It's all the latest from the Crave blog with Brian Tong and guest hostess Bonnie Cha. This week they talk about 'Mario Kart' for the Wii, shiny Pebble MP3 players, a dream come true for Panoramas, a touchless remote, and keyboard pants you won't want to be seen in.
When Mario Kart Wii was delivered to my doorstep, I wasn't sure what my reaction would be to the latest in the popular franchise. Would I love it? Would I hate it? Would it be just another title that couldn't live up to the hype? After playing it for about four hours yesterday, I can say with full certainty that Mario Kart Wii is one of the best games I have played in quite some time.
Now I'm sure you're wondering how I can make such a statement after playing the game for four hours and I can understand that viewpoint. But until you actually play the game and have the opportunity to use the Wii Wheel and interact with this game, you won't truly understand.
And let's also not forget that the true beauty of Mario Kart Wii isn't necessarily found in the amount of time you play, but in the quality of your experience. And so far, after playing through 20 tracks, I can say that Mario Kart Wii is easily the most fun game I've ever played on the Wii and certainly is up there with other titles as one of the most entertaining games of all-time.
... Read moreDon Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
It's not the most surprising announcement at E3, but it certainly is one of the most anticipated by Nintendo fans. Nintendo just announced Mario Kart Wii. Nintendo's seminal arcade racer is finally bringing its shell-slinging, kart-driving action to the Wii. While Nintendo has been pretty quiet about Mario Kart Wii, it's safe to say that the game will let you play as Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, or any other number of Nintendo characters across a number of Mario-themed tracks. At Nintendo's press conference today, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime cryptically said, "More racers mean more fun. Stay tuned." Nintendo will probably unveil more playable characters and features in Mario Kart Wii as time goes by, like it has done with Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Perhaps Samus Aran or Link will be getting into their own karts this time around.
Gameplay details might be vague, but Nintendo has confirmed a very important feature of the game: Mario Kart Wii will be online. Last year's Mario Kart DS offered online multiplayer racing for the Nintendo DS, but this will be the first time a console version of Mario Kart goes online. Like other online Wii titles and features, Mario Kart Wii will use the system's Wi-Fi connection to scour the Internet for rival racers. Nintendo hasn't stated whether or not Mario Kart Wii will use the same cumbersome friend code system other online Nintendo games have used, but it's a pretty safe bet.
Mario Kart Wii will ship the first quarter of 2008, and will come with its own steering wheel accessory you can slip your Wiimote into before driving.
(Credit:
Wowzzers)
It always weirds me out a little bit when companies come up with "traditional" toys based on video games. You know, like that Nintendo Monopoly board game from a few months back. Now, according to Kotaku, Nintendo has officially licensed a Mario Kart race track. I suppose this is the company's way of reaching out to an audience that might be too young for video games, so that it can indoctrinate them into the Cult of Nintendo.
I suppose a parallel example would be if Apple released a toy iPod for little kids. That'd be weird, right? I thought so.
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