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The Key to a Successful Relationship Is...Mario Kart?

Gaming can have a positive impact on relationships, particularly when you're pursuing your beloved on a virtual racetrack.

Chandra Steele
 & Chandra Steele Senior Features Writer

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Does the couple that games together stay together? Well, not necessarily. But a recent survey by GetCenturyLink of 1,000 people found that gaming has had a positive impact on the love lives of about a third of 18- to 24-year-old respondents, with Mario Kart being the best experience.

Considering that Mario and Luigi are getting ready to race around homes in Switch-controlled plastic cars with Mario Kart Live releasing in October, the news that they can bring or at least preserve domestic happiness is welcome. 

Only 42 people out of the 1,000 surveyed said gaming had any ill effects on their romantic entanglements. There is some potential division between genders, though, since women are more likely to play PC games and men are more likely to game on consoles. 

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About Our Expert

Chandra Steele

Chandra Steele

Senior Features Writer

My Experience

My title is Senior Features Writer, which is a license to write about absolutely anything if I can connect it to technology (I can). I’ve been at PCMag since 2011 and have covered the surveillance state, vaccination cards, ghost guns, voting, ISIS, art, fashion, film, design, gender bias, and more. You might have seen me on TV talking about these topics or heard me on your commute home on the radio or a podcast. Or maybe you’ve just seen my Bernie meme. 

I strive to explain topics that you might come across in the news but not fully understand, such as NFTs and meme stocks. I’ve had the pleasure of talking tech with Jeff Goldblum, Ang Lee, and other celebrities who have brought a different perspective to it. I put great care into writing gift guides and am always touched by the notes I get from people who’ve used them to choose presents that have been well-received. Though I love that I get to write about the tech industry every day, it’s touched by gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequality and I try to bring these topics to light. 

Outside of PCMag, I write fiction, poetry, humor, and essays on culture.

My Areas of Expertise

  • Making incomprehensible tech news easy to understand
  • Expanding the boundaries of topics covered in the industry
  • Figuring out tips and tricks in apps and on devices and letting you know about them
  • Putting together gift guides for everyone in your life 

The Technology I Use

All that gadgets is gold for me: my iPhone 11 Pro, my fifth-generation iPad that I use only for streaming videos and music, my iPad mini 4 that I like to take with me whenever I carry a bag that can fit it, and my MacBook Pro. Why are they all different shades of gold, though? What’s going on, Apple? 

None of them quite live up to my two past loves: my LG Lotus LX600 phone and my Sony Walkman NW-E005 MP3 player. 

I've never given up wired earbuds so I was ahead of all those trend pieces. I use a Mangotek Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter to connect them to my phone. 

I have had so many ebook readers, but I prefer paper to them all. Still, my Kindle Paperwhite is perfect for traveling or when I’m too impatient to wait for a book to be released in paperback.

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