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Mario Kart Wii Japanese intro video excites
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!%Gallery-4772%[Via Joystiq]
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]
Watch Mario Kart Wii played with and without Wii Wheel
More than a month out from the release of Mario Kart Wii, MTV's Stephen Totilo was allowed to take the game for a (literal) spin, first employing the accompanying wheel accessory and then playing without. You can see the differences between the two with the aid of the above video and the sans wheel clip after the break.For his part, Totilo seems to be more of a wheelman, but we plan on reserving judgment until we put our own mitts around the attachment. How do you think you'll play?(P.S. Sorry to our friends in Japan, the U.K. and Canada, as these videos won't load for you.)
Compare the Wii Wheel vs. the Wiimote in Mario Kart
We've seen many videos of Mario Kart, but since Stephen Totilo from MTV Multiplayer was given the opportunity to try out the Wii Wheel, we're reporting his findings to you. In the video above, you can watch Totilo using the Wii Wheel to race, with Melvin Forrest from Nintendo of America talking him through it.As you can see, you hold the wheel so the the Wiimote is tilted and almost facing you, as opposed to Excite Truck where you hold the Wiimote so that it's facing up. Aside from the steering, the controls also seem pretty intuitive. Essentially, the 2 button accelerates and the 1 button brakes. The D-pad, meanwhile, is for using items -- up will throw the item, down will drop it behind you, and left/right will hold your item near you. The game also makes use of the B button for jumping and power sliding. It looks like the Wii Wheel and Wiimote controls might take some getting used to, but in our opinion, these control schemes seem like the most fun. Totilo said that he prefers using the Wii Wheel over the Wiimote alone, but he's also self-admittedly not a big Mario Kart aficionado. Of course, if you're set in your ways, you can choose to use a GameCube or Classic Controller instead. The video above shows Totilo playing the game with the Wii Wheel, but check the break to see him playing with just the Wiimote and no shell to see how the wheel compares. *Note: Apprently MTV's videos can only be watched by people in the U.S. Sorry, guys! Gallery: Mario Kart Wii
Speed Racer and the Wii Wheel
When you think of the Wii Wheel, obviously the first thing that comes to mind is Mario Kart. Whether it's a gimmick peripheral or whether it will actually make the experience more fun will be determined in a month from now. Yet, there are other racing games on the market for the Wii, and some of them will surely utilize the Wii Wheel and take it into consideration during development. Take, for example, Speed Racer. After Nintendo announced the peripheral at last year's E3, WB Games approached the company so that they could test it out with Speed Racer. In an interview with MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John, Jeff Nachbaur of WB Games stated that it took some tweaking to make sure that players wouldn't oversteer with the wheel. After a lot of testing, though, he says that they've managed to get it just right.Nachbaur also said that the Wii Wheel doesn't add much of a difference in gameplay, but most testers enjoyed playing the game with the wheel rather than with just the Wiimote alone. So, if you like racing games, you can at least rest assured knowing that the Wii Wheel won't be some peripheral that you chuck away and forget about once your done playing Mario Kart -- assuming, of course, that you'll ever be done playing Mario Kart.
Mario Kart Wii snakes into stores April 27
Nintendo has announced that its frantic shell-flinging racer, Mario Kart Wii, will see its long-awaited US release on April 27th. The game will include the "intuitive" Wii Wheel, otherwise described as a large hunk of plastic capable of housing your Wii remote. We envision it being less useful for the actual game and better suited to the imaginary car we'll be driving everywhere, complete with lip-powered puttering and unexpected honking to annoy the coworkers at the office.Once you stick Mario Kart Wii into your console, you'll be able to compete with up to 11 other drivers online across 32 courses (half of them recycled from previous games). You can also expect to encounter Mii integration, 10 battle arenas, alternate controller support and a festering hatred for blue shells.
Fresh Mario Kart Wii footage for your eyeballs
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.%Gallery-4772%
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]
There'll be enough Wii Wheels for EVERYBODY!
Everybody who cares, that is. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh. But having had previous experience with other Wiimote clip-ons, yours truly has yet to be sold on the Wii Wheel that will come with every copy of Mario Kart Wii. Some of you might think differently however, and that's fine! In fact, Nintendo totally has you pro-Wii Wheel people in mind, because it'll be selling spare Wii Wheels (Wiils?) in Japan from April 11th, just one day after Mario Kart Wii launches. At ¥1,200 (around $11), it shouldn't be too pricey to equip friends and family for the sweaty-palmed, marathon multiplayer sessions that lie ahead. We suspect there's a fat profit to be made from these, so we're expecting to see them in the west at some point.%Gallery-4772%[Via Siliconera]
Mario Kart Wii boxed, logo'd
If the official Mario Kart Wii box art tells us anything, it's that we won't be waltzing out of the local game store with a standard-issue game case tucked neatly into our back pocket. No, we'll be lugging around an actual box -- and for what? The Wii Wheel. We can't imagine Nintendo's gonna charge extra for this 2-cent hunk of plastic, but it's the inconvenience that irks us: another box to break down, another prop cluttering the coffee table. What say we round these wheels up and send 'em on a one-way rocket to the sun! %Gallery-16165%[Via Official Nintendo Press Room]
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.
