This coming Monday - November 23 - sees the release of the original SNES Mario Kart, for 800 Points. Good news. Better news is to come, though, as "sometime this holiday season" Nintendo will also release the original SNES Pilotwings and the original N64 Smash Bros. Exact release dates and pricing to come on those two.

Leaving just one game on my Virtual Console wish list. Jurassic Park. Chop chop, Nintendo.

Super Mario Kart drifts onto Wii VC [GameSpot]

Video: Mario Freaks Out On the Mario Kart: The Movie Set [Gay Gamer]

The video was created by the comedy troupe Dr. Coolsex. They seem to be based in New York. And I am based in New York. Hmmm. If they make this into a feature film, perhaps I can have get a cameo?

Less than 150 feet from any shoreline near a beach boardwalk, there's probably a video game arcade. Beach arcades have been around even before there were video games – in the late 1880s and early 1900s, you could pay a nickel to have your palms shocked by an electric current or your grip tested by a challenge to squeeze metal handles at Venice Beach, California or Coney Island, New York. And then, since the advent of Pong in the 1970s and through the phenomenon of Dance Dance Revolution, video game arcades and beaches have been closely linked.

Your average trip to the seaside can be a trip back to childhood. We undervalue trips like this, especially since the bum economy has many people taking "stay-cations" to local beaches instead of vacations to tropical resorts. Even worse, we undervalue some of the last dedicated video game arcades in the country, which you can find at Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts, Weirs Beach, New Hampshire, Redondo Beach, California or Virginia Beach in Virginia. With a good listing of local arcades featuring classic video games, you're all set for a summer of time travel.

Santa Cruz, main arcade.

For me, my beach arcade nostalgia trip began with a visit last week to the arcades at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I walked up and down the boardwalk, watching kids try to drag their parents into the smaller arcades where redemption machines were visible from the walkway. I saw a group of preteen girls gather around MTV Drumscape, unsure of how to work the controls and apparently unwilling to read the instructions. I doubled back toward the Casino arcade and noted how the sand that people tracked in from the seaside gathered in little piles by the line of Mario Kart arcade machines. Turns out, people were sitting down on the plastic kart seat to empty out their shoes. And I saw a sunburned little girl who could have been me 15 years ago head toward the Galaga machine with a handful of tokens.

I'd never been to Santa Cruz as a kid, but I was overwhelmed with nostalgia as I walked between arcade machines and squinted against the flashing neon lights coming from their screens. It took me back in time 15 years to a noisy, air-conditioned cacophony of flashing neon lights and blaring 8-bit music in an arcade somewhere near Monterey Bay, California. On that fateful day 15 years ago, I was converted from a budding beach bunny into a total arcade animal when I got a high score on Galaga after two hours and $10 in quarters.

Santa Cruz, the Classic Corner.

That arcade in Monterey is gone, now. Like so many arcades across the country, it probably closed when Nolan Bushnell's Atari and Chuck E. Cheese empire declined and arcade machines across the country lost the 3D technology battle to Nintendo and Sega's home consoles. By 1997, there were maybe two arcades in my hometown where I could find Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Ms. Pac-Man, but by and large, those "arcades" threw out their video games and replaced them with kiddy gambling machines that spat tickets. The thrill I got from those kinds of arcades faded like a sunburn – it was nothing like the burning passion Galaga instilled.

The feelings and experiences of that long-gone arcade all came back to me within minutes of finding the Galaga machine at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk – tucked into the Classic Corner of the Casino arcade building along with a dozen other old-timers, even a Sea Wolf machine, circa 1976. There were actually several Galaga machines throughout the boardwalk, since there's more than one video game arcade. In the last few years or so, the management team at the boardwalk decided to merge their video game arcades with their kiddy gambling centers (a.k.a. "redemption centers") and now you cannot go twenty feet along the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk without spotting Street Fighter, DDR, or Ms. Pac-Man right next to ski ball and UFO catcher machines.

Santa Cruz.

The arcades at Santa Cruz have a reputation among hardcore arcade gamers for having one of the largest selections of classic arcade games of any beach arcade. There's only one other place where you can find more than the 50-odd functioning classic arcade games of the 70s and early 80s; and Funspot in Laconia, New Hampshire doesn't count because it's a museum, not a beach arcade.

What does count as a beach arcade but doesn't quite top Santa Cruz's collection is Half Moon Arcade at Weirs Beach, New Hampshire – about two miles away from Funspot. Like Santa Cruz, it's a tourist location with a lot of local traffic, but unlike Santa Cruz, it's only open in the summer. Arcade manager Robert Ames says that no matter what, there will always been an arcade at that beach.

Weirs Beach — Image Cred.

"I grew up with this business," he says. "At one time or another, we've had just about everything in this arcade." Between the arcade's two locations along the shoreline of Lake Winnipesaukee, there are more than 200 machines (redemption and video game) for people to play. Ames says the arcades see a mixed crowd of families and teenagers as well as hardcore gamers who compete at DDR.

The crowds who gather at Santa Cruz's Casino arcade include hardcore gamers, first-time teenagers and a ton of families. Arcade manager Barb Phillips and chief technician Brian Gustavson say that the Santa Cruz crowd shifts from mostly families and 15-year-olds without driver's licenses in the summer, to hardcore Capcom vs. SNK and DDR crowds and students from nearby UC Santa Cruz during the off-season in the winter.

Even with the recent downturn in the economy, the boardwalk hasn't taken a hit. "We're seen as a local destination, so people think of it as an inexpensive vacation," says Phillips. "We've had consistent [tourism] numbers this year and even in the off-season we do okay." I can see how they would. The Classic Corner may not have gotten as much foot traffic as the rest of the arcade – it's tucked into an awkward location next to laser tag and a row of pinball machines and can only fit about 15 comfortably. But tight clusters of teens formed around light gun games like Time Crisis 3 and around fighting games like Virtua Fighter 4, feeding token after token into the machines with the same fervor I remember from my 15-year-old affair with Galaga.

Santa Cruz.
Fuller would not disclose just how much money the arcade games pull in for the boardwalk total – but of the 176 arcade machines that don't spit tickets, every single one pulls its weight enough for Gustavson to justify the expense of ordering custom parts to fix them when they break.

Maintaining old arcade machines is definitely a challenge for beach arcades in a strapped economy. Gustavson talked about how sand gets where isn't supposed to go, overzealous gamers break joysticks and about how machines left in storage near salty sea air tend not to do so well when you try to switch them back on. Replacement parts for machines from the 70s can cost as much as $200 on auction sites; and many arcade technicians have to improvise.

Flipper McCoy's arcade in Virginia Beach does pretty well on its own repairs. Most coin-operated machines in the South are run by the Southern Amusement Corporation – and according to arcade manager Jay, the chief technician at the arcade is the husband of one of the corporation's owners. "He never has trouble finding parts," says Jay, who declined to give his last name because he's joining the Navy. "We've got a ton of machines here and they run off quarters, so there's enough money to keep ‘em all running."

Jay says Flipper McCoy's hasn't had a hard time with the drop off in summer travel, either – mostly because their tourist crowd is made up of foreigners from Russia or Morocco. "We do get a lot of local hardcore gamers who want to play Marvel vs. Capcom, but there are a lot of [tourists] who are all like, ‘Hey, there's Spider-Man in a game, I want to play that.'" Arcade games and classics like the original Super Mario Bros. are a big draw for the Flipper McCoy's crowd, he says, but there are still way more redemption machines than classic arcade games.

Back in Santa Cruz, Gustavson observes that any game where you can show off or at least ride a plastic motorcycle is enormously popular with older kids and adults – while the ticket-spitters are mostly the domain of young children. "People like to compete with each other," he says. "And the games where you can sit down and pull a curtain shut – they're pretty popular with the teenagers out on dates."

Santa Cruz, Casino Arcade.

That made me blush. Jurassic Park, first French kiss, Chuck E. Cheese, 1994. See what I mean about time travel?

Beach arcades may not be that different from other arcades that survived the downfall of the Golden Age. A few arcade gaming experts I interviewed said as much.

Ken Chaney, co-conspirator and operator of classic video game arcade showcase California Extreme says that after the Golden Age ended, "Arcade games were relegated to niche markets, tourist traps." And what are beach boardwalks besides very large tourist traps?

Chaney's co-organizer, East Coast-based arcade tournament director Bowen Kerins, agrees and adds that the redemption machines are just as ubiquitous at beach arcades as they are in the Chuck E. Cheeses they conquered. "These games are not providing the kind of experience people will want to come back to," he says.

But there's something to be said for the nostalgia the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk brought me. Chaney and Kerins trade on that same feeling for their annual showcase – but with the right arcade nearby, anyone can take that trip back in time almost at any time of the year.

I take comfort in knowing both that there's a place where I can get my Galaga fix and in knowing that there will be other generations of kids after me that will one day grow up, go to the beach for a vacation, and find that arcade game and all of the memories attached to it somewhere nearby.

I'm not going to mention numbers but not really, with the exception of Mario Kart, which has done very well because it's a Mario Kart game. That is the exception rather than the rule. But generally titles, I won't name any names, more recent titles that were really good, critically acclaimed and we all played them, they didn't sell as well as can be expected. I know sales is one thing, but sales are reflective of people who are interested in the concept and interested in what they want to play. So if it's not selling then the developers are doing something wrong and pushing it in the wrong area. We totally rebooted with Blur. All of these things we think are wrong; we're trying to fix them.

The people sure love their Mario Kart. Shame they don't love other racing games as much. Upcoming racer Blur is Bizarre's bet that it can put out a racing title that does well with critics and retail. We shall see.

Blur Interview [VideoGamer]

This sequence goes for waaaaaayyyyy too long, but after 30 seconds or so you should have a handle on it.

Mr. Hart has, at the behest of his trusted circle of friends, recorded his original "Mario Kart Love Song" all professional-like and made it available via iTunes and CD Baby. It's generously priced at the MP3 standard of 99 cents, American, should you have the urge to plop it onto your Zune and feel all fuzzily romantic.

Haha! Just kidding. No one has a Zune.

Go on, support your fellow Mario Kart nerds. Give a little!

Mario Kart Love Song [iTunes Music Store]
Sam Hart - Mario Kart Love Song [CD Baby]

All it takes to throw a party centered on the greatest thing in entertainment since Pictionary is a bit of effort and a little planning.

Before The Party:

Day Before – Pick out what games to play. Ideally, you’ve got one game in mind, but it’s considerate to have a back-up or two that people can vote on. Keep the selection limited to three – a fighting game, a racing game, or maybe a shooter – so you don’t spend half an hour arguing over your sizable selection.
Do: Pick a single-player game if 1) you’re willing to pass the controller and 2) can put up with backseat gaming from your guests.
Don’t: Make people watch you play a single-player game in silence.
We Recommend: Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Dead Space, Tales of Vesperia, Gears of War 2

Above: Ico is a strangely good game to play with people, as long as you can stand backseat gaming. Bully, not so much - and you can forget Fable II. That multiplayer camera is murder on the eyes.

Night Before – Buy (or make) the refreshments. Trips to the grocery store always wind up taking longer than you think. It’s better to get it out of the way early than to have to postpone party start-time because you’re held up at BevMo.
Do: Serve things that can be eaten quickly with one hand – usually during a loading screen (pizza rolls, hard candies, gamer grub).
Don’t: Serve anything that will leave stains on your controllers or splooge all over the floor (Cheetos, pizza, mochi ice cream balls).
We Recommend: Sushi, M&Ms, corndogs

Morning of – Clean both the bathroom and the space you’re using for the party. That means restocking toilet paper and (gasp!) vacuuming carpets. This seems like common sense, but I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gone to a party and had to clean off a couch before I could sit down. Or worse – got a gummy bear stuck to my sock because somebody hadn’t cleaned the floor.
Do: Get yourself some baskets or plastic bins or whatever for easy storage.
Don’t: Forget the bathroom. I was at a party where a guest came back from the john and asked, “Do you guys have a cat?” The host said no, and the guest replied: “So… all that hair on the floor in there is yours?!” Gross.
We Recommend: Angel Soft toilet paper, Dirt Devil dust buster, shoving magazines under your bed

Hour Before – Make sure all your gaming equipment is laid out and ready to roll. Untangle controllers, plug in whatever needs to be plugged in and test the sound and video. Nothing is more of a drag than watching the host fiddle with his component cables for twenty minutes or finding out your controller needs to be charged up for an hour before you can join in. And if for some reason you’re using a peripheral like the Xbox Live Vision Camera or the PlayStation Eye, test it before the guests get there.
Do: Put controllers on the coffee table.
Don’t: Put controllers on the floor – thing get stepped on and broken. And it looks messy, too.
We Recommend: Zip ties for keeping cords untangled, swearing at the TV before realizing it’s not plugged in

Ten Minutes To Go – Boot up the console and break out the snacks. The idea is to have everything ready to use as soon as people get there instead of having to spend 20 minutes or more "getting settled," while everyone waits.
Do: Put food in a central location instead of a corner or back in the kitchen.
Don’t: Put food on consoles.
We Recommend: Plastic bowls and cups for serving. Keep a sharpie handy to write names on the cups.

At the Party:

Mind Your Guests – These are basic rules of party-throwing. Get up and greet everybody that comes through the door (don’t just sit back in your beanbag and shout “Hi!”), make sure everybody’s got a drink to start with and introduce people who don’t know each other.
Do: Hand people controllers until you run out.
Don’t: Play loud music.

Keep the Drinks Coming – You should have fun at your own party, but as the host your first concern is your guests. If you notice someone with an empty can or cup, offer to get them a refill. If they don't want a refill, scoop it up anyway and toss in the trash. It’ll save you clean-up time later.
Do: Have a spare two-liter ready to open when the first few run dry (or go flat).
Don’t: Fix people plates of food. It’s a time-waster for you, and they can do it themselves.

Handle Problem Guests Sooner Rather Than Later – I’m assuming you’ve exclusively invited cool people gamers to this party; but if you didn’t or somebody’s brought along their non-gamer girlfriend, try to be nice. Smile, introduce the interloper newcomer to everybody and ask them what they like to do for fun. Then make sure they sit next to whoever brought them so they have somebody to talk/complain to.
If you have one of “those guys” at your party– the guy who hogs the controller, doesn’t understand how to lose (or win) graciously and sulks if he gets out-voted on what game to play – make sure you keep him distracted so he doesn’t piss off other guests. Talk to him about how his life is going, ask for his help in the kitchen (even if you’re just going in there for ice), or engage him on a rant about the latest game review he disagreed with.
Do: Make it a point to talk to everybody.
Don’t: Secretly hope that this will be the one day “that guy” doesn’t whip your ass in Halo and then do a victory dance around the living room. Because he will, and you invited him – so in a way, you’re just asking for it.

Left: Of the many gamer parties I've thrown since the Wii came out, I don't think I've ever seen anybody get up and do this. Maybe I need to invite more models.

Have Cleaning Supplies on Standby – Spills happen, controllers might get Cheeto’d, or maybe you picked a snack that exploded down the front of your friend’s shirt. Whatever happens, be ready to apply cleaning fluids to the site of the mess and don’t make whoever’s responsible feel bad. Unless they upended an entire two liter on top of your PS3 – then you can punch them in the face.
Do: Stock up on club soda and carpet cleaner stuff like Resolve.
Don’t: Wipe at stains with paper towels; you’re supposed to dab.

Be Ready to Improvise – So you’re all having a great time beating each other down in Brawl, but Johnny Buzzkill over in the corner is whining that it’s getting boring. It’s too soon to end the party – and everyone else seems to be enjoying themselves – but Buzzkill won’t quiet down. As the gracious and most awesome host, you’ve got to do something. You could kick him out, but it’d be better to switch things up a bit with the game by making special rules or looking up drinking games on the Internet.
Do: Try what people suggest, even if it sounds dumb. You might have more fun than you think.
Don’t: Say “That’s dumb,” and then stubbornly not do anything. That makes you look like an ass.

After the Party:

Left: Put games back in their boxes or at least in a CD jacket.

Ask Your Guests to Pitch In – Gamers (usually) aren’t New York socialites. That means it’s completely okay to ask that they throw out their trash before heading out. Just be a good sport and hold open a giant trash bag for them instead of making them schlep to the kitchen. Don’t ask them to do dishes, but don’t stop them if they offer.

Clear the Controllers from the Carnage – Before you try to vacuum the carpet or wipe down the table, get those controllers out of harm’s way. Unplug them from the console and wind up the cord for easy storage on a shelf while you go about cleaning. This goes double for that super-long Wii Sensor Bar cable – that thing is drawn to dust busters like a moth to a flame.

Wipe Down the Controllers – It’s a known fact that gamers are plague monkeys. To save yourself from a cold or any other touch-transmittable disease, wipe down the controllers with something antiseptic and not too moist. Do not do this while your guests are still around.

Other Advice From AJ’s A-Listers:

Crystal: Don’t be afraid to kick people out at the end of the night. After all, it’s still your party.

Andrew: If you’re doing a Rock Band party, let the singer pick the songs and switch instruments once in a while to keep things interesting. Don’t make fun of people who pick a lower difficulty. One time we were playing Panic Attack and this girl was playing bass on Medium while the rest of us did Expert. She saved the band like five times.

Teresa: If you're in a dorm, don't be afraid to let newcomers join, no matter how inexperienced and/or drunk they may be. There are few things more amusing than watching drunk people play DDR. (Just be careful that none of them overindulge and release bodily fluids near anything but a toilet. Ew.)

Brian: If some of your guests want to hang out over by the food instead of gaming, don’t cut them off. They’ll come around and jump back in when they feel like it.

Michelle: Drunk Katamary Damacy is basically, like, the best thing ever.

Famed french prankster Remi Gaillard took to the road in a little cart recently to act out a real life (and potential death) version of Mario Kart.

In the video Gaillard can be seen tossing bananas under the tires of nearby cars and motorcycles. Gaillard also apparently tries to ditch some cops at one point. Funny stuff, and extra points for not losing any limbs.

Daily Motion [Via NoWhereElse]

Singer-songwriter Sam illustrates the best way to get into the sweatpants of the Mario Kart-loving lady in your life. We're not talking about the yarn Waluigi moustache — it's the quiet storm ballad, silly.

Sam's "Mario Kart Love Song" may be simply titled, but his ability to weave blue shell sacrifice into romantic gesture... well, he's won our hearts. This is poet laureate level shit. Oh, and ending the romantic tune with "Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-Waluigi..." was a smooth move. Thanks for the tip, Mark!

Trade organisation ELSPA has been counting the beans and both Wii titles have been selling like hot cakes made of chocolate-coated crack with porn sprinkles - making them eligible for ELSPA's coveted Diamond sales award.

The two games join other Diamond-rated games such as Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training and New Super Mario Bros. Only platform-exclusives are eligible for Diamond status, so GTA IV had to make do with a mere Double-Platinum despite selling about a bajillion copies in its first weekend.

Mario Kart and Wii Fit Hit Over 1M [EDGE]

Over at the delightfully named HipAsFuck.com, some gamers decided to see just how much a little booze would affect their Mario Kart skills. Perhaps surprisingly, a blood alcohol level of 0.08 (an arrestable amount in the US and UK) actually made their times a few seconds faster.

Obviously, there is a world of difference between driving in real life — where you can physically die and cause the deaths of others — and driving a pretend dinosaur around a virtual track in a non-existent Go-Kart — where the most you can lose is a couple of seconds while the game reloads. Still, If you are gaming and want to get 'in the zone' (and are of legal drinking age, natch) this vital scientific study may come in handy.

Before anyone starts — DUI is stupid & if you do it in real life you are an idiot. This post is for informational purposes only, Your home may be at risk if you do not keep up mortgage repayments. etc. etc.

The DUI Mario Kart Experiment [Hip As Fuck, via Kottke]

World Soccer – Winning Eleven 2008 34 percent
Mario Kart 17 percent
The Three Kingdoms 6 percent

Not sure if that's Mario Kart DS and Dynasty Warriors or Sangokushi Taisen. But what we are sure is that their hair is simply amazing.

men's egg: Gyaru-o 2008 Data Bank [An Eternal Thought In The Mind of Godzilla]

Loved

New Courses: Most of the game's new, original tracks are fantastic. Coconuts Mall, Wario Mines and Snowboard Cross all make excellent use of jumps and shortcuts. Certainly more exciting than most of Double Dash's offerings.

Car, Character Depth: Having so many unlockable characters and vehicles is great fanservice. But having vehicles with varied, multiple stats and characteristics is just great service. It's a small touch, but it makes picking the cart or bike that's right for you a cinch.

Bikes: And here I was thinking this was the stupidest addition to the series thus far. The bikes are actually really fun to use, and aside from a few tracks that have a few too many trick jumps, they're quite tastefully incorporated.

It's Still Mario Kart: For all the game's flaws - and as you can see below, there are many - this is still Mario Kart. It's still a blast at parties, you'll still love rushing from sixth to first on the last corner, you'll still scream to the heavens when you drop from first to sixth.

Hated

Online play: OK, so this is the Wiis fault, not the game's, but online play just feels so...impersonal. Mario Kart's a series where multiplayer has traditionally been about shit-talking and good times, not racing some nameless, voiceless opponent. If ever a Nintendo game needed voice-chat, it's this one.

Sterility: I can't quit put my finger on it, but compared to previous MK games the whole thing just feels really...clinical. Maybe even soulless. This is most telling in the dry presentation.

Too Many Karts: I'm sure the idea of having more (there's now 12) racers on the track seemed like a good one while sitting around the design table. And it looks good as a bullet-point on the game's marketing. But for many tracks it just results in too many items flying around and too many (yes, there is such a thing as too many) cheap shots. It it's not broke, why fix it, etc etc.

Item Unbalance: Mario Kart's built around a principle of elasticity. Last can go to first, and first to last. But this time around, it feels like they've gone too far. Thanks to overly-powerful items like Bullet Bill and the return of the fucking blue shell, which as said above are being thrown around by even more racers, you're no longer being challenged for being in first place. You're being punished. Again, if it's not broke, yada yada...

Wii Wheel: Perhaps the game's single biggest let-down, since the new peripheral was all that was keeping this from being, well, a Double Dash 1.5. While it's adequate, it just doesn't work as well as a Nunchuk and Wii Remote.

Look, Mario Kart Wii isn't a bad game. Far from it! I've enjoyed playing it, and I'm sure a ton of new Wii owners, whose last go-around with the series was on the SNES, will have a blast. But you know what? I'm not a new Wii owner. I'm a longtime fan of the series. Safe to say most of you are as well. And I found the unnecessary gameplay tweaks and underwhelming wheel more than a little disappointing. It's still a good game, don't get me wrong, it's just...not as great as you probably thought/hoped it would be.

Mario Kart Wii was developed and published by Nintendo, and was released on April 27. Retails for $49.99. Available on Nintendo Wii. Played singleplayer game to completion. Played 15 online multiplayer matches.

One will be your default control option. One will be a part-time novelty. The other three should be avoided at all costs.

Wii Remote + Nunchuk - The default control scheme. Only one you ever need, and the only one you should ever use. The Nunchuk thumbstick gives you the most precise control over your kart's movement, while flicking the Wii Remote to activate a trick is much easier than with the Wii Wheel. All the buttons are at your fingertips, and once you get used to the fact the drift button's on the Wii Remote, and not the Nunchuk, it turns into the most natural control scheme not just for this game, but for the entire series.

Wii Wheel - Super-disappointing. The first time you use it, you'll think it's amazing. Probably because the first time you use it will be in a 50cc kart race. On faster tracks, it can't keep up with your need for quick, precise movements. Fail. Same goes for more difficult races when you'll find yourself in the middle of the pack, trying to dodge shells and banana peels: they'll hit you, because it can't work fast enough. Fail. And in 150cc bike races, where tricks are necessary, you have to jerk the wheel upwards to activate a trick, causing you to flail all over the track. Fail.

Wavebird/GameCube Pad - No. Sounds good in theory, right? It served you admirably in Double Dash, right? Yeah, this isn't Double Dash. You need to pull off tricks to win harder races. Need to. The trick button for the Cube pads is hitting the d-pad. Which is awkward, out of the way, and will cost you time and positioning in a race.

Classic Controller - See above.

Wii Remote - The Wii Wheel sucks. Now imagine it without its helpful weight and familiar shape. It's like trying to drive a broken, Excited truck around an oily ice rink. Do not use under any circumstances.

In other words, use the Wii Remote & nunchuk, and only the Wii Remote & nunchuk. The Wii Wheel and 'Cube controllers should be thought of as Mad Catz peripherals: only for use by guests in multiplayer games. Guests you don't like. As for the Wii Remote on its own...I told you to forget about it, OK?

Australia, 24 April, 2008

Reward yourself with Club Nintendo, now you can turn your Nintendo games into Star points with Nintendo's new loyalty program. Available now, Club Nintendo allows you to earn and swap Star points for exclusive Nintendo merchandise not available anywhere else. The first game that allows you to register for Club Nintendo is Mario Kart™ Wii.

Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit™ and future participating products will come with a unique PIN code which allows you to register that you have purchased a particular game, and that's when Nintendo rewards you. Simply visit www.club-nintendo.com to input your unique code and join Club Nintendo where you will receive Star points credited to your membership account. Use your Star points to redeem Nintendo goodies from the Stars catalogue, which is only available to Club Nintendo members.

The Stars catalogue is not yet available to browse, however you can still register your product/s and reserve your Star points. Nintendo will email you once the full Club Nintendo website is up and running, so you can then redeem your Star points on premium items from the Stars catalogue, and that's when the fun begins!

Join Club Nintendo and gain access to the exciting world of Nintendo today! If you do not own any Nintendo product yet, you can still register to receive our Nintendo newsletter to be kept up to date with all the latest products, visit: http://www.nintendo.com.au/.

Further information about Club Nintendo will be forthcoming, once the full website is up and running.

The biggest additions to the Mario Kart formula come in the form of a new ride—the motorbike—the ability to pull off tricks mid-jump for an extra boost, and the option to race others via the internet. How do the new features stack up?

Mario Kart Wii does a respectable job of integrating the completely new vehicle, one with different handling properties, courtesy of some well-timed exposure. Bikes are initially only available during the 100cc league races, with 150cc races, the final tier of single player, featuring a mix of karts and bikes. With bikes added, each character will have plenty of racing options to choose from, the most ludicrous of which is the high speed baby stroller, which characters like Toad and Baby Mario can pilot. It's far more emasculating that choosing Princess Peach as your driver.

Mario Kart Wii also adds one new power up, the Mega Mushroom introduced in New Super Mario Bros. It does exactly what you'd expect, increasing the size of your driver and their ride to steamroller-like proportions without slowing him or her down. Sadly, the Blue Shell power up returns—the one that attacks whomever is in first place—bringing all of the frustration and unbalance it's known for with it.

The Wii Wheel, the steering wheel shaped shell for the Wii Remote that is packed in with Mario Kart Wii—the value of which we've regularly questioned/mocked—is actually quite good. Steering your kart with the wheel feels natural, with the ability to execute tricks via Wii-mote flicks totally feasible. Keeping one's thumb depressed on the "2" button while turning the wheel can be a bit of a finger dexterity challenge, but we found that power sliding (and applying the appropriate corrections) with the Wheel worked better than anticipated. It's certainly more comfortable that holding a horizontally oriented Wii Remote. The Wheel attachment also undeniably makes "B" button pressing much more comfortable, but that aside, it's mostly a decent peripheral.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity to try out any of the other control methods

Nintendo Treehouse employees were available for online matches, in locations as far off as Germany, Italy and Japan. We played a handful of matches with Asian and European challengers and were pleased with the results. The frame rate takes a noticeable hit, but remains locked in a manageable rate. Our online races were mostly lag free, as were the trio of battles—both Balloon Battle and Coin Runner types—in which we engaged.

The only downside to our online experience was the inability to tailor the multiplayer games to our liking. We couldn't, for example, set up a match that forbade the use of Blue Shells or limit the vehicle choices to karts only.

Mario Kart Wii may be largely familiar, recycling stages from the SNES, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS entries, but it sticks closely to the tried and true Mario Kart gameplay conventions. Online multi-player is a nice touch, but fans may be more excited about the ability to replay classic stages with new rules (and a host of controller options) than what the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection has to offer.

This is an important e-mail update regarding your pending preorder Mario Kart Wii (w/ Wii Handle) (Nintendo™ Wii Japan, NTSC J), Order (#9593042).

We received the first small delivery today for testing and unfortunately we have to inform you, that the game is not compatible with the Datel Freeloader (US and PAL Version).

In case that this affects your preorder, please contact our customer service as soon as possible to amend/cancel your order, as otherwise we will ship your order within the next 48 hours.

If you own a Japanese Wii and you do not want to change your orders, you do not have to reply to this email.

Once again thanks for shopping with us and sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Your Play-Asia.com Customer Service
http://www.play-asia.com