Games: SuperTuxKart in Research, MAME 0.278 is Released

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 20, 2025

• HowTo Geek ☛ Researchers Just Trained a Car on SuperTuxKart

  The latest Mario Kart entry on the Nintendo Switch 2 is pretty cool. But have you ever wished it felt a little bit more... Real? With a car and SuperTuxKart, it can be done. Kind of.

  Researchers have transformed a standard hatchback into a fully functional controller that works for a racing video game. The project was undertaken by UK-based security consultancy Pen Test Partners (PTP). The team utilized their in-house research vehicle, a 2016 Renault Clio, for the experiment, and the ultimate goal was to demonstrate how to intercept and manipulate Controller Area Network (CAN) data, a critical skill for anyone entering the field of automotive security. The CAN bus is the internal communications network that allows various electronic control units (ECUs) throughout a car to exchange information, enabling functions like braking, accelerating, and steering.

  So this has legitimate, serious applications that aren't playing games. But you could. By tapping into this network, the researchers aimed to map the car's real-world controls to the inputs of "SuperTuxKart," a free and open-source racing game similar to "Mario Kart." Leading the technical effort was PTP's hardware hacker, David Lodge, who began by physically splicing into the Clio's CAN wiring. It also required decoding the torrent of data flowing through the network. This required a combination of studying vehicle documentation, using open-source tools designed to decipher Clio-specific codes, and of course, good old trial and error and some elbow grease (perhaps literally). Lodge meticulously pressed the pedals and turned the steering wheel to observe which "arbitration IDs"—unique identifiers for CAN messages—corresponded to each specific action.

• HowTo Geek ☛ MAME 0.278 Has Arrived With Overhauled Sound Emulation

  MAME, the popular emulator for retro arcade systems and computers, just released a new update. MAME 0.278 has a completely new sound system, several new emulation additions, and more.

  The main exciting change here is the new sound emulation system, which the team says is still “rough around the edges in some ways.” It brings native WASAPI support on Windows and PipeWire support on Linux, multi-channel input and output, built-in effects like a parametric equalizer and dynamic range compressor, lower latency, and better quality sample rate conversion. There’s also sound input support, if the emulated system has microphones or other audio capture hardware.

  MAME 0.278 also has several systems and clones now marked as working, including several JAKKS Pacific TV games, Mattel Hot Wheels with the steering wheel controller, the Roland TR–707 Rhythm Composer, a Japanese release of Tekken 3, and some Bomberman clones. If there was a game or system you couldn’t previously get running in MAME, now might be the time to try it again.