Nintendo
To show off the capabilities of number-crunching tool Manta, programmer Dave Pacheco explains how he wired a system for recording matches from the Nintendo 64 racing-game classic Mario Kart 64.
The post is a little on the wonky side, but more or less, Pacheco's system records what's happening on-screen (through a gadget called an iGrabber) and translates it into numbers. He explains:
The resulting data, which you can check out at a dedicated site for Kartalytics, isn't completely scientific, since it's just the same group of people playing the game, and it doesn't have a lot to say about which strategy will guarantee domination (damn). But the game has a reputation for being punishing, and that's reflected by what Pacheco calls "Keithings," times where a player in first place is jettisoned to fourth place in less than five seconds. Happens quite a bit.
If you're inclined, you can read the details on how to set up the system in the original post here.
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