The Wii is one of those markets where Nintendo owns both the hardware and the software, but part of that is because they make such damn good products. So it’s the toughest platform for third party developers. We don’t have a software or content base ideally suited for it. So it doesn’t really play to our strengths and we’re pretty busy with other stuff right now. I’m thrilled that Nintendo has had this kind of success because they took some risky bets, and it’s always nice some bold thinking pay off for them. But I don’t think we’ll be on the platform.

At least he's honest!

Carmack on Doom, Rage, EA and More [Tom's Games via Go Nintendo]

Alba, currently starring in the new Fantastic Four and probably best known for her work as Some Girl With A Fantastic Ass in Into The Blue, explains of her Nintendo sales domination contribution:

I had my DS on the set of Fantastic Four and I bought it for my entire cast when we wrapped. I guess I just felt bad because between takes they'd be chatting and we were in the Fantasticar and I'd always have my iPod and my DS with me. It was like fingernail-biting, gripping moments in the movie and then, "Cut!" I'd pick up my DS and try to beat my 82 age in Brain Age. I'd try to memorize all of those damn words.

Sure she may have a brain age of 82, but I'm sure you're mostly interested in the fact that Jessica Alba knows what the hell a DS is. Should help ground your masturbatory fantasies involving Jessica and a heated Mario Kart DS battle with high (sexy) stakes. Michael McWhertor

Celebrity Byte: Exclusive Interview With Jessica Alba [Yahoo!]

Circuit City is never really a place I think about going for games, but they do seem to have a lot of sales on them. This week they are running a special with all games $19.99 sold two for $30. They also seem to have Wii's in stock although by the time you read this they will most likely all be gone. Also available is Mario kart DS and New Super Mario Brothers for $26.25 each. As an added and rather humorous bonus. If you purchase a copy of Tomb Raider Anniversary, you get a free TR beach towel. Now you can finally fulfill your fantasy of getting on top of Lara Croft without resorting to dressing up that blow up doll in your closet. Flynn De Marco

[via GoNintendo]

But back to gaming. I'm currently armed with a Nintendo DS and a fresh copy of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and only one boss in. I've also got a Ziploc bag full of random cards and carts, ready for whatever Kotaku Wi-fi battle needs to happen. And since I'm the owner of a brand new Wii, when I get back to Los Angeles, it's Wii Sports and Wario Ware Smooth Moves all damn night.

So what games have you got penciled in for the weekend? Anyone going to Barcade ready to issue an arcade challenge? Let us know what's gettin' played in the comments. Michael McWhertor

At only $12 a set, DS Buttons can make avoiding those awkward introductions when asking strangers for a game of Tetris DS or Mario Kart DS on the train very affordable. Michael McWhertor

DS Buttons

Not my wife. My wife doesn't have an apron, because we eat only beef jerky at the Ashcraft house. That and popcorn. Reader Elfire's misses does have an apron. He explains:

My wife is a Nintendo fangirl. A few months ago she made this apron for herself so she could show her love for Nintendo while cooking.

Domestic evenings are spent playing "a few rounds of Mario Kart DS together" and then eating a home-made feast to satisfy those "after Kart munchies." Stepford Wives, anyone? Brian Ashcraft

According to our site description, we supposedly supply 'cheats' but not 'strategies'. So I'm not really sure if this post conforms enough to our mission statement to pass our rigorous screening process. But if you're looking to improve your Mario Kart DS game, _NANO_ over at the official Mario Kart DS forums has posted a comprehensive tutorial with extensive video on How To Dodge That Nasty Blue Shell. Hit the link to see more videos and read instructions in action. Crecente! Prepare to suck it. Florian Eckhardt

How to Dodge a Blue Shell in Mario Kart DS [Official Forums]

The Biggest Mario Kart Tourney Ever [GZN]

In addition to the four million Nintendo DS sold in North America, Nintendo has also sold over a million copies of both of their big holiday titles, Nintendogs and Mario Kart DS. The latter cleared the one million sales mark in less than seven weeks. Funny, when we were out at the Game Sumitt back in November, it seemed like Mario Kart would end up one of the hot gifts at X-mas. Guess we were right.

The Regginator will shake some hands, sign some stuff and then kick some ass in Mario Kart DS. Nintendo will also be giving away some cool stuff after the tournament. You have to be in-person to win, but you may be lucky enough to catch Reggie in-game on your own DS as well. Make sure you do some racing tonight and keep your fingers crossed. I'm told that you will definitely know if you are racing Reggie. Here's a rough schedule (all in PST):

o 3:45pm start signing players up for game play
o number of players will determine tournament structure
o 4:00pm start tournament play
o 4:15pm Reggie arrives
o 5:00pm finalize tournament (championships)
o 5:15pm award prizing

Alice points out that a slew of Walk Throughs have already hit the net for Mario Kart DS. Hey Luke, maybe you should check them out before we play again.

Mario Kart DS [Gamefaqs]

A thread at the perpetually informative Gaming-Age Forums points to a GSCentral thread discussing the hackability of Nintendo's WiFi system. One user, Parasyte, claims to have already gotten several offline tracks in Mario Kart DS playable online - but he's not saying how. Here's a clip of an offline level being played online. I want more information, I want to know how to do this and I want to see what Nintendo is going to do. Upon hearing the news of hte hack Crecente asked, "Did they give Mario boobs?" Only a matter of time, my friend, only a matter of time.

Mario Kart DS Offline Tracks Spotted Online [GAF]
Anyone Up for Hacking Nintendo WiFi Later this Week? [GSCentral]
Video Proof

We delayed the contest more times than Team Ninja is going to delay DoA 4. Finally, we stopped extending deadlines and had to man up. The winner of the Hot Rod DS is: derekc.

The five losers runners-up receive a Nintendo DS stylus and they are: Drew, the_briarpatch, Cerif27, Ravidrath and supersloth.

The random number generator gods have shown favor on you all, today. If your commenting name is listed above you need to send us an email with your shipping information. The email you use must match the email your commenting account is registered through.

Don t forget to drop a comment over on the official contest thread for your chance at winning a swank Hot Rod Red DS bundle (that s a red DS, checkered wrist strap, stickers and the Mario Kart DS game), or one of five Mario Kart DS styluseseseseses. The contest ends today, so don t pull a me and put it off till Thursday when it s too late.

Contest Thread [Kotaku]

We kinda feel bad about pushing back the Friend Code contest for weeks when all you get to win is a Mario Kart Stylus. So we asked Nintendo if they could pony up something worthwhile and they delivered.

The grand prize for the contest will be a Hot Rod Red DS bundle. For those of you not in the know on this tricked out Nintendo goody, it comes with a red DS, racing stickers, racing wrist strap and a copy of Mario Kart DS. To make this a bit more fun, you no longer need to enter a friend code to enter. Just hop to the link and create a
comment with your city and state or your friend code.

We are still giving away five stylus and the winners will still be determined by random drawing.

Entries end at midnight on Wednesday. So if you ve been slack, or didn t own a DS, get to commenting. If you need commenting privledge make sure you request via tips@kotaku.com early so we can get it to you in time.

Good luck.

Enter here to win [Kotaku]

There are a lot of things I really love about Mario Kart DS and its use of NiWiFi. But, let s face it, Nintendo s first WiFi DS game has some major issues.

Rant on:

The biggest problem is the game s seeming inability to deal with the dips who decide to drop out of a race in the last five second rather than face a single defeat. I can t believe Nintendo didn t forsee this. It s annoying as hell and alone makes me not want to race people some times.

While the simplicity of Kart s WiFi racing is a big plus, it s just as big a minus. I d kinda like to have lobbies to check out the competition or at least to allow me to select who I will be racing against instead of relying on a totally random match-up EVERY, SINGLE, RACE!

I hate that I can t talk, message or draw pictures to the competition before, during or after a race. Why wasn t anything like that included? The first time I raced Luke we had to resort to IMing each other for a quick barrage of smack talk between races.

Where s the damn leaderboard. I must have a leaderboard. I need to know that I am number 12,437 out of 12, 438. It will do my inflated ego good. I need to know how my friend s rank. I need to know how much Luke sucks.

Come on Nintendo, you can do it. Fix Metroid Prime before it hits WiFi. Just remember, everytime Nintendo screws up an online game God kills a kitten.

We re down to the second to last day of the neverending Mario Kart DS contest. I swear we renot going to be extending it anymore. Hop on over to the link to enter your Friend Code and be entered for a chance to win a cool Mario Kart Stylus.

I was on the other night playing a bit of MKDS, I noticed Luke was no where to be seen. He claims he was saying his Hail Mary s over the porcelin alter, but I don t believe him.

Official Kotaku Friend Code Thread [Contest page]

Slashdot has word of a site dedicated to hooking NiWiFi players up in Mario Kart without totally random results. DS Meet lets you search for online users based on their DS user names.

DS Meet Hopes to Match [Slashdot]

With the Mario Kart contest in full swing, we've got a pair of MK commercials with comedy duo Ninety-Nine. Click here, watch the adverts and see what kinda pasta the Mario Bros eat. Answers after the jump.

Mario eats mushroom pasta, and Luigi eats squid.

Learn About Japanese Manzai Combis [Japan Zone]

Mario Kart Contest

Nintendo hit the world with some pretty exciting online numbers this morning. In the first week since Mario Kart DS release, 45 percent of the game s owners have already played the game online.

The game hit stores on Monday, Nov. 14 and by Sunday night more than 112,000 people in the U.S. had purchased the game. Of those, about 52,000 users logged into NiWiFi and got their game on, Nintendo says.

Not bad for one week, I ll be interested to see what the number looks like after this holiday and the release of Animal Crossing: Wild World and Metroid Prime Hunters

Mario Kart DS Contest [Kotaku]

It s Mario in the lead, followed closely by Mario and Mario. Mario and Mario are battling for fourth with Mario rounding out the pack.

Perhaps I have too much time on my hands.

Nintendo sent me the five Mario Kart stylusesesesesesesses today to give away in our Friend Code contest. If you want a chance to win one of these styling styli then hop on over to the link below and enter your Friend Code.

Win Nintendo Schwag With Your DS Friend Code [Kotaku]

Without offering any rhyme or reason, a Nintendo forum moderator posted a thread on not giving out your friend code, posting about giving out friend code information or trying to get friend codes in any, way, shape or form at Nintendo's message boards. Lucky for you, Kotaku readers, we break the rules and hold contests about it.

Thanks Rollin!

Win Nintendo Schwag With Your DS Friend Code

Enter here [Kotaku]

Nintendo has been kind enough to donate five swank Mario Kart DS styluseseseses to our little Friend Code drawing. Make sure you hop over to the original post, linked at the bottom, to enter your friend code. You have until NEXT Friday to drop the code and get a chance to win one of the styli.

Win Nintendo Schwag With Your Friend Code [Kotaku]

Apparently Nintendo's worldwide WiFi isn't so happy with the whole world actually using it. The official NiWiFi site says the "Global Wi-Fi Service is experiencing intermittent problems." Not good, let's hope that the whole thing doesn't come crashing down when Mario Kart DS is actually released globally.

Nintendo WiFi [Official Site]

The filthy lies stop here. I own newbs in Mario Kart DS. Just to prove it, we're holding a contest where the Kotaku faithful can leave their friend codes in the comments section of this post and on Saturday morning, Crecente will randomly pick a friend code to win free stuff. Our friend codes are over there, so click over, add us and we'll see you in-game.

Win Nintendo Schwag With Your DS Friend Code

Mario Kart DS is officially live today. If you end up buying the game come post your friend code in our comments and you'll be entered to win some bits of cool Nintendo shwag. I'll update you when I figure out what exectly I'll be giving away, but it'll be cool dammit, it'll be cool.

I'll be holding the random drawing Saturday morning so drop the code by midnight Friday. Let us know if you need commenting privileges. To kick things off here's my and Luke's friend codes. Luke, btw, sucks ass at this game.

Codes after the jump:

Crecente: 107433 372586
Luke: 493980 083139

Ps. We promise not to do anything with your codes, other than use them to practice winning. :)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But this blurry-ass thing is probably only worth about ten words. However, you can see the important stuff, Crecente and number 2. Nintendo's Wi-Fi is up and working fine.

Who the hell plays as Donkey Kong, anyway?

I was laid up a bit yesterday so I had plenty of time to spend staring at the wall or my DS. I decided the latter would be a lot more fun. In my bed time I decided to transfer a emblem a reader had made of my head over to Mari Kart DS. It took friggin forever, but it amused me. Check it out: It's my head. So now when I race you in Kart you know I will always be a little ahead. Get it? Get it? I crack me up.

I'll make sure to post a blurb on Monday where we can all post our friend codes so we can race one another.

Since Mario Kart DS isn't in stores yet, and Nintendo's Wi-Fi is still sort of beta as a result, I can't really poo-poo it too much, but a the Kotaku editors and I tried to gather in Wi-Fi space for the "Kotaku World Championships Showdown of the Gladiators." On this day, it was not to be. We were met with the blue screen of "Searching for opponents. Please wait a moment. It is possible that you may not be able to gather four people." It's cool, it's beta, so I'm not going to grumble grumble too much. The title will be crowned at some point, and you'll definitely be reading about it here.

Update: Tech wunderkinds that we are, we tweaked around with the Friend set-up and managed to get the crew squared away, but when we chose a Friend Match, we were still gg'd by beta.

1-1: drive through all 5 numbered gates in order.
1-2: collect all 15 coins.
1-3: destroy all 10 item boxes.
1-4: get the star and use it to hit 5 cheep cheeps.
1-5: drive through all 6 numbered gates in order.
1-6: drive out of the mansion backward.
1-7: collect all 20 coins.
1-8: perform 4 power-slide turbo boosts in 1 lap.
boss: user mushrooms to crash into the big bully and knock him off the stage.

2-1: crash into all 10 wooden crates and destroy everyone one.
2-2: collect all 10 coins.
2-3: drive through all 5 numbered gates in order.
2-4: destroy all 5 item boxes.
2-5: collect all 20 coins.
2-6: use bob-ombs to destroy all 5 pokeys.
2-7: drive trhough all 10 numbered gates in order.
2-8: perform 6 power-slide turbo boosts in 3 laps.
boss: hit the eyerok s eyeball 3 times with shells.

3-1: destroy all 5 item boxes.
3-2: drive through all 5 numbered gates in order backward.
3-3: collect all 15 counts while avoiding the chain chomp.
3-4: reach the finish before yoshi.
3-5: drive through all 8 numbered gates in order.
3-6: hit monty moles with shells 5 times.
3-7: perform 10 power-slide turble boosts in 1 lap.
3-8: collect all 20 coins.
boss: reach the finish before goomboss.

4-1: reach the finish before donkey kong.
4-2: blast 20 crabs.
4-3: reach the finish before the red car.
4-4: drive through all 7 numbered gates in order.
4-5: collect all 15 coins. if you get squished by a thwomp, you fail.
4-6: break all 10 item boxes while avoiding the fake items.
4-7: drive through all 10 gates.
4-8: perform 9 power-slide turbo boosts in 1 lap.
boss: collect 50 coins while avoiding king boo.

5-1: reach the finish before the stray chain chomp.
5-2: drive backward and collect 15 coins. if you hit a snowman, you fail.
5-3: destroy all 5 item boxes.
5-4: drive through all 10 numbered gates in order.
5-5: complete 1 lap in the opposite direction within the time limit.
5-6: collect all 18 coins.
5-7: drive through all 8 numbered gates in order.
5-8: reach the finish before mario.
boss: hit the big bob-omb with 3 bob-ombs.

6-1: drive backward across the spinning bridge. f you fall, you out.
6-2: get stars and run over 15 rockey wrenches.
6-3: collect all 30 coins.
6-4: destroy all 10 item boxes.
6-5: drive through all 8 numbered gates in order.
6-6: perform 14 power-slide turbo boosts in 1 lap.
6-7: collect all 40 coins.
6-8: reach the finish before peach.
boss: use muchroom boosts to hit chief chilly and knock him off the stage 3 times.

Mario Kart DS: Mission Mode Missions [British Gaming]

Mario Kart DS Full Character List [British Gaming Blog]

Mario
Luigi
Peach
Donkey Kong
Bowser
Wario
Toad
Yoshi
Shy Guy
Daisy
Waluigi
Dry Bones
Koopa Troopa
Toadette
Petey Piranha
R.O.B.

Nintendo's Wi-Fi site went live today. The only confusing part of the site is probably its most novel feature. MyNintendo.com users can link their Nintendo DS ID to their MyNintendo login. For example, my DS's ID (post quick ID-linking process) is LukeKotaku, and if you click over to the Game Hub you'll see my name there when I'm online playing. The confusion is created because your DS ID may different from your in-game ID. For example, my in-game Mario Kart-handle is Scoot, so when we square off online that's what you'll see (unless it's an imposter!). The different user names per game (Tony Hawk functions similarly) could get confusing, but they are all linked with the DS ID, which seems to serve as a master ID.

I'd like to welcome any pornography visitors who followed the word "dongle" here - this is Kotaku, a video games blog. That little piece of hardware is my gateway to Nintendo's Wi-Fi, since I don't have Wi-Fi in my home (primitive, I know). With that piece of equipment I'll be able to race the Kotaku faithful in Mario Kart when it hits shelves next week. When I get some time today or tomorrow, I'm going to set up the Wi-Fi USB Connector on my computer and report back here on how to make it work.

Mario Kart DS is the best playing iteration of the Kart racer since the 64. The best difference? Wi-Fi functionality and local download play. The latter is for when not everyone has a Kart, fellow DS owners can just enter download mode and download tracks and the core of the game to their DS and then play (though after the holiday season, I'd expect everyone to have Mario Kart DS).

Details after the jump.

The speed of Mario Kart returns on the DS version. The 150cc Kart class rides like it should. The new tracks are excellently designed racing tracks that maintain the spirit of the old Kart titles. And if you want to get into that spirit, the Retro cup is a greatest hits of tracks from across the Mario Kart series.

The Wi-Fi integration is seamless. It's as easy as clicking multiplayer on the menu and joining the game. There's a local version that just requires you to go to "Multiplayer" and wait for a group to show up. It wasn't enough that we played Mario Kart throughout the day at the Summit, but we played during the bus ride to dinner, at dinner and on the way back from dinner.

There's a batch of unlockables, Geoff from Tips and Tricks was already hard at work on them and opened up some new courses during the day for us (if the match's host has unlocked new courses they are available to everyone playing).

Actual Wi-Fi play was relatively lag-free. Nintendo stated that the few times we had hiccups in the frame rate or frame stop lag it was because of 35-40 people trying to log into a single access point in Nintendo while we tested the worldwide Wi-Fi functionality.

Nintendo has half-launched the website for Mario Kart DS. So far you can check out a handful of teeny, tiny screenshots and download some wallpaper, but at the bottom it says that the full site is coming soon. I hope it has some community feature so it will be easier to hook-up with friends who want to do some kart-racing throw downs.

Mario Kart DS [Official Site]