Power-up ahead! Mario Kart drives into the real world

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Todd Kenreck , NBC News

2012 was a great year for video games, but one game stood out from all of the rest. NBCNews.com's Todd Kenreck reports. Play video

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Winda Benedetti , NBC News

You could say that?Nintendo's beloved Mario Kart racing games have never looked?so real.?That's because a group of engineers?have made the wacky,?best-selling?kart racing?games,?well,?real.

Very, very real.

In the long-running?video game series, players take Nintendo's famed characters racing around colorful?tracks in go-karts -- grabbing power-ups as they go. These power-ups affect the go-karts' behavior in various ways.

Now, the crew?at the Austin-based Waterloo Labs has tricked out a group of real go-karts so that they?respond to real power-ups inspired?by the famed games. And they've put these karts?to the test on a real racetrack -- or at least a real go-kart racetrack.

It basically?works like this:?Stars, bannana peels, Koopa shells -- the team has embedded RFID tags into each of these items which are placed in boxes strung above the track. Meanwhile, each kart contains an RFID reader.?The go-karts drive?normally until,?say,?the?driver?grabs?a?star.?When?an?RFID-embedded?star?is?near?a?kart,?the?the?driver?gets?a?speed?boost.?Meanwhile,?an?incoming?Koopa?shell?will?lock?up?the?brakes?and?steering.

Check?out?the?video?above?to?see?it?all?in?action.?

We've seen Nintendo fans?bring the beloved racing games to life before, but this effort takes the?bananas. For?a?more?in-depth?look at all the work that went into making real-world Mario Karts, check out the Waterloo Labs website?for?the project overview as well as the source code.

-?Via TechCrunch

Winda Benedetti?writes about video?games for NBC?News. You can follow her tweets about games and other things?on Twitter?here?@WindaBenedetti?and you can?follow her?on?Google+.?Meanwhile, be sure to check?out the?IN-GAME?FACEBOOK PAGE?to discuss the day's?gaming news and reviews.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/power-ahead-mario-kart-drives-real-world-1B8002722

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