10 Weird Origins Behind Iconic Video Game Weapons
9. The Blue Shell (Mario Kart)
Ah, the Blue Shell. For decades now, this monstrosity has caused pain, anger, devastation, and the demise of many friendships. This spiky devil, when fired, will find the person riding in first no matter what, ending their dreams of dominating the race with ease.
But did you know that the devs forged it out of necessity?
Mario Kart's creator, Hideki Konno, discussed this in an interview with Kotaku. He claimed that the Spiny Shell (more commonly called the Blue Shell) existed to make up for the Nintendo 64's processing limitations.
Konno claimed that despite wanting a game where everyone was in it until the end, "processing problems occurred that didn't allow us to do that." By the mid-point of a race, Konno claimed that there was "natural separation" and that all attempts to "push them back together with 64, having eight racers on the screen all the time, didn't work all that well."
With that in mind, they designed the Blue Shell to level the playing field, allowing everyone to stand a chance of keeping close to each other and avoid straining the console.