The Wii Wheel was supposed to make racing easy enough for anyone to jump right into a session of Mario Kart Wii with no prior experience with either traditional game controllers or the Wii Remote. When used properly, it works as expected. The trouble is that it's not always used properly. Watching your parents try to get through Wario's Gold Mine, you'll notice that they're sometimes holding the Wheel the wrong way, and it's making them drive off the track into chasms of eternity. This observation led me to examine how Mario Kart Wii's steering works and come up with a solution for keeping n00bs on track.
The color is off a little in the above video, but the intro cutscene for Mario Kart Wii in Japan shows off some sweet stuff. We're sure it'll be no different than the intro we get here in the states, but we're glad to have had this early look. The whole "stunting thing" looks a lot more manageable and it appears to actually flow with the game nicely, dashing our fears that our beloved Mario Kart franchise would not be enjoyable on the Wii. Personally, we don't know why we ever had any doubt. It's Nintendo we're talking about, after all!
Fans that just can't get enough of upcoming Nintendo racer Mario Kart Wii, there is now more content for you to painstakingly go over, drooling down your shirt as you press your face against your monitor. The official website for the game (in Japan) has launched, bringing with it a steady flow of video content aimed at blowing your mind. Seriously, there's lots of great content over there, so be sure to check it out.
You can all breathe easier now ... considering, of course, that you trust the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine, which has been known to be wrong on a few issues here and there.
When we reported rumors that the dreaded snaking technique would worm its way to Mario Kart Wii, many of you vented your irritation in the comments. According to ONM, though, snaking won't be exploitable in the upcoming Wii racer.
The magazine reported in its review of the game, "Ever since the N64 game, practically every Mario Kart game has included the ability to get a speed boost by waggling the controls left and right as you powerslide. This has finally been scrapped, and now your speed boost is determined by how long you can hold the slide." Sounds like a better system to us.
Yet, we're sure that some of you are advocates of snaking, and are not happy by this turn of events. So, now it's your turn to vent in the comments -- let us hear your woes, snakers.
Remember that Mario Kart Wii trailer we posted just two days ago? Well, shift-delete that footage from your memory and replace it with this extended promotional video which debuted at the Game Developers Conference. Not only is this clip twice as long as the previous one we featured, but it has a remixed version of the old Mario Circuit music as its audio track instead of some guy who sounds like Jerry Seinfeld yelling in the background.
We can totally get behind this song! It sounds like something out of Bust a Groove!
For those of you who've decided that just looking at screens isn't enough for you, IGN has uploaded video of Mario Kart Wii in action. And, from the looks of it, this game is going to be just as we thought: fun. Seriously, did you ever doubt it could be anything but?
Hot on the heels of yesterday's news (and today's, for that matter) on everyone's favorite upcoming racer, Mario kart Wii, comes fresh screens depicting a variety of the game's selling points. We get to see Mii integration (above), as well as a taste for some of the tracks making their way into the game, new and old alike. Not only that, but we get some screens for navigating the online arena and setting up a race.
For all of the eye candy, check out our gallery below.
IGN got their lucky, lucky hands on the latest build of Mario Kart Wii recently, taking the time to carefully analyze the differences between this game and the installments of old. Following this, they wrote a five-page preview on the game. We've read the whole thing (omg no wai?!). We're excited.
First of all, each racer now has a plethora of rides to choose from: three karts and three bikes each. These are available from the start of the game. Also, the CC classes return, but with a small twist. The 50CC bracket is for karts only, the 100CC bracket is for bikes only and the 150CC is a mixture of both. IGN notes the difference between the two as the bikes having a tougher time with turns, but being easier to boost with (tip the wheel back to do a wheelie, hold it then zoom off). As for karts, they'll get boosts from powerslides, providing more boost depending on how long the player holds it, eliminating the need to slam on the d-pad to generate these anymore (we're not sure if this means no more snaking or not). Stunts will also provide boosts, allowing a player to perform a mid-air stunt off of a jump and shoot off once they land on the track.
Well, the big thing this week is the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, as folks from the gaming industry get together and create pandemonium throughout the intertron by releasing new details on upcoming projects and revealing some for the first time. And we wouldn't have it any other way.
So we were wondering what you Nintendo lovers would want to see most from the show. A new game announcement? A release date set in stone for Wii Fit or perhaps Mario Kart? What kind of things regarding this week's show are rattling around in your mind?
The folks at Nintencast have posted a clutch of new Mario Kart Wii screens, and even taken the time to extract fresh factoids about the game from said shots. While one or two of their findings are less than earth-shattering ("Luigi's circuit is still a simple track"), the odd nugget will prove interesting to those following the game's progress.
For instance, we now know that Koopa Troopa will be making only his third appearance in a Mario Kart game (having previously appeared in Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!), that race spectators will comprise entirely of Miis, and that the game will feature a kind of "half-pipe" track, presumably to encourage players to pull off stunts, a new addition to the series. We're still not totally convinced by the sight of Donkey Kong performing a handstand while riding a motorbike, but Nintendo doesn't often drop the ball on this series, so we'll remain quietly confident for now.
Admittedly, a handful of these screens did already appear in the Famitsu scans we posted a couple of weeks back, but the majority are new to us. Accelerate past the break for more, or race over the "Read" link at the bottom of this post to access the full set.
We've been hearing new details about Mario Kart Wii recently, and it's pretty clear that there's going to be some notable tweaks made to the tried-and-trusted formula. Firstly, we should make one thing clear: we are genuinely thrilled about many of these modifications. Online leagues, global rankings, and online multiplayer for up to twelve people is the stuff dreams were made of back in 1991, when Super Mario Kart (above) was soaking up our afternoons like a particularly fun, addictive sponge (and on a tangential note, how well has that game aged?).
But look at some of the other changes being made: we already know about the bikes, but it looks like the game will also include aerial tricks and bike wheelies, introducing some sort of stunt element to the experience. Is this a case of Nintendo over-egging Mario Kart, in the same way that it over-egged Mario Kart: Double Dash!!? There's an awful lot to be excited about when it comes to Mario Kart Wii, but are you Mario Kart traditionalists concerned by some of these new developments, or is it simply too soon to tell?
This has nothing to do with the leaked release list from earlier in this very same day, but some more specific features about the game other than when it will officially exist in the sense that you may buy it, play it and perhaps snuggle with its instruction manual. According to an upcoming issue of NMag (by way of GoNintendo), snaking will make its way back into the game, along with a total of 32 tracks (16 new, 16 old) and Baby Peach and Boo will be drivers. Also, the controls are supposed to be very much like those that are in Excite Truck.
Apparently, this is all speculation, though, as a Nintendo rep told Eurogamer that these tidbits of info are nothing more than rumors. "Nintendo has not announced any further information on Mario Kart," the rep said. "We've spoken to the magazine and it's just pure rumour and speculation on their part." So while Nintendo shoots down all of this info, you can still be sure in betting on the track list being a mixture of older tracks, with some new ones sprinkled in for good measure. We'll just all have to make our own guess as to how many there will be.
Read - GoNintendo leaks info from upcoming issue of NMag Read - Nintendo tells Eurogamer it's all rumors
There's been a few less-than-stellar updates on the dojo recently, but today's unveiling of the Mario Circuit stage has atoned for that somewhat. Not that the stage is entirely new, of course; those with strong memories may recall this stage being part of a trailer first shown back in November 2006. Nevertheless, Mario Kart totally rocks our socks, so we'll forgive it.
Based on the figure-eight Mario Circuit course that has appeared in every Mario Kart game to date (battles take place at where the track joins in the middle), this stage features a field of eight Shy Guys zipping about in karts as you scrap. Being hit by a kart deals out damage, and they approach from all directions as well: from the sides, back, and front. Luckily for brawlers, the giant screen at the back of the track keeps tabs on their location. And if that fails, you can even wipe out the karts yourself with one well-timed swing of a weapon.
Looks like Nintendo fans in Japan are about to have a lot to crow about. While we'll have to see if any of these goodies make it outside that country in bundle form, apparently new Wii colors will be released as bundles with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The colors include Diamond Black, Red, Mint Blue, Snow Pink, and Famicom colors, and the bundles will include two Wii remotes and two nunchuks so you can get your brawl on in style. The packs will retail for ¥35,000, which is a little more than $313 U.S.. Not a bad deal at all.
It's not all about Brawl, however. Word is that Mario Kart is coming in February and is confirmed as having eight player multiplayer (the number just keeps dropping), and on top of the bikes we'd already heard about, there will be animals as well. Maybe they should change the name to Mario Things-You-Can-Drive-Or-Otherwise-Navigate?
None of this has been confirmed yet, but if it is ... we could use some of those new colors! Oh, wait. Y'know, we could just use a few more Wiis, in any shade.
[Update: Alas, this news report was not the Famitsu you're looking for. Or, as commentor MidnightScott said more succinctly, this was confirmed as a fake translation.]
Over at CVG, they pose a very interesting question: will the inclusion of motorcycles completely ruin Mario Kart? While we'd say the inclusion of bikes may perhaps go against the spirit of the title, we wouldn't go so far as to assume it's such a decision that would ruin the game. Considering we have yet to play it ourselves, we're trying to be open-minded about all of it.
But we will agree with them in saying that the GameCube entry Double Dash was lackluster, at best. The game seemed to be making a return to more traditional values, as it were, on the handheld circuit, with the DS game absolutely blowing us away. Now, the Wii game looks like it's going to follow in the footsteps of the GameCube game.
Now, as we said, we're not passing judgment prematurely, but we are concerned. Are you not concerned? Or, are you confident Nintendo will knock it out of the park, as they say?
