Okay, let’s dive into this wild ride of colors and tech. So, there’s this big drama about Mario Kart World on the Switch 2, right? Some tech folks are basically shaking their fists at it for what they call ‘fake HDR’. No joke. It’s like the developers thought they could just sprinkle some HDR magic dust over it at the last second and call it a day. Enter Alexander Mejia—technical wizard or something—who’s all about “You can’t just HDR last minute, folks!” Seriously, he’s been doing fancy stuff with Xbox and Unreal Engine, so he knows.
Apparently, Nintendo hyped up Mario Kart with promises of amazing 4K 60FPS HDR bliss. But really? Mejia’s kind of like, “Nope, they missed the mark.” But honestly, who hasn’t fumbled HDR before? It’s tricky stuff! Mejia even says, “If you’re struggling, you’re not alone.” Imagine starting with HDR as a base layer, not some garnish thrown on top. It’s like making a cake, you know? Frosting first doesn’t cut it.
Plus, Mejia goes all tech detective on this, breaks down how he spotted the HDR slip-ups. His gear, his tricks—he’s an open book for those wanting to try at home. But wow, the findings? Clear evidence of HDR gone astray. Even cranking brightness to nuclear levels doesn’t save it. Numbers don’t lie: peaks should be 10,000 nits; they’re peaking shy of a thousand. It’s like buying a high-octane ride and never stepping on the gas.
It’s a bummer, mainly because Mario Kart is all about bold, vibrant colors, yet here it is, stuck in a basic color space. Think Rec.709 instead of the fancy Rec.2020 everyone dreams about.
Oh, and there’s a showdown on YouTube. Godfall Ultimate on Xbox versus Mario Kart on Switch, both in HDR, trying to outshine each other. Grab popcorn? Maybe there’s a learning curve here for devs in using all this HDR wizardry. Mejia wraps up with a pitch, offering his consulting to help navigate this HDR jungle—from rendering pipelines to Dolby Vision and whatnot.
So, if you’re pondering whether to be wowed or kind of meh about Mario Kart’s tech wizardry, this is food for thought. Also, go smash that follow button on Tom’s Hardware for more of this tech chatter.
