Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct LIVE: News, announcements and key details as they happen

'Drop the price' comments returned with a vengeance

Nintendo of America's stream ended up having comments enabled throughout and, once again, it was flooded with ‘'drop the price' comments.

There were only really a handful of comments about what was being shown among other satirical comments about pricing.

Free Roam mode analysis

The big focus going into Mario Kart World Direct was always going to be on the Free Roam mode.

And, in all honesty, it felt a little bit underwhelming.

In Free Roam mode, players can drive through and eat at Yoshi's Diner where new outfits can be selected. There are loads of different pitstops and food to check out.

Players can go across the whole game map. There are P switches where players have to hit them to start missions by collecting coins. This helps to hone driving ability.

There are also hidden coins, hidden panels and loads more, with Nintendo encouraging exploration. Photo mode can be used whenever too.

It's understandable that Nintendo wants to encourage players to explore and find things out on their own without giving too much away. But this did feel a little light on features other than exploring and completing similar missions in different locations.

Event concludes

And that concludes the Mario Kart World Direct event!

But keep it locked as have more details from it and a deep dive into certain aspects from it.

Although Free Roam was shown, activities in the open world did feel a little underwhelming... But we'll have a look at that in more detail.

Free Roam

Players can go across the whole game map in this mode.

There are P switches where players have to hit them to start missions by collecting coins. This helps to hone driving ability.

There are also hidden coins, hidden panels and loads more, with Nintendo encouraging exploration.

Photo mode can be used whenever too.

New tricks

• Charge jump, by holding down the drift button players can get a boost in a straight line, dodge attacks and wall ride
• Rewind, returning a vehicle to an original position but just for you, not rivals

Yoshi's Diner

Players can drive through and eat at Yoshi's Diner where new outfits can be selected. There are loads of different pitstops and food to check out.

Gameplay features

• Smart steering, to stay on the course
• Tilt controls

Items

New items:

• Coin shell, to make coins appear
• Ice flower, freeze rivals and send them spinning
• Hammer, throws an arc of hammers to catch out other players
• Mega mushroom, makes players bigger
• Feather, jump and avoid attacks and unlocks new routes such as rails
• Kamek, rivals transform into different characters and objects

Grand Prix

It seems there are seven different Grands Prix across the game world at launch.

Players have to drive between each circuit.

A 'certain colourful course' will appear if gold is obtained in all Grands Prix, maybe Rainbow Road?

Circuits

• Mario Bros Circuit
• Crown City
• Salty Salty Speedway
• Starview Peak
• Boo Cinema

• Toad's Facotry
• Peach Beach
• Wario's Shipyard

Open world details

Races are scattered throughout an open world and cities, plains, deserts and even the ocean can be traversed between races.

Courses are inspired by their surrounding region.

Chat is open on YouTube - comments are what you'd expect

The comments section on Nintendo of America's stream is open - and people are saying 'drop the price' as you'd expect.

But the event is now starting - here we go!

Mario Kart World Direct about to start

Mario Kart World Direct is about to start (2pm BST / 9am ET / 6am PT).

We’ll have updates from the stream that's on Nintendo's official channels as they happen.

It's expected to last around 15 minutes where new gameplay features and details about the Switch 2 exclusive will be revealed.

One hour to go

There's only an hour to go until the Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct event starts, where more information about the game will be revealed.

Be sure to keep it locked with our live blog for all the latest as it happens.

Nintendo turns off comments on Mario Kart World Direct

Nintendo has taken the unprecedented step of turning off the comments section on its Mario Kart World Direct stream.

Shortly after the Switch 2 Direct on April 2, Nintendo hosted two Treehouse livestreams which were extended events taking a deep dive into some of the new titles releasing on the new console.

But the comments section was flooded with 'drop the price' as fans made their feelings known about the console and its games costing so much.

It seems Nintendo is keen to avoid a repeat of this and wants focus to be firmly on Mario Kart World.

What's new in Mario Kart World? Everything we know so far

There will be open world sections where players can explore and free roam the circuits themselves and everything connecting them all together. More about this will be revealed in the upcoming Nintendo Direct event.

Races now have 24 players and there's a brand new Knockout Tour mode which is last man standing. There are six checkpoints - the last four players are eliminated at each of the first checkpoints with the final four then battling it out for the win at the end.

There are loads of new circuits and in Grand Prix mode, players have to drive between each one.

Players can grind rails or wallride to get boosts and reach hidden shortcuts. There are more items than ever before too including a new gold shell.

There's the biggest roster ever seen in a Mario Kart game including Cow from Moo Moo Meadows which has gone down incredibly well online.

Are Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World worth the price? We tried both and this is what we think

Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World have had a bit of a rocky run since both were revealed to the world in a livestream from Nintendo on April 2.

That Direct event was really well received, with a full reveal of the new console and a deep dive into the first brand new Mario Kart mainline console title for 11 years.

But that feeling of positivity quickly dissipated when it was revealed the Switch 2 will cost $449 (£395 in the UK), Mario Kart World as a digital download will cost $80 (£75) and $90 for a physical copy with the two being bundled together costing $499 (£429).

Nintendo faced a huge backlash to these price points which was evident during two Treehouse streams that followed, with the comments section flooded with 'drop the price' on content that showed new games running on the new console.

indy100 was very fortunate to have had hands on with the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World among other titles during day one of the Switch 2 event at ExCeL London (April 11-13).

So are the Nintendo Switch 2 console and Mario Kart World worth the price? To see what we think so far, read the full story here.

What will be announced during Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct? 

Mario Kart World was the very first game to be showcased during the full Nintendo Switch 2 reveal stream on April 2.

New courses, characters and modes were all shown and it seems during this event, more will be known about Free Roam, the open world mode where players can drive around and explore.

Ahead of the Direct event, Bill Trinen, Nintendo of America's Vice President of Product and Player Experience, hinted to IGN more about Free Roam will be revealed as well as more features to justify its steep $80 price tag.

It will be interesting to see what is announced and if more fans think it will be worth the price after the initial backlash to it online.

How can I watch Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct?

Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct starts at 2pm BST / 9am ET / 6am PT on April 17.

The livestream will last for around 15 minutes and can be viewed on Nintendo's official feeds, including YouTube and Twitch.