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Nintendo drops Wii price to $150 from May 15th, throws in a free Wii Wheel and copy of Mario Kart
Turns out our snooping was spot on -- Nintendo has just made official its intention to drop the suggested retail price of the Wii down to $149.99, and will additionally include a copy of Mario Kart and the Wii Wheel peripheral with all purchases of the console. They'll replace the current bundle of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort games. The steering wheel, along with the Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk controllers, will match the color of the console you buy, whether it be black or white, and will also be available to buy separately for a scant $9.99. See Nintendo's full press release after the break.
Engadget's recession antidote: win a copy of ExciteBots and a WiiWheel!
This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn't want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back -- so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We'll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we've got a copy of Excitebots for Wii and a Wii Wheel on offer. Read the rules below (no skimming -- we're omniscient and can tell when you've skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff! (One more photo after the break).The rules: Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for "fixing" the world economy, that'd be sweet too. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) copy of Excitebots for Nintendo Wii and one (1) Wii Wheel. If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Entries can be submitted until Friday, May, 8th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck! Full rules can be found here.
Revolutionary: Mario Kart Training Wheel
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Revolutionary_Mario_Kart_Training_Wheel'; 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.
Joystiq goes all out with Mario Kart Wii controller comparison
As we're all too well aware, Mario Kart can be serious business for some folks, and Mario Kart Wii will certainly be no exception, which makes the right choice of controller all the more important. Thankfully, our pals at Joystiq have now come through with a meticulous comparison of all five driving options at your disposal. That includes the Wiimote on its own, the Wiimote with Wii Wheel, the Wiimote / nunchuck combo, the Classic Controller, and the tried and true GameCube controller. Somewhat surprisingly, while the GameCube Controller and Classic Controller each helped to put in some solid times, Joystiq actually found the Wiimote / nunchuck combo to the best all around option, with it faring particularly well when using a bike. Lagging far behind, however, was the solo Wiimote (which they recommend to avoid at all costs), although the addition of the Wii Wheel did apparently did help to make things a bit more manageable. Hit up the link below for the full rundown.
Brando's Wii Multi-Axis Racing System: a few notches above awful
We know, there's only so much you can do to a foam donut to make it, well, more than a foam donut, but Brando's trying its best to one-up the competition by adding in a stand. With Mario Kart Wii launching in under a fortnight (in the US, at least), the Wii Multi-Axis Racing System is vying for those hard-earned dollars by giving racers the ability to grip something stuck to an immobile surface rather than just flailing around with some sort of lightweight Wiimote-engulfing circle. And at just $18, it even gives the first-party Wii Wheel some serious competition. Okay, so maybe "serious" is an overstatement.[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]
Joystiq hands-on: Wii Wheel
I had low expectations for the Wii Wheel before playing a few rounds of Mario Kart at the Nintendo Media Summit. The circular chunk of plastic exceeded my expectations. And that's my advice in life: Expect little and be constantly pleased.I twisted the small wheel to turn my racer. Gentle movements steered me around the tracks, and the setup was most sensitive if I held it at a 90-degree angle, with the face pointing directly away from the TV. A button pad pushed the B trigger, giving me a bigger target to hop and turn. I reached the other buttons easily.But the control felt imprecise because it wasn't mounted to anything. I unintentionally dropped the wheel angle sometimes, making the system less sensitive. I don't know why someone would want to buy one of these, and I expect most gamers will stick with other control methods.
Nintendo's Wii Wheel priced at $14.99
We've known that Nintendo would be bundling a single Wii Wheel in with the forthcoming Mario Kart Wii title, but now it seems that folks riding shotgun (or riding your tail) can grab one of their own. According to a recently released flyer from GameStop, extra Wheels -- should the plethora of steering apparatuses already out there not suffice -- will be sold for a cool $14.99 each. April 27th just seems so, so far away, doesn't it? Check the flyer in full after the jump.[Thanks, Pat]
Nintendo and MTV film helpful reminder: the Wii Wheel does absolutely nothing
We know, it's easy to get caught in all the magic that is Mario Kart Wii -- "it's like Smash Bros. but with karts and more banana throwing!" -- but let's not fool ourselves here: that Wii Wheel is potentially the least functional piece of plastic Nintendo has shipped since the Virtual Boy. It apparently took the fine folks at MTV two whole videos to figure this out under the patient tutelage of a Nintendo rep, but while the Wii Wheel can potentially serve as a helpful reminder to hold the Wiimote with the buttons facing you, it adds zero functionality to the equation, and it's only therefore "necessary" for the first 30 seconds of play -- after which it can be tossed to your dog or teething child as a chew toy. Some might appreciate the ratio of turning a full wheel instead of a Wiimote, but we all know the truly hardcore are going to be kicking your ass with their Wavebirds anyways, to the point really is moot. Video is after the break.[Via Engadget Spanish]
Nintendo to sell Wii Wheel separately in Japan
What's the only thing better than a plastic wheel attachment for your Wii remote? Plastic wheels for all your friends' remotes, of course! Unfortunately, each copy of Mario Kart Wii only comes with one of Nintendo's revolutionary necessary new Wii Wheels.Japanese gamers shouldn't worry, though, as Famitsu (machine translation) reveals that Nintendo will be offering additional wheels for sales at the bargain price of 1200 yen (about $11). No word on whether Americans will get the same chance, but with the market for useless plastic attachments for the Wii remote being what it is, we imagine a similar deal will come stateside eventually.[Via SiliconEra]
Mario Kart Wii to support 12-player racing online
With the emergence of bikes in the franchise, it looks like change is the order of the day. And changes are happening, as we finally have confirmation that the title will feature online play for up to 12 participants. While it isn't the 16-player support rumored some time ago, it's still something we're glad to see Nintendo do, considering that their support of their online service has been lukewarm at best.Hints were placed that a more streamlined process regarding finding racers and setting matches up would be utilized, but no word as of the time of this post regarding that. And, we think we join the rest of the sane world in asking Nintendo not to burden us with a string of numbers known as the friend code.
Turn a national symbol into a, uh, steering wheel
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 announces online Wii Mario Kart, Wii Wheel
At Nintendo's E3 press conference today, Reggie Fils-Aime announced the first online-enabled console Mario Kart will come out for the Wii in the first quarter of 2008. Fils-Aime said the game is "not your father's Mario Kart," and hinted that the game will have a large number of characters. He also announced a "Wii Wheel" peripheral which will be packaged with the game and "level the track for beginners." More pictures of both the game and the wheel after the break.
New Mario Kart and Wii Wheel revealed
New. Mario. Kart.And it's online.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.
Nintendo packing Wii Wheel with Mario Kart for Wii
Let's not bandy about here, we're pretty much God's gift to green shell snipes, and hook us up with a few red shells and perhaps a banana or two and you can pretty much kiss your Flower Cup goodbye. Nintendo just announced some extensive online functionality for its upcoming Wii-based Mario Kart title, including an undisclosed amount of "more" online competitors, which is always a plus. Nintendo is also packing a free Wii Wheel with each copy of the game to help ease the newbs into the Kart action. No word on how much the new wheel will cost on its own, but we'll be seeing both it and Mario Kart in the first quarter of 2008. More pics after the break.
