Expert Claims “Mario Kart World” on Nintendo Switch 2 is ‘Fake HDR’ — Highlights Lack of Serious HDR Implementation by Top Developers

Sure thing, let’s have a go at this. Hope you find it interesting, or at least amusing:

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So I’m sitting here thinking about Mario Kart World on the new Switch 2. Honestly, it’s the kind of game you think is gonna pop on your screen with crazy vibrant colors, right? But man, there’s been this uproar. It’s like, people are saying the HDR – whatever that means – is a bit of a joke. I stumbled across this dude, Alexander Mejia, who apparently knows a ton about making things look nice and shiny on your TV. He’s like, “Yeah, they kinda flubbed it.” Apparently, the developers just slapped on some HDR at the last minute. I mean, who am I to judge? But even I could tell something’s a bit off.

The game’s all about those flashy promises though. 4K resolution! 60FPS! HDR! I almost can’t keep up. But then Mejia drops the bomb: not even top devs are treating HDR like it matters. Yeah, okay, sure.

Here’s the kicker, though. Apparently, making HDR work right is like solving a mystery. Mejia says, “Hey, start thinking about HDR from the get-go.” Makes sense, but also sounds like techy witchcraft to me. There’s all this talk of TVs and monitors showing stuff at peak brightness levels, but when I hear nits I’m just thinking of bugs in my hair from summer camp. Who knows what he’s on about half the time.

And funnily enough, they did all these fancy tests. Mejia’s out here measuring brightness like it’s a science project, showing the peaks or whatever, and it didn’t look great. You crank that brightness up to 10,000 nits (whatever nits even are) and it won’t even hit 950. It’s like being promised a Lamborghini and getting a roller skate. Bummer, I know.

Seeing the comparison was wild too. There’s this other game, Godfall Ultimate, that’s just sitting there showing off by doing everything right. Mario Kart? Not so much. It’s kind of sad when such a colorful game ends up looking like it’s stuck in the past with its dull colors.

And maybe this Mejia guy was onto something, picking on the devs for sticking old-school again. He’s even offering to teach them, you know, if they want his help.

Anyway, if you’re into hardware news or crazy debates about video games and brightness levels, following Tom’s Hardware isn’t the worst idea. I guess.