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Mario Kart WiiU - Still stuttering?!

B

brobban

Member
So, I booted up my Wii U after a long hiatus and decided to play some Mario Kart.
To my surprise, it seems that there still has been no fix for the stuttering in singleplayer!

The track intro right up until actually driving is super smooth, but as soon as the actually race starts, the annoying stuttering appears.

I know that Nintendo more often than not releases games in much better condition than most, but when there are issues, are they more reluctant to actually patch their games?
 
J

JoeM86

Member
brobban said:
So, I booted up my Wii U after a long hiatus and decided to play some Mario Kart.
To my surprise, it seems that there still has been no fix for the stuttering in singleplayer!

The track intro right up until actually driving is super smooth, but as soon as the actually race starts, the annoying stuttering appears.

I know that Nintendo more often than not releases games in much better condition than most, but when there are issues, are they more reluctant to actually patch their games?
Click to expand...

Mario Kart 8 has been patched many times, hence being Version 4.0.

I assume by stuttering, you mean the 1 repeated frame every 60 frames.
 
F

fredrancour

Member
I thought the weird framerate issue was a multiplayer thing. There was a framerate issue in singleplayer?

Like, I never noticed it regardless, but my unreliable memory thought the complaint was something caused by splitscreen. I deliberately didn't pay attention to the discussion because I was afraid of being taught to see whatever I was missing.
 
J

jdw_b

Member
fredrancour said:
I thought the weird framerate issue was a multiplayer thing. There was a framerate issue in singleplayer?

Like, I never noticed it regardless, but my unreliable memory thought the complaint was something caused by splitscreen. I deliberately didn't pay attention to the discussion because I was afraid of being taught to see whatever I was missing.
Click to expand...

It's a single player only thing. It's one of those things you'll notice after it has been pointed out, but then easily forget again
 
V

vazel

Banned
fredrancour said:
I thought the weird framerate issue was a multiplayer thing. There was a framerate issue in singleplayer?

Like, I never noticed it regardless, but my unreliable memory thought the complaint was something caused by splitscreen. I deliberately didn't pay attention to the discussion because I was afraid of being taught to see whatever I was missing.
Click to expand...
The microstutterring oddly enough only manifests when there are bots.
 
S

sonto340

Member
brobban said:
Except for the stuttering that is..
Click to expand...
It's a shame you're June of the few people that can notice one frame out of sixty in one second that repeats. I'm not being condescending that legitimately sucks because I definitely don't notice and find the game buttery smooth. It's weird that Nintendo hasn't patched it, but I'm sure there's some weird technical reason we'll never hear because Nintendo is afraid of talking hard tech
 
J

jdw_b

Member
Exentryk said:
Both, but mostly multiplayer.
Click to expand...

If you play SP and focus on the scenery outside of the track you'll probably notice it

It's really not that big of a deal at all though

In fact, ignore what I said and don't even try and look for it!
 
B

brobban

Member
sonto340 said:
It's a shame you're June of the few people that can notice one frame out of sixty in one second that repeats. I'm not being condescending that legitimately sucks because I definitely don't notice and find the game buttery smooth. It's weird that Nintendo hasn't patched it, but I'm sure there's some weird technical reason we'll never hear because Nintendo is afraid of talking hard tech
Click to expand...

Yeah, thanks for the concern :)

Its probably because it happens in a very constant pace that I notice it that much. Had it been more sporadic, it probably wouldn't be an issue.
 
C

Chastten

Banned
Reading threads like this makes me so glad I don't notice framerate stuff and all that. Game looks and plays smooth as butter for me.

*edit* actually that's not completely true. After recently playing a couple of dozen hours online in a short period we then had a splitscreen multiplayer night with friends and I noticed the framerate being somewhat lower then when playing alone. No idea what the difference is and I only noticed it for like 30 seconds, but I did.
 
The Hermit

The Hermit

Member
I am usually annoyedv and very sensitive by stutter/dropped FPS.

I never noticed this.

I was used to 60hz though, now I that I am getting used to a 75hz monitor, maybe I notice now.
 
TheMoon

TheMoon

Member
brobban said:
Yeah, thanks for the concern :)

Its probably because it happens in a very constant pace that I notice it that much. Had it been more sporadic, it probably wouldn't be an issue.
Click to expand...

I do wonder though, did you notice it on your own or after it had been pointed out by the tech analysis?
 
V

Vinnk

Member
After that first thread about this 59fps thing I have TRIED to notice the stutter, but I can't. I do crash when I try though since I don't focus on the race enough. Not saying it's not there, it is, the slowed down videos prove it, but even after it has been pointed out to me, I still can't see it. I guess I'm lucky?
 
L

LiveFromKyoto

Member
jdw_b said:
Multiplayer??
Click to expand...

He specifically mentions that he's talking about single-player in the OP.

I'm squinting at the game right now and I seriously cannot see it. I have no idea what kind of cyborg-eyes you would need to even perceive this, or how one could play most other games if a single repeated frame bothered them.
 
B

Blackthorn

"hello?" "this is vagina"
I'm very sensitive to frame drops/stuttering/pacing issues and had heard about this issue before buying Mario Kart this Christmas.

I was actively looking for the stutter and did see it when I was paying close attention but have never again thought about it or noticed it.

I love the work Digital Foundry do, I'm glad they do it and it would be better if this was fixed - but I honestly don't think anyone would have ever talked about stuttering in MK8 had their analysis not revealed it.
 
B

brobban

Member
TheMoon said:
I do wonder though, did you notice it on your own or after it had been pointed out by the tech analysis?
Click to expand...

I honestly don't remember when I first noticed it. But I know I'm very sensitive to framerate drops. It's the main reason why I bought a G-Sync monitor for my PC :)
 
R

repeater

Member
Here's the Digitalfoundry article that confirms the weird framerate effect, for those above who don't believe it:
When it comes to performance, Nintendo has always aimed to deliver a rock-solid 60 frames per second with each home console Mario Kart and, aside from Mario Kart 64, it has always managed to achieve just that. There was never any doubt that Mario Kart 8 would fall right in line with the rest of the series but upon seeing it for ourselves we immediately noticed that something was amiss. During gameplay we experienced the regular appearance of duplicate frames manifesting as a constant but subtle stuttering effect. Upon analysis we determined that the game suffers from extended clusters in which a duplicate frame is displayed every 64 frames. What this ultimately means is that, during normal gameplay, Mario Kart 8 continually drops down to 59fps. This may not seem like a big deal - most will probably not notice it at all, and it has zero affect on playability - but it has a noticeable impact on image fluidity that mars what would otherwise be a perfectly consistent frame-rate. And for us at least, once it is seen, it can't really be unseen.
Click to expand...
Never bothered me much, but I definitely noticed it and it is a blotch -- however tiny -- on an otherwise stellar looking and performing game.
 
P

Planet

Member
TheMoon said:
The stuttering that barely anybody can even notice :D
Click to expand...
It is simple measurable fact. That the majority of the people have such slow perception they don't notice doesn't make it any less existant. And it doesn't make it any better for people who can see it. Are those not part of the target audience?

The constant micro stuttering makes it even less bearable for me than occasional stutter under load. Helps me skip a Nintendo generation, maybe they will do something right with the NX.
 
J

jdw_b

Member
LiveFromKyoto said:
He specifically mentions that he's talking about single-player in the OP.

I'm squinting at the game right now and I seriously cannot see it. I have no idea what kind of cyborg-eyes you would need to even perceive this, or how one could play most other games if a single repeated frame bothered them.
Click to expand...

I was talking to the people I quoted
 
M

-MB-

Member
Op must hate consoel gaming then, since everything has framerate drops on them. Most of them way way worse than this 1 frame per 60fps.
 
V

Veal

Member
I noticed it immediately on day one but it seemed to stop after a few patches. Has it returned? I haven't played in a while, so I honestly don't know.
 
B

brobban

Member
-MB- said:
Op must hate consoel gaming then, since everything has framerate drops on them. Most of them way way worse than this 1 frame per 60fps.
Click to expand...

The issue is probably more the frequency of drops. It's every second, at a steady pace..
I'd much rather have 30fps locked, than unlocked fluctuating framerates.
 
TheMoon

TheMoon

Member
Planet said:
It is simple measurable fact. That the majority of the people have such slow perception they don't notice doesn't make it any less existant. And it doesn't make it any better for people who can see it. Are those not part of the target audience?

The constant micro stuttering makes it even less bearable for me than occasional stutter under load. Helps me skip a Nintendo generation, maybe they will do something right with the NX.
Click to expand...

Wait, so a repeated frame in one game makes you skip the whole system? I don't follow this logic. At all.
 
D

Devil

Member
I believe you that it exists, I just have never, ever noticed it and therefore can't see why it's such a big deal for some.
 
P

Planet

Member
TheMoon said:
Wait, so a repeated frame in one game makes you skip the whole system? I don't follow this logic. At all.
Click to expand...
I said it helps, as a tiny piece in a puzzle. Since I primarily play on PS4 and the games available there suit my taste better, the Nintendo console would be a supplement to fill gaps. That gap would be party games, especially for the family. So the number of interesting games shrinks to a select few, and Mario Kart would be near the top of that list.

A dropped frame every 64 frames is not a show stopper, especially since I would mostly play in split screen, but it definitely makes it less enjoyable. Like I said, it feels actually much worse than general framerate problems for me. And it shows that Nintendo simply doesn't care about the issue, which hurts.

There are a million other points not in favor of buying the console, like no price drops. Nintendo clearly is clueless what to do with the touch screen yet insisting it stays - they should have made a cheaper bundle with Pro Controller only and patched the games that ignore the touch screen anyway. The online and account systems are a complete mess (though they seem to be about to jump up to 2005 standards soon). There is more...

So when the decission is not looking good, even tiny things like this framerate issue tipped the ballance further to the no side. My 14 year old son considered buying a Wii U but without any influence from my side (I swear we never talked about that topic!) he came to the conclusion that it probably is better to wait for the next generation, look what that turns out to be. And he hardly plays on PS4, mostly PC, 3DS and Wii.

I hope that makes it more clear.
 
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