As a gamer, I keep a watchful eye over the ever expanding game industry and never seem to be at a loss for opinions on the matter. With the advent of Mario Kart Wii, the latest installment of the Mario Kart series, I’m excited to burn rubber and take names. But what’s been taking residence of my mind is the latest Mario Kart news from popular gaming blog, Kotaku, reporting that a technique known as snaking will not be present in Mario Kart Wii; news received by both thunderous applause and snide remarks of cynicism.

So what is snaking?

Throughout the Mario Kart series, players who were able to successfully skid around corners would receive a small boost of speed. This is known as powersliding (or drifting). Powersliding is meant to reward players who could skillfully turn corners sharply. However, some players use this game mechanic to their advantage by skidding left and right in a weaving motion while on straightaways, “tricking” the game into thinking they’re performing turns, and, as a result, receive more speed boosts than what was ever intended. Within the gaming community, this technique has become known as “snaking” (because the weaving motion is reminiscent of a snake’s slithering crawl). Here is a video tutorial on snaking: [youtube.com]

Some may see snaking as cheating. Although I do sympathize with that notion, I do not consider snaking to be a form of cheating. Snaking, whether intentional or not, is in fact programmed into the game and thus should be available to a player if he or she wishes to take advantage of it. These players didn’t go out of their way to hack the game, and I do not consider it to be a bug or glitch; just an oversight on the game designers’ part.

I do, however, consider it such a cheap technique that it comes close to cheating, as it confines whatever complexity Mario Kart had to a single skill: how much pain your thumb can endure while keeping rhythm. But what is considered cheap is a matter of opinion.

For example, in the Soul Calibur fighting game series, I like to use Nightmare, a character with massive strength and a huge sword with a long reach and a powerful swing. Some players have claimed that I was being a cheap player for using Nightmare. But even so, the fact is I was not cheating in any way. I was playing within the realm of what was intentionally designed. Each character has their own set of strengths and weaknesses, and I happened to rely on Nightmare’s strengths. With that said, Nightmare has weaknesses as well: he’s very slow and makes for a big target at close range. Take a lightning-fast close-range fighter like Maxi or a swift long-range character like Kilik, and you’ll destroy my Nightmare. Thus, if one were to claim that I was being cheap, that’s fine; it’s a matter of opinion. But since Nightmare is in no way invincible, I consider the claim to be hollow and unsubstantial. No matter how cheap something is, there will always be a counter.

But see, this is where Mario Kart’s snaking crosses the line. It is a game exploit because it was not intended to be a game mechanic, and powersliding was definitely not intended to be used in such a way. Anyone who plays online with Mario Kart DS will immediately discover that players are divided into two groups: snakers and non-snakers. Snakers dominate each race every time because it’s possible to snake your way from start to finish receiving small bursts of speed the entire time. And, unlike Soul Calibur’s Nightmare, there is no counter. The only viable strategy against a snaker is to become one yourself.

Snaking is a game breaking exploit. Take my word for it, snaking is not fun. Being forced to snake is not fun. Snaking is not what Mario Kart is supposed to be about. Mario Kart is supposed to be fun, pitting players against each other to test an amalgamation of skills with a bit of randomness thrown in. A round of Mario Kart should be won because of a player’s skill within clearly defined rules and not because of a player’s ability to exploit game design oversights.

Browsing through the Kotaku article’s comments, I see I’m not alone in my views.

Revenge_of_Nekojin: “I knew as soon as I saw this topic that it would have one of two people commenting in it: People that are glad snaking is gone because it made online play generally pointless, and people who are mad snaking is gone because they won’t be able to win against more skilled drivers now. Snaking was an exploit, pure and simple. It was never intended that you should [be able to] snake the entire way around a course, that’s just stupid. The only people who speak up for snaking are people who used it to win and feel superior, just like the only people who care about wave dashing being absent in [Super Smash Bros. Brawl] were people that used it to win and feel superior. I don’t capitalize [on] wave dashing because it wasn’t even a part of the game that was supposed to be there, it’s not a real, official move.

In any case, I’m glad snaking is gone. I could do it fairly well, but I still disliked playing [Mario Kart DS] due to the fact that because every single race was a snake to the finish, it didn’t even feel like Mario Kart anymore. This should make online play much more palatable.”

Lightguy: “Being able to snake does not make a player skilled, quite the opposite, it merely meant that they had the endurance to perform a move that was very difficult to pull off something never intended to be in the game to gain an unfair advantage. A skilled player would have been able to win without resorting to such cheap tactics, and it’s removal will make the game, if anything, more competitive, due to players actually having to have some ability to race.

The majority of people say it’s “not fun” because they don’t want to have to break their thumbs every time they play online just to be able to have a shot at winning. By snaking, you’re forcing everybody else to snake if they want to win, and seeing as most people will find close-run matches more enjoyable than ones where everybody else zooms into the distance in a shower of blue sparks while they trail behind, you’re actually depraving them of the enjoyment of the game. That’s in incredible dick move to do.

I’m not saying that I hate losing, before anyone goes getting any ideas. Admittedly, I prefer winning over it, but if it’s a good match and I had fun then I’m not too bothered either way if I win or lose. Going round the track in 8th place while I get lapped again, simply because my thumbs are too sore to continue snaking is not fun, and it’s what ruined Mario Kart DS online for me. In my opinion, those who feel that they should snake whilst no one else is doing it are the ones who hate losing, that they’re so scared of appearing inferior, not knowing that using such a cheap tactic already proves that they are, at least in my eyes.

And yes, some items cause chaos. Get over it. A skilled player will be able to deal with it, and use some of the other items strategically to regain his or her lead. A well-timed red shell, or a fake mystery box placed in just the right place can turn around a match just as easily as a blue shell or lightning can.

I also have no idea why you think a level playing field is a bad thing. Are you that scared of losing?”

Knowing that there are others out there who share my sentiments is refreshing. And knowing that the latest Mario Kart game will do away with this terrible mess is a sigh of relief. Come April 27 (for North Americans), let’s put this silliness behind us and enjoy some pure, unadulterated Mario Kart.