Here, though, the experience of racing is a different sort of augmented reality than what you’re used to. Using augmented reality to try to insert that immersive sense of play into the real world is actually a great idea. That’s what makes Mario Kart the video game so compelling - it short-circuits that distance and lets you jump right back into that playful world. It’s the divide between playing a game as a child and truly living in that world, and then trying to do it again as a teenager or an adult - it’s nigh-impossible to cross back into that encompassing world of play. The problem wasn’t with the karting itself it was with squaring my imagination with reality. There's no way Mario Kart can ever truly happen in the real world, but this version fell short of my expectations. But translating the madcap joy of a video game into real life is hard. The GoPro cameras record the race from your perspective, and Pennzoil stitches all four racer's footage together for you to relive the event.Īs go-karting goes (and I've done my fair share), it was fun. There are red shells and five 'Pennzoil complete protection icons,' and as you drive over them they alternately boost or harm your kart's performance. Each sticker represents some element from either Mario Kart or Pennzoil's marketing handbook.

Each kart is equipped with RFID chips and a GoPro camera, and as you drive around the track there are big stickers on the track itself.

Go cart game