As much as we love our Wii, it's not exactly creaking under the weight of great racing titles. There's Game Night favorite Mario Kart Wii, which isreally fun, but that already comes with its own wheel, which works surprisingly well. And after that, we have (in order of GameRankings.com score) Excite Truck, MX vs. ATV Untamed, Speed Racer, and Cars, followed by fourteen other depressing drives.
None of which is intended as a slur on Logitech's new force feedback wheel for the Wii, which actually looks and sounds excellent. Releasing in November for $99.99 (!), the Logitech Speed Force Wireless features built-in gas and brake controls, a comfy-looking expandable lap rest, a wireless USB receiver and, naturally, full force feedback.
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.
For those of you looking for a control scheme in Mario Kart Wii that does not involve a wheel or a Wiimote in any way, know that you won't be given the same love you were in, say, Smash Bros. Brawl. Instead, you're ... wait, what's this? Actually, for Mario Kart Wii, the exact same control schemes available in Super Smash Bros. Brawl are open to gamers for use.
Head past the break for the full breakdown on how you'll be busting tricks and trashing the competition in Mario Kart Wii.
There are a lot of different Wii accessories out there. You've got recharge docks, light gun shells and wireless nunchuk adapters, just to name a few. There are plenty of accessories available for Wii gamers to plunk down cash for.
So what accessories do you have? Do you own a Classic Controller? Plan on loving the Wii Wheel or Balance Board when they release? Tell us about your accessories or what accessories you have an eye on!
Nintendo's press site has the information we've all been waiting for: a concrete release date for Mario Kart Wii. The magical date is April 27th, so mark down your calendars and add your favorite pizza delivery joint into your speed dial. You're not going to want to leave the couch once that day.
IGN has uploaded a plethora of new videos for Mario Kart Wii. They arrive hot on the heels of today's news on the game and total 4 in all and, well ... uh, look: it's Mario Kart. Like, dude, do you need any other reason to check these videos out? No. The answer is no.
So listen to your inner racer and watch the mutliplayer video above, then head past the break for some more videos.
Have a spare ogal handy? If you're not sure what one is, it's a black cord used to hold in place a Keffiyeh, an Arab headdress often worn in Kuwait and other Middle Eastern countries. Nintendo Wii Fanboy reader Almadi clued us into a quick DIY project of his in which he slapped together a steering wheel peripheral using an ogal, some scotch tape, and a piece of cardboard.
It might not be as revolutionary as our homemade Balance Board, but as far as Wii remote mods go, it's cheap, and pretty much anyone can make one of their own! To be honest, it's not any goofier than Nintendo's official Wii Wheel.
Nintendo didn't give us much on Mario Kart Wii, but it's enough. A smattering of sweet screenshots, a peripheral we're uncertain about, and news of online multiplayer is enough to get any good Nintendo fan's heart racing. As for the upcoming wheel ... Mario and Luigi manage to make it look like a blast! But racing is old hat for them -- they've been doing it for years. We can only guess they needed something new to mix things up a little.
At the Nintendo press conference, Reggie hinted at the possibility of massive online races. "More racers means more fun. How many more? Stay tuned." In addition to online races, Nintendo revealed an official steering wheel accessory, not too different from the ones used by Ubisoft at the system launch. The cleverly named Wii Wheel will come packaged with the upcoming Mario Kart, to be released in the beginning of 2008.