 1- 1st,2nd,3rd Group 2- 4th,5th,6th Group 3- 7th,8th,9th,10th Group 4- 11th,12th If a CPU in group 2 gets higher points by miraculously passing someone in group 1, the CPU in group 1 would go down a group and the CPU in group 2 would move up. Over time after dozens of hours spent driving with CPUs I’ve learnt the patterns of the start, mid race and the items they get. The start of the race 1 CPU in group 1 gets ahead and starting the start of the second lap the CPU in first will purposely slow down to let another CPU in group 1 past and so on till the end of the race. After the basics items CPU get are determined by their programmed group and how well your doing. CPUs when down in 11th they still get green shells and bananas because if they go up into 8th using a mushroom they will be in group 3 which isn’t their chosen group therefore slowing down to get back to their group. This works in MK8 Deluxe, MK8 and MK Wii. However one thing that only occurs in MK8 Deluxe 50cc. Toad and Donkey or one will be top 3 in group 1.

[@lm3183]

TrxpLz Wow, you have a lot of time on your hands, now I get why FREAKING TOAD is always close to beating me 😾 Thank you ~

[@epicbruh8655]

Does anyone know why they do this?

[@mattdombrowski8435]

I'd imagine the goal is to make it more fun (and imho they've succeeded). I've gotten pretty good at frontrunning in double dash and 8 deluxe and I've noticed that in dd the CPU stay in a remarkably tight pack with me lightyears ahead. Most of the cpu's attention is at other cpus. You get the occasional blue shell, loose a small fraction of your lead, and quickly make it up. In 8, the groups will spread out rather quickly. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th with still be fighting each other a lot, but won't have to be dealing with stray shots from 8th (or at least to a lesser degree). This means they will have more attention to give to me. This may be just my relative experience levels showing, but as a result of this, frontrunning is more of a fight in 8, so I have to work harder at it and get more satisfying victories.

[@epicbruh8655]

@@mattdombrowski8435 I'd preferably just have all 11 cpus at around the same speed as the 2/3/4 group. Each to their own I guess

[@MyNameIsSteveYesitis]

Finally someone writes this. Thank you sir. For all those wondering why this is the way it is is because if all the CPU's were equal they would all have low points and you would easily win every cup based on points.

[@jakov1140]

3:52 I don't think that's how chances work. By that logic if there were 20 players in a race it would be 100% chance somebody would get a blue shell, the chances will be increased but it's not that simple.

[@Arcwise]

You are correct. It's a common math misconception/lapse in logic. The correct formula is 1−0.95^3 = 14.26% For comparison, with 20 players the odds would be 1-0.95^20 = 64.15%

[@illuminousaura]

There is the fact that they've behaved like human drivers before. In a 100cc race, I looked at a race replay, where I got hit by a blue shell because the CPU seemed to purposely slow down a bit before another threw a blue shell. No, the CPU wasn't off-road, didn't get hit by an item, or bump into anything, so explain how CPU's suddenly act like human drivers. (Still a great video by the way!)

[@minerbloxer6471]

Why did you not take a video then?

[@minerbloxer6471]

And show it to us? Are you lying?

[@illuminousaura]

@@minerbloxer6471 Updates. It was a while back, so the replay didn't carry over to the next update. Same happened to me in Smash.

[@illuminousaura]

So no, I'm not lying.

[@minerbloxer6471]

Then why not show it to us? I still think you are lying

[@ieatdeadrats8163]

I swear when i am on the last race in a cup, i got first in all 3 races, at the end of the last race, i get hit with a blue shell, then a shell, then a lightning. Followed by going into 10th place in a matter of seconds...

[@kippin2152]

AnObnoxiouslyLongAndUnnecessary Name Mario Kart gives and Mario kart takes

[@bosscdlgg3203]

Bad luck? curse? tradition of screwing anobnoxiouslylongandunnecessaryname? place your bets everybody

[@keiharris332]

Rubber band AI and changing the odds of what items come out of ?boxes depending on what lap it is and your current position. Nintendo wants everyone to enjoy this game, so we cannot have really good players always winning and really bad players always losing. So without improving skill the best that can happen is throttling speeds and redistribution of resources. Aka: socialism in gaming

[@Goobo-01]

if you have ever played Blur, Modnation or an other power up racing games, AI know how to save very powerful weapons on the last lap of the race and the chance of getting them grow

[@Valnanailo]

just happened at 200cc, I know how you feel

[@nyloluckycat]

The Smartbouncing once made me hit myself twice with green shells

[@alvarlindstrom2188]

Same here...

[@treemaster134]

Rip

[@illicitbike2782]

I hit myself with 4 at one point due to smartbouncing

[@zanmolecules4105]

I like to call getting hit with a random green shell a “hail-merry green”

[@RegitYouTuber]

It's a shame you weren't going to cover the 200cc steering thing, because that's what I and I imagine a lot of other people came here to hear about. The CPUs do not brake, and in some corners players have to. Even with the most lightweight and highest handling kart or bike, corners cannot all be taken flat out in succession in 200cc. Wario Stadium would be a good example of this I think.

[@zanmolecules4105]

I’ve seen some of them take crazy turns without drifting

[@supernt7852]

I think the first turn in Rainbow Road is a better example. I normally use Waluigi-Standard Kart-Roller and it’s completely impossible for me to make the first two turns in Rainbow Road without turning on smart steering. Now, I know that my kart might have something to do since most other people who play online are able to make the turn without falling off, but yes I agree with your point.

[@ZomboidMania]

@@supernt7852 I think your kart is the problem there, also do you use break drifting? It helps allot when trying to get around tough corners

[@supernt7852]

@@ZomboidMania I forgot to clarify that I am talking about 200cc, I have no problem at other speeds. Anyways, replying to your comment: I use break drifting a lot. The problem is, break drifting doesn’t work when you receive a boost. In the first two turns of MK8 Rainbow Road, I need to brake-drift to get pass the first turn or else I will be very slow and get overtaken. However, this grants me a purple-coloured boost, which blasts me off the course, and brake drifting is unable to stop this boost.

[@destroyermcw626]

@@supernt7852 I just use Standard Mario or Wario (with Wario Wing).

[@LordFartamor]

Makes a new video: "Are the Computers CHEATING in Mario Kart Tour?"

[@memes_gbc674]

@Kanashimi that seems logical since i beat three japanese dudes and i know thats impossible

[@cameronfischer2193]

Lord fartamor yeah lol because no matter how far ahead you are even if you don’t get hit once they catch up I swear I’m not lying

[@jacobs1881]

Absolutely. They are always faster than you and recover almost immediately from being hit with an item.

[@HappyAnimaidManager]

@@jacobs1881 I believe you. I got Frenzy twice in a race sometimes and even with the added boost in speed from the natural Frenzy or a Mushroom Frenzy, the CPU always find a way to catch up to you. I play 200 cc for the most part and that is where I see it happening. *cough*Rubberbanding*cough*

[@orrins8554]

whaaaat? COMPUTERS? pshhhhhhh! there are no ANDROIDS in Mario Kart Tour, the new portable mobile Mario Kart Game? hahaha. you make me laugh hard.

[@tcecho8210]

"Getting hit by several items at once" this is what we call, getting mario karted

[@alandjoemm2673]

Is that a troy reference?

[@Roxlecmc]

At least we have iFrames in MKTour and MK8 Deluxe ( I ONLY WORKS IN MKTOUR WHYYYYY)

[@be_lla2940]

Tell me about it I got hit 20 times

[@ericgrasso3066]

"You just got Mario Karted Bruh!" - Mario Kart CPUs

[@rainydays6675]

I've had 4 blue shells attack me in once race lmao

[@masterofblades8960]

This video ignores a major advantage that the computer controlled character's have in Mario kart 8 and Mario kart all together. The fact is that the 'AI' has no item scrolling when they hit an item box and receive their item instantly, compared to a real player where once hitting the item box they have to wait a few seconds until they receive an item. This means that an AI in second place by only a short distance will receive an item faster than the player in first, although the player in first hit an item box before the AI in second. Therefore if an AI in second place received a red shell, the player in first will not have had an item allocated to them which will result in them being unable to defend the red shell.

[@asai6201]

When you have an item, press the "shoot" Button a lot of times and then you won't have to wait You're welcome

[@masterofblades8960]

Andres Avila just tested that out, I'm not sure if you noticed but you still don't get the item instantly unlike the NPC's you still have to wait crucial seconds that could mean winning or losing the race. But thanks for the suggestion.

[@SuperNickid]

@MasterOfBlades: If you stop your item slot early, this his also considered luck manipulation, the problem with luck manipulation, you need to practice with it, Mario kart 8 deluxe goes by position and how far behind you are from first, and it will also give the one in the back the chance to get the most powerfull item first, and that rule only apply as soon as you hit the item box, not when you stop it, and also limitation, if the item you want his max out, and you luck manipulated to have the item that his max out, you will get a different item. What you saw with the computer if it was Mario kart 8 Deluxe, if you saw the cpu have an item in hand as soon as they enter the ? block, that was there back up item that appear not the one they just got from the ? block.

[@YamiBakuratheThief]

Yeah, I noticed they'd go through the item boxes just after me and smack me with stuff while my items are still processing. However if you're looking at them, they seem a bit slower in receiving an item.

[@johnathanjames5254]

Really huh I timed when I got a box and when they got a box without looking at them because you can see when they hit it and it shows a ? Next to the name then showing the items few moments later so instant nope just faster at getting items because the player will most likely win anyway I always get first no matter what unless it’s a public game

[@excelup5358]

what i've noticed in mario kart 8 deluxe in mirror mode especially is when you're in first place and approach a set of single item boxes, you will pretty much always roll a coin while the CPU behind you rolls a green shell or red shell. in mirror mode it becomes very difficult to get defensive items unless you hit a double item box

[@DodgeThatAttack]

that might just be mk8d in general. whenever i frontrun, even online, its like coins 80-90% of the time, requiring me to get double item boxes for any kind of defences. and even green shells are the rarest things ever in first.

[@Roxlecmc]

hold your coin until you get the next box to get a defensive item

[@grapz2245]

3:45 Just pointing out your math is wrong here. To calulate the odds of at least 1 bot getting a Blue Shell, you have to use 100 x (1- [odds of bot 1 not getting a shell] x [odds of bot 2 not getting a shell] ...) So for 3 bots, each with a 5% chance of getting a shell... The odds of it happening are 100*(1-(19/20)^3) or about 14.25% This doesn't seem that important, but scaling it up, that equation will never hit 100% - which is important, since there is always the chance that no bot gets a shell.

[@axjkalsok1058]

Grapz224 Was looking for this comment

[@mcswashbuckler3833]

I’m getting flashbacks to middle and high school probability

[@Noebarrell]

came here to say that

[@splusproductions1441]

The AI definently cheats on 200cc

[@glitchguy1481]

MADfordaz yeah but that’s too make it harder for you

[@splusproductions1441]

no, i think it is because I am stupid and play with hard com

[@deulalune]

Blue Shells -Ruining Friendships since 1996-

[@hystericallover5989]

ha imagine having friends in the first place

[@mlivehd7552]

In 200 CC Their turns are WAY TOO perfect!

[@freida8378]

Are the Computers CHEATING in Mario Kart 8? **loses to Toadette AI** *Y E S .*

[@marsargomusic5905]

Omg literally Toadette is always like 10002010020 miles ahead of the other CPUs and I couldn't even catch up with it

[@Chaos_867]

And that shitty pink gold peach

[@cyberman6918]

@@Chaos_867 ikr

[@viksinha5410]

@Christian Roberts Lightweights are slower

[@DragoNugget]

I always had this with DK, Link and Toad. FUCKING TOAD. I HATE HIM

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

3:43 oh look, an editing mistake ;p Special thanks to my irl friend Adam for letting me use his switch and micro SD card to capture some MK8D footage. Yes, it's a bit laggy but in the end I still got some recorded!

[@Jose-ul8gj]

NintendoBlackCrisis, the number 3 glitched, lol

[@belkodrawsstuffmaybedecent596]

Heh rip ur upload schedule (no offence)

[@zeldahyrule3127]

NintendoBlackCrisis dontvworry was still an amazing vid!

[@jazzledazzle2288]

“Oh look an editing mistake” Bro I didn’t even notice

[@MegAmi24]

3 is me

[@thestarrypoet]

Of course they’re cheating! They don’t have to deal with the constant pain of having a real life and deal with crippling mental depression.

[@JesusMowsMaLawn]

+Welcome To My World kzbin.info/www/bejne/an-Wf2SDoduJmZY

[@sune9578]

How dare you! CPU has feelings too, you know.

[@livelygaming2664]

Git gud m8

[@Rustyhound-Cartoons]

General Grievous didn't Obi Wan Kenobi kill you?

[@NiGHTSIntoMemes]

i won't lie i fucking cackled

[@Venom3254]

Says "git gud" In a game that mostly relies on items, geez it's like if item rng doesn't play a factor in this series. Unless your doing time trail speed runs.

[@pachicore]

If you're actually good then the cpu items won't even do much since you're too far ahead

[@FunkyOrganika]

Yumima how many tracks can you really get that far ahead in before your luck runs out and you end up with two stars? This game isn’t that big of a cake walk...

[@AlphaOmega503]

Items do play a role in winning but skills take priority.

[@nintendowolf]

It also takes skill to use items, you can't just Spam them all the time.

[@MarkusBaldetGM]

If you're actually good then you should know about defending, good driving, and strategic rotations and drifts. Items do contribute, but if you're actually good you should know how to counter and deal with them

[@Axysty_memes]

But the Bots in Mario Kart Tour are cheating. They get all those extremely rare drivers and cars and they get items like the mega mushroom at the second or third place

[@lorelikesthings]

What I hate is when I'm about to cross the finish line, FIRST place, and then two NPCs get in front of me, and bounce me back into third

[@hidazip]

The problem of this game is not the AI "cheating". It's the AI is "not cheating", and staying in 1st place the entire race being boring since you only get bananas and coins. The last Mario Kart game I played before this was DS, and that game at least had a "fake item box" which made the game a bit more strategic(and drifting was fun). I skipped the Wii version since I never had a Wii, and I gave up on the 3DS version since the courses were way to complex to play on that tiny screen. For a game where items are keys, there should be some rubber banding to make the game not all about driving techniques. This shouldn't be a game of "running away while getting bullied from behind". It should be about using items to win.

[@destroyermcw626]

This really makes me love Sonic's Racing more because Skill rewards you BIG!!!!!!

[@shadowdoomlol1421]

Why is Roy always such a good cpu? Literally, in the Grand Prix, me and my bro were just bullying Roy with shells 😂

[@Superp2gamer]

i was happy i beat roy at the end of agame i just played ikr

[@BlueShellshock]

Finally, a video I can get behind.

[@gabrielkenley4133]

Go away

[@BlueShellshock]

Funny, I get that a lot, But unless it's a horn you've got, Go away I will not.

[@gabrielkenley4133]

I know

[@canthandlethislol]

I need you on call every time i see a first comment

[@thehale_]

Can you blow up top comment?

[@Jabeke49]

Not once did i think computers cheated. But i always thought the item system is screwy in this game Toooooo many red shells with too good AI, way too common stars, and having 3 shocks and bullets is stupid. It went from the skill needed in wii to the luck needed in 8 and 8dx

[@spongyoshi]

The item system is pretty bad in MK8 imo. It's very hard to get to first place with all the shells and banans, but when you are on first place, it's very easy to stay behind since you'll easily cap your coin max and the blue shell is way easier to dodge (mushroom or horn) and way less frequent than other games! And since it's easier for the first place player to get in front, the other players will usually get items that hit each-others rather than the player in front, making it even harder to caught the leader!

[@abandonedaccount1643]

Ok but Wii was literally pure luck (No hate on Wii)

[@Jabeke49]

Wii is the most skill based Mario Kart i've seen. The good shortcuts require precision and skill, the tech like wheelying drifting looks and plays amazing, the items are well balanced, and the courses are really diverse. Watching a room of people who know how to play is really entertaining and awesome, at least for my standards.

[@spongyoshi]

Mario Kart Wii is my favorite! I really agree with Jabeke59 on this but I wish the karts & bikes were more balanced.

[@petmefrog]

Yeah thats what i missed in mk8, wii was so much fun mastering the tech skills, shortcuts and timings on drift

[@ericgrasso3066]

Unlike human players who obtain a specific item randomly after hitting an item box, the AI chooses which specific item to get after hitting an item box, which makes the game even more unfair.

[@qcaggro]

One time I was miles ahead of the cpus with a super horn. The cpu in 2nd threw a red shell, which I blocked with the horn. The instant I did this, one of the cpus threw a blue shell.

[@FrozenSoulHDPivot]

Tell me, how does the Blooper Squid work on computers if they don't have eyes? *// Music Plays*

[@justinhendel682]

They usually just slow down and swerve left to right. That was what happened in the DS version

[@artisk1013]

FrozenSoulHD FBI: DON'T HECKING MOVE

[@Kkrd-re9wc]

FrozenSoulHD I dont know for mk8, but in ds they just wobble left and right. Like they were zigzagging around cones or som'n

[@jrpurkiss]

Maybe a new form of *? in C++ it denotes a comment. could be that.

[@brandonplayz5186]

Harvard wants to know your location

[@solo.2449]

When talking about 8 deluxe youre probably right..... *Mario Kart Wii.....now thats a different story*

[@shanepower9201]

And Mario Kart DS too..... Ooh those AI still haunt me.

[@jismeraiverhoeven]

ds wasnt as bad as the wii version mario kart 7 was also pretty bad, bug again not as bad as the wii

[@gustavocastellanos4941]

I remember when i tried to left behind a CPU with a Star from the other CPU's. It began to have an unfair top speed, it was a heavy weight with a car with low acceleration, and still managed to accelerate at top speed and it became to steering like a god. At the end when he got close to CPU's it got back to a normal behaviour

[@jackyhk291]

Shano Pow DS has no rubberband, it probably has the least Rubberbanded Ai in entire series

[@apagan0075]

I did get 3 stars on every cup and CCs in MKWii, i try get the lead in Lap 1 and play defense. If you get a Mushroom save for a Blue She'll dodge. For those who want a 3 star rank you have to keep 1st no matter what and can't let the AI be in 1st for while or you'll lose the 3 star, i did fell off track once but the AI was too far away and still kept the lead and won (and got the 3 star).

[@viksinha5410]

“You can get very unlucky in a race but it isn’t cheating” I get hit by a ton of items every race, so...what’s up with that?

[@Mike223istaken]

Welcome to the unluckiest people alive club! I'm Michael! In actuality, the AI is programmed to make you lose, not to win, so they will probably all end up pelting you with items.

[@viksinha5410]

​@@Mike223istaken I have had that experience; when I am in third and the AI in second has a shell that they can throw forward and overtake 1st, they instead choose to throw it backwards and hit me!

[@lordroy88]

I’ve been a MK8D veteran for a while, so it’s nice to see the patterns you’ve gone into depth about.

[@5MadMovieMakers]

Great explanation! Never knew about “smartbouncing”.

[@trident042]

Don't give in to "smartbouncing", it's been thoroughly debunked on GameFAQs.

[@Myne33]

5MadMovieMakers makes you REALLY wish there was some sort of alert for incoming green shells, yeah?

[@mementomori5580]

The "Smartbouncing" is so obvious when you pay attention to it. I played with to friends on a regular basis and it was one of the first things we noticed that green shells always bounce in a way that after a bounce they're on a collision course with some driver (it doesn't aim specifically at the player as far as we could tell) and when you're near a green you have to constantaly change your direction to not get hit. Because if you don't, after one of these bounces you will definitely get hit.

[@trident042]

Memento Mori Your claim is that green shells don't specifically aim at players and not taking efforts to dodge will make them hit you? I'm also told that rain works in a similar manner. Seriously though. Play any 2 player race. Get a triple green. Go sit at literally any wall, at any angle greater than 90 degrees. Shoot one when a CPU goes by. Shoot one when player 2 goes by. Shoot one when no one is near. They all bounce the same. Watch the replay. See for yourself. There is no smart bouncing.

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

trident042 I'll make sure to test this out later (I was planning to do it in that exact way). There's always a chance that it's just because of how big the item is and how fast it travels.

[@evermoon494]

do you know what i learned from this? I learned of a new shortcut in hyrule!

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

It's pretty easy to pull off and super rewarding!

[@arman1313]

Hayden The epic gamer/vloger who hurt you as a kid?

[@user-qn7vy9du3g]

Leon Shuster Mario Kart 8 players who are skilled enough to pull off those shortcuts.

[@mikeasllani6972]

The items the AI gets: Stars, bloopers, bullet bills The items I get: Green shell, banana, coin Edit: First place got a star once, finally caught up to the AI and it hit the item box and suddenly got the star

[@crrclatam34]

You: **gets coin** Computer in 2nd place: R E D S H E L L

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

Quick little update: I did another rubberbanding test on MKS with items turned off. When I drove normally, second place finished in 1:58 and when I stayed still they *finished 20 seconds slower* So it looks like rubberbanding exists, but only to HELP the player racing (I was gaining distance the entire time I raced in the first test. Just wanted to keep you up to speed with this video (HA, HA!)

[@Cheezmonka]

NintendoBlackCrisis That conclusion doesn't make sense to me. If they finish faster when you drove better, to me that absolutely means it is not in your favor. They did better when you did better, it doesn't seem logical to me to say they did worse when you did worse. I can't think of a single reason for an AI to be programmed to downgrade from a neutral state as opposed to upgrade from neutral. Different points of view, I suppose.

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

no, I stopped right at the line and waited for 2nd place to finish :)

[@Popkornking539]

Cheezmonka I think what it means is that they slowed down for him when he stayed still but never went above their average speed when he was in motion

[@You-dn8ep]

popkornkid gg u got hearted i wish that happened to me

[@superman-py8gi]

Somehow one time on online I got a blue shell in FIFTH and first wasn't to far away, they were so close I could see them yet hit

[@trinity_risen]

There. Now get out of my recommendations.

[@liriosogno6762]

Professor Meowingtons same hahah

[@mr.boomguy]

Professor Meowingtons - Yup. It's like KZbin thinks you like it to much, that you'd watch it again.

[@ScienceDrummer]

Just click the 3 dots next to it and click "not interested"

[@liquidstereomusic]

Didn't know Joel's cat played Mario Kart 8 :P

[@tybraker27]

@@ScienceDrummer I've still been recommended the same videos before... it's not a perfect solution.

[@-brayden-1682]

Have you ever been in the top 3? About to turn that final corner to get to the finish? And then while you feel satisfied and happy with your position, a blue shell hits you, a green shell hits you the moment you start moving again, a red shell hits you, and then the people with stars hit you. BAM! WHAM! 1ST TO 9TH (based on a true story)

[@hidazip]

I use a cart with maxed out speed and still can't catch up to any of the opponents in a straight line(max coins, fully accelerated). The hard difficulty AI in VS mode has some kind of boost for sure. There may be no rubber banding, but there sure is some kind of system (at least in VS hard mode) to form a chaotic peloton.

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

I personally prioritize handling over top speed. Yeah, maximum speed is good to have in theory, but it doesn't really help when you're sent careening into every conceivable barrier on the track. Better handling means easier time drifting around turns thus building up mini-turbos, therefore putting up more of a fight against the com drivers. It's good compensation for an overall slower top speed.

[@chxrming9845]

Rip 10 minute ad mark

[@chxrming9845]

AlexTheKidKZbinr342 yup. That would’ve been an extra $1000

[@stickmangamez6190]

XD

[@minecraftminertime]

AlexTheKidKZbinr342 actually, videos can be monetized even if they aren't at least 10 minutes long. The only advantage that 10 minute videos have over shorter videos is that another advertisement can be put in the video in the 10 minute video.

[@chxrming9845]

MischievousMoo well, it really depends. It’s hard to explain.

[@SlantedGaming]

Although not technically cheating, the computer players conspire way too often to pull off a lightning-blue shell combo.

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

I think that is just how we look at it tbh. From what I played recently, yes it happened. But for every shock that hit me before a blue, there were like 5 other times in which a blue shell never happened after the lightning.

[@Opexshadow73]

SlantedxGaming Youre telling me real people wouldnt conspire against first place if given the chance?

[@yesiamsureinamedmyselfcorr6303]

I hate that i remember one time i was in first place and the finish line was right there but there was one small jump before the finish line so right before the jump i get hit with a blue shell then the as i jump after recovering from the blue shell lightning hits me mid air and i fall and i had to get put back but it was the last lap (i got last place after all of that and my friend were just laughing at me)

[@General12th]

+Chris Myers Humans would conspire against first place if they kept in constant communication. That's pretty rare. On the other hand, the computer players can conspire all they want -- it's all in the same hardware. But they don't, because that would be unfair.

[@Opexshadow73]

J.J. Shank I dont think you play Mario Kart with the same type of people most of us do 😂 My friends are always trying to murder me if Im in first

[@wintertheampharos4725]

Blue spiny shell Ruining friendships since 1996 Mario Party1, 2, and 3: hold my shot glass

[@rian3542]

whenever i do 150cc, the cpus behind me always hold their red shells until i cross the 2nd lap and get into the third and they take unfair shortcuts that normally players might not know about. whenever im on the last lap of the last track and am about to cross the finish line to get 1st, something always hits me out of nowhere.

[@ZomboidMania]

Are you saying you lose on 150cc?

[@QuangNguyen-cp9gc]

Ruining friendships since 1996

[@billylawuk]

You couldn't've streched out the video only 2 seconds longer?

[@justanordinarymimikyu2109]

No, he’s not a jerk

[@joshmartinez938]

Nodnarb81 how would he be a jerk tho? Its his job (i think) you need money to survive

[@justanordinarymimikyu2109]

Josh Martinez there are still ads before videos. Also, purposefully stretching a video out JUST FOR AN AD makes many people mad, myself included.

[@joshmartinez938]

Nodnarb81 so him making a living makes you mad?

[@joshmartinez938]

jessirocks2022 i can see where your coming from but i usually dont really mind because i know these guys prob need the money but i see your point

[@renaultft1917]

Everyone: Blue shells are scary! Me when a green shell starts bouncing: *praying*

[@lordroy88]

Awesome video dude! You did an awesome job explaining this!

[@tbtb66]

Honestly, CPU are terrible in this game. I've had the case where they just decided to turn the complete wrong way on a straightaway. Shells are the only thing that actually make them so difficult.

[@mariostar2008]

TruelyJohn64 Same, but it confused me and I started going the wrong way too!

[@lewiszim]

It's beside the point, but your probability is wrong. If three computers have a 5% chance of getting a blue shell, there is not a 15% chance of any of them getting a blue shell. To make it clear why, imagine for a moment that each computer had a 50% chance of getting a blue shell. With three computers, 50+50+50 makes 150%. Would there be a 150% chance of any of them getting a blue shell? No! It doesn't make any sense! To calculate the probability, we must consider the inverse probability-the probability of none of them getting a blue shell. Each computer has a 95% (.95) chance of not getting a blue shell. Thus .95*.95*.95 gives us the probability that none of them get a blue shell, about 86% (rounded). If they have an 86% chance of not getting a blue shell, they have a 14% (rounded) chance of getting one, not a 15% chance.

[@InconclusionInc]

Thats a big difference tbh

[@thefantasticfungas1617]

I don’t know a single Mario kart game that has a 50% chance of getting a blue shell for the AI and 86% is ROUNDED not exact

[@Thiscouver]

The Fantastic Fungas The 50% was a theoretical number, not a real number. He threw it out there to make a point.

[@dragonite2049]

Thank you very much, it's very hard to see such mistakes (in terms of enduring not of being able to).

[@thefantasticfungas1617]

I know it’s theoretical but at least make it a reasonable number like 10%

[@Aiden-vg4xs]

Here’s my expirence and opinion on this. So, I realized that the further into the game you get, the more the computers “cheat.” If your further into the game, its possible you dont know how to dodge red shells. So, about my first topic. When you get to 100cc and above, bots start to abuse the shells. The green shell isn’t very hard to dodge, but some people still struggle with it. And, you could possibly hit yourself with the green shell. Don’t even get me started on the red shell. You HAVE to dodge it to get all cups on all speeds with 3 stars. Bots like to abuse the hell out of red shells so that you can get REALLY mad. Here’s my way to dodge them: If you get a banana peel, red shell, green shell, triple red shells, triple green shells, bob-omb or a loud speaker, you can use those items to hold behind your cart to make the red shells. The problem with the loud speaker is that you have to time it correctly, even though you dont know how far the red shell is. A bob-omb could blow you up if a red shells hits it. Just make sure that your going at a decently fast speed. Ok, so another thing I found out is that the bots’ carts are faster than yours. Even if they have worse stats overall and they have max coins. They also like to wait until you get in front of them to use an item such as a mushroom or a shell. I found this really annoying. Back to my second topic. This really takes place on Mute City if you dont know how to manuver around that part before the finish line. Also, I don’t know how to move the camera backwards. So my way of dodging on topic 1 with the loud speaker actually is a lot easier. That’s all I have to say about the bots “cheating.”

[@Outlawmaniaa]

I'm good at mario kart 8 deluxe But what annoys me is the fact that every time I'm in the third round of a race The AI Keep spamming every item Lighting bolt, Blue shell, Red Shell, Green Shell etc. Even when I'm almost at the finish line There is always a red shell coming a mile away.

[@Smudger1865]

The one thing that I really don't understand is that when you have 10 coins and hit a item box(s), you still get coins for some reason.

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

I actually use that to my advantage. Whenever I get hit by a blue or red shell I always use the coin just before it hits me so I can get my top speed up faster. It's all about item management. If you're letting even an item like coins go all Willy nilly, you're gonna get constantly screwed over.

[@Innosos]

@@silhouettoofaman2935 congrats for 1.6% extra speed on average. Stupid coin item is stupid.

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

@@Innosos That 1.6% could make a difference in the long haul. Say you're on the last few turns and someone really close hits you with an item. If you don't have a good top speed from the coins, it'll be that much harder for you to catch up.

[@Innosos]

@@silhouettoofaman2935 Let's do the math. Assume a lap is 40 seconds long without those two coins. Now assume Mini boosts don't exist, full on top speed is possible, we'll use no further items or other items hit us, we don't collect any more coins and the racing line stays exactly the same with or without these coins. If we want to calculate how much these 1.6 % come down to now, we divide the time by 1.016 and get a lap time of roughly 39.37 seconds. So in a three lap race usually lasting 2 minutes we save a whoopdie doo 2 seconds with two coins extra. Compare this to a banana or shell that can block one red shell we can reasonably assume to occur at least once every minute. Even with generous estimated being hit by a shell comes around to 2 to 3 seconds of time loss(going from time trial fails here). So given the frantic nature of MK I'd take any other item over coins anyday as these two seconds do jack sh** in the long run. They're just irritating and frustrating to get.

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

@@Innosos But consider the computer player is already at full speed from the coins it's collected and it hits all the same mini-turbos you do. The computer player would be much further ahead than the human player with only 3 or 4 coins in his/her kart. It does make a little difference. The coin item isn't stupid, it just pops up too often.

[@unaura43]

4:47 The quick pop up text says, "actually technically computers can't get triple reds in grand prix but you'll understand why later in the video :)" Idk how i caught that lol

[@Roxlecmc]

@CaneyYT but they can’t

[@theenderswordsmann7437]

7:49 I call it getting "mario karted"

[@be_lla2940]

Copy comment

[@FiftySixishTV]

If you're still not convinced the computer isn't cheating, collect a box at the same time as an NPC and see who gets to use the item first

[@destroyermcw626]

Dude i know man

[@andrewhaselton3662]

The thing I noticed, is that computers don't have to wait for their items to randomize, they get them immediately after the item boxes. Which in the beginning of a race, can cause you to get red shelled with no chance to defend yourself with an item. Unfair.

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

just hit the item button to stop the item roulette early ;p

[@andrewhaselton3662]

Wait you can do that? My life is a lie.

[@trexfan9]

no way.....

[@destroyermcw626]

@@andrewhaselton3662 Wow can't believe people didn't know this since SNES but im glad ya do now

[@laurahurst8901]

4:48 It says ‘Actually technically computers can’t get triple red shelled in Grand Prix but you’ll understand later in the video :)’ Thank me later Or now

[@geeksanity6021]

Thank you.

[@thesurvivor6430]

To read these easily put the video speed on 0.25 and spam spacebar, That's how I read it.

[@laurahurst8901]

AOh jeez 15 likes thank yall

[@knownas2017]

TheSurvivor64 To read these Easier than that, play the video Frame by frame with < and > (aka , and .)

[@evanmeyer3475]

Thank you

[@scrumpton296]

Can't we all just agree that ALL the shells are the devils hounds

[@kiwifluorite]

yes

[@mf6610]

yes

[@nikifelton4537]

FETCH ME THEIR COINS

[@niklas5771]

What I noticed in Mario Kart Tour was that the Computer seemingly wants to destroy you collectively. If you aren't 1st or maybe 2nd you have a really hard time. If the Comp in front of you has a banana, green shell or sth it is really hard to surpass them since they always seem to drive directly in front of you. Even if you make a hard manuever they will cross the whole lane just to cut you off. Also their aim with green shells is insane and they love hitting their red shells on you.

[@ericgrasso3066]

Mario Kart Tour has the worst and most unfair CPU's in the Mario Kart series. They ruin your run on purpose.

[@BradenBest]

4:04 "People generally race a lot better than computers" Actually, game AI is usually designed by making it play perfectly (and thus being unbeatable), and then toning it down to the different difficulty levels the player actually plays against. If the AI was to be "turned all the way up", depending on the game, it could be utterly impossible to defeat it. The cheating, whether that's perfect cornering or rubber-banding, is a byproduct of low AI settings and poor game design (the devs overcompensate for making the AI play worse than it is capable of, by making it cheat to keep up and still feel like a challenge). Designing an AI is not always easy, and that's specifically because it's pretty easy to make it overpowered. Some examples: *Soul Calibur III* has Night Terror, an absurdly overpowered character used to play the role of the hidden boss. He is not playable, but you can play as him if you hack the game (e.g. codebreaker, actionreplay, gameshark). And pretty much all of his moves are capable of doing an absurd amount of damage or otherwise netting an unfair advantage to NT. And I'm not just saying this to be salty--NT has that move where he flies up in the air and beams you to death. This move is undodgeable, unblockable, uncounterable, can be spammed without consequences, and will one-shot every character in the game no matter what. If you play as NT, you can not only spam this attack and kill everyone, making you literally impossible to defeat, but you can just sit up there flying for eternity, meaning if you really wanted to be an asshole, you could get a hit in, fly up, and spend the rest of the match in the air where the other character even getting a hit in (let alone enough damage to turn the tables) is nigh impossible. Even then, you can get a guaranteed kill with the press of a button. Let's not kid ourselves, Night Terror is unstoppable. Even on the highest AI difficulty setting, or a human player trying every possible strategy to avoid getting hit by the beam, it only takes one simple combo to guarantee a kill 3 seconds into the match, and that is the blast move, which sends a shockwave out, knocking the opponent on their ass, followed by flying up and beaming them while they're down. It's a curb stomp. It's horrible. This character has the power to mercilessly one-shot you, but the AI doesn't exercise this option unless you take too long to beat it or get bad RNG, the CPU plays NT more like a three year old who's never seen a controller in his life and plays by pressing buttons randomly, and so he sometimes manages to accidently KO you a few times because the character he's playing is op af. What this means is that *no matter what difficulty you fight Night Terror on, he is holding back!* The AI controlling NT is severely nerfed because otherwise, you'd die in under three seconds. *Super Smash Bros:* The AI works almost exclusively by reacting to your inputs (which leads to funny ways to exploit the AI). The higher the AI level, the more aggressively they'll counter you. The maximum level doesn't come anywhere near perfect play, because if the AI played perfectly, it would be unbeatable. It could just counter everything you do and you would be powerless to even get a single hit in. Nintendo even had to nerf the challenger AI in SSBU because apparently even high level players were having a hard time with it. Think about it this way: the AI has the potential to easily play at the level of TAS. Also, it's kind of a misnomer to call it AI, as there is no "intelligence" in its design. A real AI has the ability to learn and adapt like a human. A game "AI" is programmed with all the knowledge of the rules built-in and thus has the ability to play perfectly and wipe the floor with the best possible human player without even having to cheat. It's a hard-coded script of what to do and how to react. To make it possible to beat, they have to handicap it by having it react correctly only _some of the time._ This can be done by disabling reactions to certain input sequences, states, strategies, by using RNG, or by some other means of selection to lower the frequency of counters. It's like if you were playing against a human who knows all of the rules, has the power of ZA WARUDO, and watches your hands like a hawk. He'll see you go for that neutral air, and then counter it with frame-perfect accuracy, because he's Dio fucking Brando. What are you gonna do about it? In *the final event match in SSBM,* you fight against Ganondorf, Mewtwo and Giga Bowser simultaneously on what feels like an 8/9 AI difficulty. Bowser's kinda useless, and is just there to hit hard and be hard to take out. He's slow and doesn't do much, but his presence makes things harder. Mewtwo goes for grabs and will blast you if you attempt a ground attack, but is vulnerable to attacks from above. Ganondorf is vulnerable to ground attacks, but will counter attacks from above using that captain falcon kiss explosion move, Ganondorf also walks slightly faster than Mewtwo. Ganondorf and Mewtwo walk together like a married couple, making for a pretty effective defense. This entire setup can be completely undermined with one character: Jigglypuff. Two well-placed rests (down-B) will send Bowser flying to his death, and in the process of easily three-stocking bowser, you'll likely lose one stock. This leaves Ganondorf and Mewtwo, who use that back-to-back strategy I mentioned earlier. If you attempt to spindash Ganondorf, Mewtwo will likely blast you before you can get in. If you attempt to rest Mewtwo from above, Ganondorf will use his up-B and combo you to death. The trick is to separate them, which can easily be done by stalling them by flying around the stage and sneaking hits in on Mewtwo. After a while, Mewtwo and Ganondorf will be separated, and Mewtwo will have a damage% somewhere between 20 and 60. At this point, you can rest him and he'll die. When only Ganondorf remains, you simply spin dash him to death. Even if he dodges, you can change direction. And if you did everything right, you should still have 2 or 3 stocks, meaning even if Ganondorf manages to counter one of your spin dashes with a throw combo, he's pretty much fucked. But this strategy only works because the AI was dumbed down. If the AI played perfectly, Bowser would never let me get close enough to rest him, nor would mewtwo, and ganondorf would always do a frame-perfect grab right as my spin attack is within range--it would be impossible to get even a single hit in. The only thing I could do would be to stall, but even then, they'd inevitably pluck me out of the air and combo me to death. It's because they _don't_ react to these move sequences that this event is even possible. To put it another way, if you've seen a tourney between pro competitive smashers, you know how intense it can get. You can probably imagine fighting one of them in VS and getting your ass kicked. You might get one hit in, but it's a curb stomp. Now imagine playing against someone who plays perfectly all the time. They don't make mistakes, they have absurd reaction time, they counter and punish everything you do, all of their inputs are frame perfect, and they mercilessly destroy you. Getting anywhere _near_ getting a hit in is just hopeless. Now imagine fighting three of them at once in a 3v1, and not only that, but one of them is also much larger and heavier than normal, hits harder and is harder to knock out. It would be bloodier than cruel melee. In *the SSBM Pokeball event,* you can choose fox and spam the laser at pikachu, and he will just sit there and block until his shield breaks. And then you can wipe the floor with him. If the AI played perfectly, pikachu would be extremely aggressive, dodging everything you throw at him (likely jumping over the lasers and air dodging if you attempt to jump and shoot), frame-perfect grabbing every single pokeball, and making your life hell. Of course, melee is not perfectly balanced, so even against such an AI, it would be possible to get _some_ hits in, the hits that are guaranteed to connect no matter what the opponent does, but getting a KO would be nigh impossible. So it's not exactly accurate to say that humans race better than computers because, on the contrary, anything a human can do, the game can do better... It just chooses not to, _because it's going easy on you._ So saying that you race better than a CPU is kinda like gloating when you beat your older brother at that video game, even though he told you before the match that he was going easy on you and you know for a fact that if you were to rematch him at full power, he would easily curb stomp you because compared to him, you suck at the game. Edit: the tone of this post is meant to be light-hearted. If it helps, you can pretend I put a "lol" at the end of every paragraph. Well, not _every_ paragraph. You _are_ a scrub compared to a perfect AI ;D

[@nikifelton4537]

I got to the character listing part and I stopped reading :/

[@DarioKalen_Kagenui]

Thanks for the analysis, it was very interesting, and I agree. 💯

[@Meeba]

Oooo.. Loving this. While LOZ theories are extremely interesting this is a nice change of pace tbh, keep it up will!

[@lucianosimmons3003]

A+ vid. I greatly appreciate the logic, testing and math behind it. At least when we're getting screwed well know why. :)

[@tz777_yx3]

I think they need to make an “unfair mode” for the players that always beat the computers. You know something for the better players to do offline and mission mode to. I have hopes for Mario kart 9.

[@Sonicjan]

Well, there is an Rival-System in the game and if you choose a specific character, one computer will always choose your rival (Mraio and Luigi, Inkling Boy and Inkling Girl...). This rival will always be very good in races and nearly ever be on top of the list (2nd place or 1st, if he manages to beat you), so does this COM have an unfair advantage? I only know of this mechanic in the Deluxe-Version!

[@AquaSG.]

I play all the time as Luigi, and my rival is always Daisy. You know how much everyone likes *THAT* character... Hi, I'm Daisy!

[@matatic]

I always play as shy guy, and yoshi is always in second place trying to kick my ass. Oh, that actually makes sense.

[@AquaSG.]

"I'm trying to play as shy guy, but this one dinosaur keeps kicking my ass."

[@westleythecat7237]

Is his name the TheYoshi27?

[@redboy6314]

Mraio

[@macie9839]

It makes me so annoyed when I throw a green she'll and it hits me ._.

[@macie9839]

Ahhh I meant shell

[@yesiamsureinamedmyselfcorr6303]

Lmao you know what's worse than that getting into first place finnally and there's the finish line and you get attacked by a blue shell and then lightning

[@frostiikin8158]

Autocorrect is why I refuse to use smartphones.

[@macie9839]

Yes i am sure i named my self CORRECTLY KZbin I totally agree

[@macie9839]

Q

[@afromarco005]

How do you explain the computer using the lighting bolt then the blue shell then the red shell(s)? I get hit by this true combo all the time...

[@AsDeFeu]

"When Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was announced I was very excited" LOL

[@silvertheelf]

Him: ”and I thought -I could do better at explaining it” Me: “that’s what everyone else said... before they were attacked by deaf flat earthers”

[@communicistismtm1120]

actually technically computers can't get triple reds in grand prix but you'll understand why later in the video :) [when you go by frame by frame for a smug comment]

[@BladeofRagna]

I had to crank the video speed down to .25 just to catch that lol

[@original__gmebvy]

They can if you get a coin as an item while in first, 2nd racer behind almost usually gets a red shell or triple reds. And from my experience and hundreds if not thousands of races in Grand Prix, on 150cc, Mirror mode and 200cc from playing MarioKart 8 on both the Switch and Wii U, this is always the case. It even happens online, and it’s more random than the offline portion.

[@devau7997]

Shouldnt you track the time of the 2nd place while driving and the 1st while not driving? Because how you did it it is the best com vs the 2nd best com or am I missing sth?

[@GaryArnold]

Have you noticed Anything about computer item draw time? Anecdotely, it seems whenever a computer and I get an item box at the same time, there item is drawn and usable much quicker than me.

[@NIKMOE]

When I made my Mario Kart video, I never expected to hear from so many people with such a passion for the competitive aspects of the game. Ultimately, my original video was about how we react to the AI, and why they feel so unfair. I tried to explain this feeling using some lessons on human nature, and psychology, that's what my series is all about. What I love about this response video is that NBC comes to a similar conclusion using pure statistics and data, which was awesome to see. Excellent video my friend, looking forward to your next project.

[@meta04]

+NintendoBlackCrisis 2:13 Okay, so I've beaten every staff ghost and gotten triple stars on every Mario Kart 8 track except the DLC cups, but both Mario Kart 7's 150cc and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's 200cc have the CPUs throwing three red shells at me while I'm in first... on the last lap... and then using a blue shell for good measure? How is "git gud" in any way applicable? How about I tell you to "git gud" at a "game" where you have to go through a whole deck of 52 cards, guessing what every card's rank will NOT be ("eight" *draws an eight* game over)...

[@RazDV]

Jacob Steimle like NBC said in his video, if you are way forward than the other competitors than you have a bigger chance of getting aimed. I don’t really know as much about the game since I only played it in my friend’s house (and I played the previous versions in my own wii years ago) but on the bottom line, things like that might happen, and you just should try again. All of the purpose of the random items is to make it less ONLY SKILLED BASE, and more RANDOM in a ay that yo won’t win 100% of the time. You see, I don’t say that it’s a good mechanic, but it is what that makes the Mario kart games different from other car racing games. (But like I said, I don’t know much about the game so you probably know better than I am)

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

Jacob Steimle wait...are you seriously comparing a racing game to a card game? 😆

[@meta04]

Yes, I am. I feel like every time you get to the third lap in a reasonably good position, it draws a card to see what to do; if it's an ace, it lets you get to the finish; if not, it throws umpteen red shells and a blue shell right before the finish just to make you get fourth place.

[@quippy6625]

NIKMOE k

[@TheHazard36]

As an expert Double Dash player, I can confirmed that the AI do not rubber-band in that game. Simply put, when a Grand Prix is started and the game randomizes the AI combos, 2 of the AI are allocated with a hard difficulty (which is decided based on the heaviest characters on the AI list), which results in them going noticeably faster than regular racers at all times (This is commonly seen at the start of the race when the 2 hard AI race ahead of everyone) and they tend to get one of the top 3 positions every time. The other 5 AI get no natural speed boost at all and because they all share that trait, they tend to randomly get anywhere from 4th to 8th place (Depending on the human racer, which we can assume doesn't come anywhere below 3rd because the easy AI are impossible to lose to without extremely bad luck). I must've played All Cup Tour a thousand times and I don't know if any of this is certain but I know those AI like the back of my hand.

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

Hmmm, that would make sense. I remember as a kid I would hit 2nd place with an item, and once they dropped down to like 3rd or 4th they would get an unnatural speed boost to propel them back into their "designated" position. So that only applies to the top 3 computers?

[@TheHazard36]

NintendoBlackCrisis Top 2 and Yeah it's virtually impossible for them to lose to the other AI. The top 2 are also always going to be large characters unless it's not 150cc or you manipulate the random characters selected with your own character choices. If one of the top 2 isn't large because of this, then they statistically always lose to the other AI which is interesting. However some large characters can be assigned with easy AI because the 2 hard AI slots were taken by 2 other larger characters. So yeah they ignore the speed rules pretty much

[@randomname9949]

I think in NDS It happened the same 2 difficult ai and 5 easy

[@Marxsychosis]

TheHazard36 I have played Double Dash too. Just so you know, the 2 AI’s allocated with harder difficulties (or higher speeds) are not impossible to end up 1st, 2nd, or 3rd all the time. Turns out, if you get items and keep aiming at them constantly in which your hits are successful, the AI can end up in any place below 3rd. I used Action Replay so I could get a star everytime I pressed D-Pad left. (Unnecessary note; don’t need to read: For some reason, I tried to activate the star, but I couldn’t because for an odd reason. You have to stop completely to activate the star hack.) Then I went near the AI allocated with the hard difficulty and started spamming D-Pad left towards it which made it so he/she ended up in a place lower than 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. So turns out the AI in Mario Kart Double Dash can’t always end up in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place unless you hack and make them lose by attacking them constantly throughout the race.

[@danrose975]

Null 0 Well that's a pretty obvious thing lol

[@memejohn86]

In the original SNES version, the characters get random items like Stars even though there was no item boxes around. They were cheating

[@F4YDE]

That banana throw was heavenly

[@andrasfogarasi5014]

3:47 WOAH SLOW DOWN THERE YOU MANIAC YOU CAN'T JUST ADD UP PROBABILITIES

[@maxlancaster579]

András Fogarasi yes you can, as they are independent events you add the probabilities up, you would multiply if he was trying to find the chances of all of them getting a blue, but he’s trying to find out the chance of one of them getting it, so it’s 5% or 5% or 5%, which you add up to get 15

[@maxlancaster579]

András Fogarasi I’ve probably overlooked a joke haven’t I... godammit

[@bushman3764]

Exactly, Just because 2 other people have a 5 percent chance of getting it like me doesn’t mean i have a 15 PERCENT CHANCE.

[@skyscall]

LazyEgg Gabe No, it means that there is a 15% chance that at least _one_ of them will get a blue shell

[@BorgusBingo]

skyeyemx music it's actually a 14.3 percent chance, you can't just add them when they are not mutually exclusive events

[@mattfisher4454]

There is one place where a CPU has an unfair advantage. They immediately spin their items while you have to wait through the animation (at least in the Wii U version where I have several hundred hours on and offline on Hard difficulty, 200 CC, vs.). They get all items instantly after hiring the box. They don't always take advantage, but sometimes will fire their newest item instantly after their last item. This can cause a serious headache when it comes to defensive plays (blocking blue shells, defensive holding, etc.) and also offensively (I hold an item through a new round of boxes, they have none, are able to block right after hitting the box, now waiting for them) This is the computer blatantly cheating, but is the only one instance ive found.

[@theleftuprightatsoldierfield]

Matt Fisher when you don’t have an item, you can spin your items in about 1.5 seconds by spamming the item button as soon as you get the box

[@thatguyfromthecornerstore8569]

Matt Fisher You do know you can press L so you can get your stuff faster right?

[@matthewmcgowan9000]

I've had that happen to me too, I boost started into 1st and hit the item box before anyone else but 2nd got their item before me.

[@sandraweeks1726]

For Wii u press zl button to get it instantly

[@destroyermcw626]

Dude you so late i can get an item fast in Mario kart 64 lol

[@cesarswc13]

You don't have to take every ramp when you're on 200 CC in fact when you're on 200 see you can actually make your own shortcuts sometimes and you drift with the break, You drift by pressing the break not just the drift trigger you also use the break just like on any racer.

[@DefenderofHyrule]

They might not rubberband but I've had instances where I've used a star and the person in front speeds up the entire time I'm using. When the star ends they slow down again and the distance between us is the same as it was before. They've also fallen off the edge of the course but driven straight back on (as in it was like there was a ramp that returned them to the course) and they've passed through a blue shell explosion completely unharmed (I managed to record the falling off and the explosion). If that's not cheating I don't know what is.

[@drakemcfayden2074]

3:43 "If 3 computers have 5% chance of obtaining a blue shell, then, combined, they have 3x the chance of getting a blue shell. (15%)" Noooo that's not how probability works. They have 95% chance of each not getting a blue shell. So 1 - (0.95^3) = 14.2625% chance overall of at least 1 getting a blue shell. Your way suggests that 20 players have a combined 100% chance of getting a blue shell when it would only be a 64% chance.

[@Patiga]

thanks, ˢᵒᵐᵉᵒⁿᵉ ʰᵃᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵈᵒ ᶦᵗ

[@HahaClintonstix]

I thought he was wrong

[@confused9413]

But three blue shells... Do you know what else happens Getting hit three times And they means unfairness Illuminati confirmed

[@malachy7986]

Finally a video that explains this games mechanics brilliantly and makes a player like me happy knowing there’s no misinformation being spread :3 (also the weird AI driving is down to AI players mainly auto drifting instead of actually drifting)

[@TheDeepThinker-sq3iy]

well I mean there cpu's. isn't ALL the thing's they do considered "auto"?

[@malachy7986]

TheDeepThinker 2000 No, an auto drift is when you don’t press ZR and drift instead you just push the control stick in the direction you want to drift and the kart steers and slowly charges the mini turbo

[@TheDeepThinker-sq3iy]

what I mean't was that since there a PART of the game and NOT a human, HOW are they imputing buttons to begin with? so the fact that there "auto turning" is already kinda obvious from this vintage point of view. if I was just a program in an artificially created world, then I would already KNOW what to do based on what I was programed to do. so basically I wouldn't be imputing anything... I would just do..... so EVERYTHING that I would do in that world is automatic to me and not something I would have to input to do.... (lmfao)sorry there.... I imagine at this point your probably blowing a brain vessel. . . . . . .(lel..)

[@ddnava96]

The Deep Thinker 2000. Well, Smash Bros Brawl saved replays as button inputs on virtual gamepads. The slightest desync would ruin the whole replay, with characters often running off stage

[@TheDeepThinker-sq3iy]

*+David Navarrete* hhmmm.... interesting....

[@willemwhite9016]

I got blue shelled 5 times in one race, 4 of which came from Luigi

[@starrush1818]

I just played, was about to be first at the end, the AI decides to ruin my day by throwing a red shell, blue shell, and a red shell again.