This is something most of us have thought about, but many of us don't like to make accusations publicly.  This has been going on far too long, so I'd like to settle this once and for all with a poll.  You don't have to make a post if you don't want to, but please at least vote.

Are Hirano's times fake or real?  If you think they're tool-assisted, that counts as fake.  If you think most of them are fake but he has a few real times, then just vote fake.  In the poll options, the number in parentheses is your estimated probability of his times being fake.

You can see all his times here (please look at these before you vote): Shortcut / Non-shortcut

You can see which of his times are WRs here (Hirano = Mander): http://www.mariokart64.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1152268445

And you can see all of his videos here (most of them are slower than his PRs): http://wrvids.com/Mario%20Kart/MKSC/Hirano%20(emulator,%20maybe%20tas)/

40 of his WRs are faster than his vids (many by a largin margin) or have no vids at all, 3 of his WRs are slower than his vids, and 11 of his WRs match his vids.

Other points to consider:

1. The strength of his times.  Is it humanly possible to drive so perfectly and so consistently?
2. His ZZMTs.  Is it humanly possible to alternate so quickly between left and right while zigzagging? (for comparison, check out some vids by other karters like Pierre and Cole)
2. The quality of his vids.  Do they look like emulator vids? (keep in mind that other Japanese karters also have high-quality vids; he's not the only one)

Chapolin wrote on 01/20/08 at 17:50:18:


Of course.  Who else would submit his times?  He's the one who owns and updates the site, so it would be kind of strange for someone else to submit his times for him.

I watched several vids... And all I saw was "robot" skills (and most of the vids are slower than his PRs? OMFG!!!)... I mean, it just cannot be possible for a human being to drive so "perfect" 3-laps or even 5-laps races...

That's why I'm almost sure they're TAS... My vote goes to "Fake: 90-100%".

Great quality (computer screen) impossibly perfect driving. they are obviously tas

Fake. After that, if they're really TAS, Hirano isn't so good when I see Matt reaching quickly 0'34"48 at RaR with TAS. His 0'34"63 is difficult to explain ; why didn't he record the sound for this one ? Even his 2 others 3-laps on the site (SGB and BL) are surprisingly "bad", compared to his so-called skills...

I have to watch with more atention..because this guy never pissed me with his WR's   (fake or not)

But....is very estrange..of course.

Driving that perfectly isn't possible, even by trying 10 hours per day for 10 years.

Especially when you use Toad.

After watching Fried TASes i have to say that Hirano runs seem more real than before.

I would imagine it's faster to use two fingers to go back and forth instead of using just your thumb.

Does anyone know how Hirano plays it?

I don't know much about him and his videos but nothing looks that impossible human wise but that MC flap Fried made is.  

Michael F wrote on 01/22/08 at 17:10:25:


I should be advantaged because the crosspad is on the left and i'm left handed (and no japanese is left handed AFAIK because they had trouble with his kanas writing).
But i can only press a key 11 times per second with my left hand and 8.5 times per second with my right one.
I know that some japaneses can press a key 16 times per second.


edit:
I tried a little:
http:///www.termopilucco.com/mksc/fun/mksc_zzmt.avi
not comparable to Hirano  

He turns better

35%-65%

I don't play MKSC, but I'll still give my opinion on this.

I'm basically a MKDS player, and from what several Japanese players told me, there are rumors saying that the MKDS wifi player "NTTWestJPN" might be the same person than your MKSC "Mander", also known as "Hirano".

The thing is that NTT is also suspected of hacking in MKDS; I must've been the only European to have raced him, and he was able to race amazingly fast on alot of tracks to beat me quite easily, although I think I'm one of the best wifi players, if not the best. In fact, he's the only one to have done that, and he played with an amazing consistancy, only missing when I was pushing him or annoying him. He managed to do several WRs during our races, and remember that wifi races are only done in one try, no 2nd chance. In fact, I had never seen anyone racing so well before him, and I've played all the other top players, even the other Japanese. I also noticed he was able to run faster when behind to catch up easily, plus he was worse on slippy tracks. In fact, I had the feeling he was so confident in his driving that he wouldn't miss anything, and indeed he didn't miss anything. Moreover, there are absolutely no videos of NTTWestJPN racing on wifi (he doesn't play TT; we could also wonder why: is it to be able to hack quietly ?), so the only proofs are his wifi races. And given that I played some hackers without even noticing they were hacking, I guess he could've done so. In fact, I guess the difference could be that if he recorded a wifi race himself, it'd be obvious that he hacks.

Of course, all what I've written stays suppositions. Although I have big doubts about NTT, I can't be 100% sure he hacks. From what I've seen, it's the same with Hirano. I hope that what I added will help you.