As part of an upcoming Mario Kart 8 tournament, Nintendo is offering top competitors a bevy of Nintendo eShop Gold Points. Gold Points are Nintendo’s virtual loyalty credits that can be applied to digital purchases on Nintendo devices such as the Switch and 3DS, which will soon not be supported by the eShop.

Perhaps the most popular arcade racing series of all time, Mario Kart has been a long-running platform for competitive gaming. The skill floor for the game is very low, meaning that even the most novice gamers can pick up a controller and start racing with relative ease. However, as anyone who has played competitively will know, the skill ceiling for Mario Kart games is also astronomically high. Veteran players will often spend dozens of hours mastering each course, learning its shortcuts and various intricacies. These dedicated gamers will also be well-practiced in the game’s simple-yet-vital moment-to-moment mechanics such as drifting. These mechanics and course design philosophies are built upon with each release, and will likely continue to be expanded and polished in Mario Kart 9, which is rumored to be in development.

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Until that game is released, though, players are still heavily competing in Mario Kart 8, with Nintendo promoting the North American Open taking place this spring. As part of this tournament, Nintendo will be awarding the top eight players each day with 2,500 Gold Points, according to the official Nintendo of America Twitter account. This comes out to a $25 USD reward for the top racers each day. The tournament will be taking place from March 25-27 between 12 PM and 6 PM PT.

There will likely be some fans who think that 2,500 Gold Points is a somewhat small reward for being in the top eight best racers each day, especially considering how competitive Mario Kart can get. With Mario Kart 8 soon getting several DLC courses, it’s likely that this tournament will garner quite a bit of attention as well, making the reward more challenging to obtain. Still, the reward can be achieved on all three days, which brings the total potential reward amount up to 7,500 Gold Points or $75 – a slightly more desirable endowment.

Regardless of what some players think of this reward, it will certainly draw a lot of people into the tournament. It costs nothing to participate, so it will be interesting to see how many competitors are new or novice players as opposed to series veterans. At the end of the day, Mario Kart 8 exists to be fun for players, so the Gold Points reward is simply a nice bonus.

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Source: Nintendo of America/Twitter

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Nick Rodriguez
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Nick Rodriguez is a Senior Writer for Screen Rant. While vigorously passionate about books, movies, and music, he was particularly drawn to video games since he first laid eyes on Spyro the Dragon and (much to his mother’s distaste) Silent Hill. More recently, his favorites have included Disco Elysium, Red Dead Redemption II, Kentucky Route Zero, and the Mass Effect series. Presently, he spends most of his time typing away in the chilly state of Wisconsin.

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