Mario Kart Arcade?!?!

[img1 left]This is some cool stuff. We have very few details so far, but pictures are coming in from the 2005 All Nippon Amusement Machine Operator’s Union in Tokyo, showing off a sit-down, coin-op Mario Kart GP by Namco, the Pac-Man people.

From what we can tell, there are 11 selectable characters, 24 courses in 6 worlds, up to four linkable cabinets featuring the usual steering wheel, pedals, etc found on any arcade racer.[img12 right] Additionally, there appears to be a small camera mounted at the top of each enclosure that takes an image of the driver and maps it into the game applying attributes from the character they’ve chosen to their on screen image. For example, choosing Mario as your racer would give you a red plumbers cap, black glasses and a moustache, Mario style.

So far, all inquiries to Namco have gone unanswered, but we’re chomping at the bit for any info we can come across. Thanks to the forum guys at Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com) for the images.