1. If you have children, you've changed each of their names to "Baby" something
2. The steering wheel in your real car or truck feels large and awkward
3. You see something in the middle of the street, and you run over it to increase your vehicle speed
4. When exiting a banked freeway ramp, you try to drift using your "B" button
5. When you're not playing, you watch YouTube videos of other people's Mario Kart races
6. If a motorcycle starts to pass during your commute, you consider bumping it off the road
7. After each race, you speak in glottal grunts and short phrases, like "Uh huh. Craig Win. Ha Ha Ha!"

- craig hodgkins

A recently popular theory pins the weak American dollar as the culprit for the Wii, Wii Fit, and Mario Kart Wii shortages.  It is through shipments and sales of the last two products mentioned that this economic theory has gained credit. 

Sources state that Nintendo recently shipped 2,000,000 Wii Fit bundles to Europe, while only 500,000 were sent to the U.S.  That's a fourth!  Is Nintendo simply being unfair?  No, they are just doing business.  Currently, the euro is worth $1.59 - that's more than 150%.  With such a strong euro compared to the weakening U.S. dollar, it has been said that Europe is the new market for the Wii.

With such a demand and lack of supply for Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii, titles that unlike the console itself will loose popularity as newer titles are released, the economic theory seems to clearly trump the warehouse conspiracy ones.

But whichever  theory you believe or disbelieve, one thing is for sure:  If you want an upcomming title (Star Wars: the Force Unleashed, The Conduit, Wii Sports: Resort, etc.) PRE-ORDER IT!

FACT

-Gamestop claims that they will be receiving shipments of Mario Kart Wii at the end of the month, Wii Fit ships with Wii console shipments when available.

-Most Gamestops get their Wii related shipments on certain days and times (not all employees will disclose this information to you, but if you keep calling you'll eventually be able to figure the pattern out).

-When pre-ordering, use CircuitCity.com , they don't charge extra for pre-orders and don't charge for standard shipping on video games.

First, of course, is our Halo Panel: Halo Wars and the Halo Universe.  This panel includes some of the biggest names from the Halo World: Joseph Staten (Bungie Team), Eric Nylund (author), Tobias Buckell (author), Graeme Devine and  Frank O'Connor (Halo Universe Writers), and Jon Goff and Corrinne Robinson (MacFarlane Toys).  Did we also mention the fantastic prizes that will be there.  Now, I can't tell you what they will be, but I can tell you there are some from both the Halo Team and MacFarlane Toys and they're amazing.

Then, there is our fantastic little booth.   We'll be holding two gaming tournaments: Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Brothers Brawl. The prizes include copies of the games and we're also giving away 2 Wiis.  Yes, count 'em...2.  Free.  Nintendo Wiis.

Meet some of the Prima Team (myself included.  I know fans...don't crowd the booth...I'll be there everyday...for you ~_^).  Living, breathing, gaming!  And what's our favorite thing to do?  Give away:

SWAG.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Swag, and do we have a ton of it.  From posters (Halo 3 pictured above, Pokemon, Hellboy, etc) to Limited Edition Lithographs (Metal Gear Solid 4) to hint books, guides and more!  We'll also be giving away about 1500 free eGuides--first come first serve!  We will be giving a lot away, so remember to visit us often.

So come visit us in the Random House section by the Hall B entrance.  Play some games, get some swag.  See you there!

Muchos jugadores europeos y japoneses que hayan echado una partida online a ‘Mario Kart Wii’ este fin de semana buscando marcar los mejores tiempos, se habrán encontrado con más de un usuario en la lista global de puntuaciones que bate absolutamente todos sus tiempos con una ventaja apabullante.

Y todo ello a pesar de que Nintendo se aseguró de que en esta nueva entrega no se podría hacer snaking (técnica que consiste en ir activando miniturbos constantemente a base de derrapar sin parar, lo que hace que el jugador avance haciendo eses). Sin embargo, los tramposos o cheaters, como se les conoce en el argot anglosajón, han encontrado nuevas formas de explotar las debilidades del nuevo título de carreras del fontanero.

El glitch o fallo del juego empleado para ello es tan simple como efectivo. Para conseguir un tiempo imbatible en cualquiera de los circuitos del juego, en el modo Time Trial, el jugador debe completar la primera vuelta (haciéndolo lo mejor que pueda) y, nada más cruzar la línea de meta, girar 180 grados para volver a cruzarla en sentido contrario.

Tras hacer eso, si inmediatamente salimos de la carrera, nuestro tiempo queda salvado, con lo que conseguimos una marca insuperable para cualquier jugador que intente conseguir el mejor tiempo de forma honrada (ya que él tendrá que dar tres vueltas al circuito).

Así pues, este fin de semana hay quien ha estado colocando su nombre en las listas globales de mejores tiempos una y otra vez. De todas formas, la alegría no ha durado mucho, ya que Nintendo ha empezado a borrar las puntuaciones y tiempos obtenidos con este método y ha corregido el error que permitía que esto fuera posible.

Mis comentarios:

Esto es muy cierto algunas veses no les ha pasado que van ganando por 99:99:999 luego en la tercera vuelta ya cuando pasas te dice has perdido o algo así?

Funte: Vidaextra

We have always had peripherals. Back in the days of the NES Zapper and the first ever driving wheels and pedal combos. It is nothing new really. Except this year we have seen SO many new "plastic" based products released into the gaming world it is taking over my lounge. Some have been instant hits, some are just crap, some are in between. Some enhance the game, some are essential, some are the biggest waste of your cash since an Xbox HD-DVD drive.

One of the biggest peripheral sensations so far this year is the Wii Fit balance board. A Nintendo licensed set of bathroom scales that is actually taking the world by a storm. My other half insisted we get one (I think that is the only reason I don't live in the spare room yet), even my mum has one! Keeping to the Nintendo Wii tradition this is aimed at the casual gamers and also at the politically correct "look video games are not as bad as you think and I'm actually getting exercise" population. Unfortunately, like with the Wii, Nintendo seem to have an inability to manufacture more than 5 a week meaning demand is higher than Amy Winehouse at Glastonbury. (Editor's note: In case you didnt know, this paragraph gives all sorts of hints that the author is British)

Some enhance the game, some are essential, some are the biggest waste of your cash since an Xbox HD-DVD drive.

Rock Band hit the UK recently on the Xbox 360 only (Microsoft exclusive period!) and people were buying Xbox's just so they could buy it and the way over priced "band-in-a-box"! Coming in at just under twice as expensive as our US counterparts (£189 = over $350) your rock band in a box was not a cheap purchase but the potential drumming related blisters, and an extra set of fret buttons tempted a massive amount of people. Although not taking the place of our beloved Gibson GH controllers which still sit proudly next to the TV (I have even pushed the boat out and decorated my own faceplate!)(Editors Note: I have no idea what that means either... must be a UK thing). For us PS3 owners though, the news of the Guitar Hero: World Tour package has reached us in time so we can save ourselves from Rock Band and go straight to GHWT. There is no way my missus would let me have two plastic drum kits in the house let alone the spare room.

Another new plastic peripheral to hit the gaming world this year has been the new Gcon 3 gun for use with Time Crisis 4. Now, this one takes the preverbial plastic biscuit - its bright orange! not even an attempt to make it look remotly cool has been made. Orange! of all the colours in the world it has to be orange. I for one will not be buying it. Attached to the side of the ghastly coloured thing is a nunchuck styled joystick and button combo making the whole thing incredably uncomfortable to hold and making you look just as stupid at the gun (except slightly less Orange). My love of the Time Crisis series can't even save this one.

One of the Wii's most anticipated game releases since its launch hit the streets this year complete with yet another plastic attachment for your Wiimote. (I haven't found a need to attach tennis racket, golf club or even fishing rod attachments to my Wiimote - but a lot of people have!) The Wii Wheel is actually a lot of fun to use, if not a bit daft looking. The controls took a little while to get used too, but once you learn to steer subtly not stupidly your good to go. It certainly made the latest "plumber in a go kart" edition worth while getting. Also, Mario Kart Wii signaled the turning point for Nintendo with regards to on-line gaming.

It seems that even the handheld devices are getting in on the Plastic Peripheral business thanks to Guitar Hero: On Tour! a plastic guitar grip with 4 fret buttons plugs into the Game Boy port of your Nintendo DS and even comes with a guitar pick shaped stylus! Genius! what ever next... a finger drum kit?

One of the largest game peripherals I have seen (that isnt a drum kit) is the Ace Combat 6 Flight controller for the Xbox 360. My friend has one and its well...huge and... bulky. Kind of like a drum kit with more buttons but less fun. He enjoys it, bless him, but then again he has flight simulation games for his PC with what can only be described as a cockpit peripheral for them!

Hey lets not forget my 2 SingStar microphones and my PS3 Eye Toy camera, plus my Wii zapper. And we best not forget the eagerly anticipated wireless Buzz! Quiz TV controllers I pre-ordered ready for delivery this week! I haven't mentioned the dvd remote, the external hard drives, or the controller charging units. They are going to have to design me a huge peripheral to store all this crap in. Either way I'm in danger of needing a bigger house!

Wii Wheel
The wheels are great, but you do need to get used to using them. They don't require a lot of turning to make the car turn, but once you get used to them they are a lot of fun.

Great addon for any racing game
I bought this for use with Mario Kart Wii. It works great. I have two other wheels that are not Nintendo, but they do not feel as sturdy or as well made.

Official Nintendo Wii Wheel Reviews

PSP Music & Movie Downloads

I got a bit of windfall this week, so Laura and I decided to treat ourselves to a couple video games. The Redhead got My Spanish Coachfor the DS, and I got Boom Bloxfor the Wii. I got Boom Blox for two reasons: a) I figured I would like it better than Mario Kart Wii and b) I couldn't find Mario Kart Wii.

I'm sure I'm committing a bit of heresy here when I say that an EA game ranks higher on my priority list than a key Nintendo franchise, but, when I played a few minutes of Kart in the store a few weeks back, I felt underwhelmed. It looked like a slightly more polished Double Dash, and it played like the superb DS version I already own. The motion controls irked me a bit. And, after firing up a three-way match on the DS with my brother and his fiancee, I realized that I would far rather play Kart that way than on a shared screen. I realize that the Wii version has Internet play, but so does my DS. I get my ass kicked on it. It's no fun.

So, Boom Blox. Awesome. It's often compared to Jenga, but it's so much more than that. It's essentially a physics engine, one that comes with the tools to craft your own Rube Goldberg machines and moving body nightmares. There are tons of Jenga-like topple tower puzzles, but that's just scratching the surface. It's a great party game as well, ripe for trash talking. My only complaint is that the developers seemed obliged to put shooting galleries and escort missions into the game. The former severely taxes the Wii's processor with too many rendered objects and their accompanying physics calculations grinding the CPU to halting slowdown. The latter is just dumb. I HATE escort missions in any format.

There is probably no higher compliment for a multiplayer party game to receive than this: even today it is just as fun with friends as it was for me the day it came out. It is somewhat indicative to note, however, that the same thing was true for the other Smash Bros. games as well. In other words, if you got bored with them, you will get bored with this one, and if the gameplay was somehow endlessly addicting, it will be so here as well.

Nintendo's design philosophy with the Smash games seems to be thus: to make it better, make it bigger. (At least they have Mega Man beat in this regard.) This is all well and good, of course, but as I play the game both with my friends and by myself, I can not shake the suspicion that I have done all of this before, and that I was suckered into buying a game I have already played.

"It's a party game!" You cry. "What more could you want?" That's a good question. One thing I would have certainly enjoyed, for example, is an online mode that worked. There is honestly no excuse at this stage of console evolution for a party game as fun as Brawl to not function online. Oh, now do not get me wrong. It certainly has an online mode. It simply lacks any structure whatsoever. I had to actually perform network troubleshooting on my Wii to get into the "anonymous brawl" games, and even then, I had little reason to play any of them. There are no persistent stats, no way to tell who you are fighting, and there is only one mode available for play: a 3-minute timed match. Even stage selection seems dubious.

A friend of mine pointed out that the faceless online component to Nintendo games was a good thing. I tend to agree. Having to listen to a 13-year old cuss me out after I knocked his ass off the stage would pretty much ruin the experience. My counter to him, however, is that there is no reason for this anonymity to exist within the context of a friends list. But, Brawl does just that. The closest thing to communication you have when playing with friends is to bind short text messages to the different D-Pad directions. And you have to quit the game to change them. The end result is that I have no desire to hook up with my friends online. I hardly see the point, when we can not even trash talk to each other or laugh together about what just happened in the game. Imagine not being able to say a word to each other while seated on your couch, and you'll have an idea of what online Brawl is like.

So the fact that Brawl is a party game that does nothing new to encourage more multiplayer play, and nothing new to evolve gameplay in any other significant way, makes it an unfortunate exercise in game design.

I did not even think about how typical this is of Nintendo until Octale pointed out on his radio show that, while their games are fun, they are all the same. The new Zelda game is great, he said, but you've played it before! It's hard to hear that and not notice the same symptom happening with Brawl. Still, it does seem to do a better job of offering something different than Mario Kart Wii. And, unlike Zelda, it really is just a party game. How much can we expect?

Perhaps what makes the "sameness" so frustrating in Brawl is that the options for new, exciting modes are there - and broken. Another example, since I've already talked about online play, is the stage builder. The stage builder is great, but for some odd reason, I am limited in how many pieces I can place on a map. Further, I lack any interesting options to place, such as breakable walls, water, or even blocks of different colors or looks in the same template. There are three templates, and they are enough, but the option to download more would have been nice. So, too, would the option to play custom stages with friends in online brawls. As it is, I am forced to simply send it to my friends - and this only works with friends whose Wii has befriended mine and whose Brawl has befriended mine, and to get either registration to work, I must see the person online. Oh, and did I mention that Brawl utilizes its own, 12-digit code in addition to your Wii code?

Yet, for all of that, Brawl does have a few very good things. For example, the adventure mode is by far the most entertaining single player mode I have ever experienced in a fighting or party game. And to top it off, it offers drop-in co-op play. Playing through the story mode with a friend is probably the best fun you can have here - if only it worked online. Besides that, the story is basically just a nerdgasm, and if seeing Fox interact with Diddy Kong does not tittilate your innermost cockles, you will probably find the adventure mode inaccessible. On the other hand, it manages to tell a somehow-compelling little tale without a single line of dialogue and without a cut-scene longer than 2 minutes. Co-op works for most single player modes, too, and most times, you can unlock Challenges (read: Achievements) with two people, which is a relief, since most of the Challenges are border line MMORPG-grinding-type-quests.

The character roster is expanded, of course, and most of the characters do offer their own unique takes on gameplay. Cloned attacks are still around, but they all have little differences, and past cloned character such as Mario and Luigi are more different than ever before. To my delight, heavy characters are also competitive now. I can finally play as Bowser and not guaruntee a loss!

The Final Smashes are also fun, if you don't mind their potential for instant kills. Getting Smash balls does require some skill, but also a bit of luck, so you don't feel too cheated when it happens. Still, many of the Smashes are almost entirely useless, while some of them are ridiculously over-powered (see: above). Still, they do make things more fun, and they're really the only significant change to gameplay.

So ultimately, the game is fun. It's a perfection of Melee, but like Melee, it also half-heartedly introduces new elements that will probably take another sequel to fix (read: online play). As a party game, it's immensely fun with friends, and we couldn't ask for much more than that. Still, we really have played this game before, and deep down, one can't help but wonder if it was really worth the full $50 price tag.

Final Grade: B

Mario Kart Wii is #6 in the franchise and brings a breath of fresh air with the wii wheel control configuration and the ability to ride bikes.  Players can race through 32 tracks (16 new, 16 classic) as one of 24 Nintendo characters or any one of their Miis.  Like predecessors, the Wii version has three difficulty levels (50cc 100cc & 150cc) for the 32 tracks, as well as a battle mode.  Major differences include of course the wii wheel motion control and the ability to ride bikes, wider 12 racer tracks, and team only battle mode.  Mario Kart Wii also has an extensive online mode. 

FACT

-The game introduces 6 new racers (Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, Funky Kong, Miis, Rosalina, & Dry Bowser).

-One player and two player mode run at 60fps while 3 and 4 player mode run at 30 fps.

-Online play works with no lag, and consists of all local play aspects.

-150cc mode makes Mario Kart Wii the first Mario Kart game to use extensive CPU cheating.

-Rosalina can be unlocked faster if you own Super Mario Galaxy.

For more info on Mario Kart Wii, check out the official site:

Mario Kart Wii Official Site

I love the Wii.

When I was a kid, we had an Atari. I played Pong. That was it. That was the only game I could play. I think, shortly after that, we got an NES and had Pac-Man (I could play that one), Donkey Kong (which bears no resemblance to current Mario games...you climbed slanting floors and jumped over barrels, really, it was EASY), Centipede and Galaga (it was the one where you were a space ship that slid back and forth across the bottom of the screen and shot down invading aliens---huh, maybe it was Space Invaders). You'll notice they all required a joy stick and little else. I think the "shooting" games used a single button. It's possible we had those for the Atari and I just can't remember. My parents never played that I can remember. It was strictly something for me and my sister.

Then I turned into a teenager and lost interest in video games. They'd gotten more complicated, there were more buttons and I was too busy with sports and studies and boys to be bothered (say hello to High School).

Fast forward about fifteen years. Now I'm married and have children. Boy children. They, of course, have gaming systems. To me, these systems looked like Mission Control for NASA, so I never really played games with them. I couldn't. There were too many buttons. I did manage to play Bomberman on the Game Cube because it didn't require more than the little joystick and one of the buttons (I think I could have done more using other buttons but it wasn't a learning curve I was interested in conquering). The kids' both had GameBoys and DSs. They paid for everything themselves, asked for games for birthdays, and because they are active children, I never really said, "Boo" about the video games. There were limits on playing time and acceptable games, but as long as they kept some balance between the games and other activities, I didn't mind the playing. And they were great Rainy Day Entertainers when I needed an hour to myself.

Now, please don't think we don't do things together as a family. That would be untrue. We have regular game nights (board games) and we do lots of stuff together like croquet and tossing around Frisbees and footballs and such. We read together or listen to audiobooks, we cook together, we'll garden and take walks and go to the park...all sorts of unplugged family activities.

But one thing we rarely, if ever, did together was play video games.

Then the people at Nintendo had a flash of brilliance and the Wii was born.

Somewhere along the line, I'm sure someone over there thought, You know, American kids are spoiled, but really, who has the money? Who spends the dough? It's the moms! Let's do something to get them hooked, too! (and if you don't believe me, all you have to do is open a paper and look at an article about spending power and you'll find that the bulk of consumer dollars are spent by women--I could find articles to cite, but I'm too lazy right now.)

And yes, this is where I compare Wii to street drugs, because once you try it, you'll like it. You'll want more. The laughter, the sheer insanity of it all. You'll find yourself wandering into video game stores, a heretofore Forbidden Land of electronics and confusing images. And you'll be thankful it's legal to get your fix.

I can play Wii games. They are active, they don't require a superb amount of instinctive knowledge about what all those buttons do on the WiiMote. WiiBowl requires two buttons--A & B. Totally my speed.

I love that you have to get up and move. Sure, you could WiiBowl or WiiGolf or WiiTennis or WiiBaseball sitting on the couch and flicking your wrist, but WHY? Why would you do that? Get up, get moving, be active. There's more laughter that way.

WiiBoxing allows my kids to fight with each other and there's no bruising. The kids can practice archery and driving. They can race cars, off-road vehicles (Excite Truck was one of the first games we got and even I think it's fun), run track, jump through space and rock out.

The Rock Band adaption for Wii was another flash of brilliance. Really. I've always been a big proponent of music education because music education cuts across EVERY subject. And guess what, kids? Rock Band teaches rhythm, hand-eye coordination, team work (if one player is about to get booed off the stage or has failed, other players can "save" them by really rockin' out). 13's band teacher gave PERCUSSION PRACTICE TIME CREDIT to kids who played 20 minutes of Rock Band as the drummer. In the same way Harry Potter introduced a generation to reading, Rock Band has the potential to interest a whole lot of kids in music education.

Not to mention, it's just screamin' good fun. And the entire practice of creating your Mii (your video game image) is HYSTERICAL (especially when you have three adult sisters who all look alike...making the subtle differences in the Miis was an evening of laughter in itself--though Rock Band doesn't allow Miis). When my mother comes to visit, one of the early questions is: Wanna WiiBowl? Never mind what the kids want to do, the ADULTS will stay up WiiBowling after the kids have gone to bed.

And now, there's WiiFit. A video game whose entire point is to get you moving. HOW COOL IS THAT?

So, let's recap. Wii gets you moving. Wii is easy enough for video-game-phobic mothers to play. Wii gets the family together. Wii can teach you things. (I didn't even touch on the fact that some tricky modern surgeries are done with lasers, moved by doctors using control pads remarkably similar to a video game controller) Wii can change the world. Okay, maybe not that last one, but you never know.

Not bad for something roughly the size of a hardback book.

Melissa asked, ...this could be a good Christmas gift for the kids. So if I have three what do I need to buy?

The basic system comes with the console, ONE WiiMote and NunChuck, and WiiSports. The WiiSports is enough to get you going, but I'd really recommend adding on at least one other game and an additional WiiMote and NunChuck. It's the only way you'll be able to have two people competing against each other in a split-screen situation (the second NunChuck is REQUIRED for boxing against each other). Also, having AT LEAST one extra WiiMote makes it fun when the kids have friends over. You can get up to four players on a single WiiMote, but they can't play simultaneously on a single WiiMote. We have two WiiMotes and are working our way up to the maximum of four. When we go to SoCal we take our WiiMotes so we can hook them up to Sister's system and get all 9 of us playing together.

13 recommends these games for kids: WiiPlay, Big Brain Academy, Mario Kart Wii, Sonic & Mario Olympics. He also says if you get a driving game, to get the Wii Steering Wheel (you don't NEED it, but he says it makes it more fun...the WiiMote rests in the wheel and you "drive" with it...the smaller kids will recognize this as the same type of play they do when running around the house with a paper plate, steering a pretend car). Link's Crossbow Training comes with the WiiZapper. Also, there are super-fun games like Wii Lego Indiana Jones. You can also play Game Cube games, but you'll need GameCube controllers and a memory card...at which point the possibilities are endless for games. And you can pick up used GameCube stuff pretty inexpensively.

I have found the rating system on the games to be fairly accurate for the most part, so let that guide you as well.

I'm up to 300+ wii points now and also got some ebay gift cards. Free wii points doesn't get any easier than that!

That's why it should be such a surprise that it took 30 years of video games before multiplayer started really catching on, especially among consoles. For decades, consoles shipped with only two controller ports, with expensive and underutilized peripherals the only possible expansion. However, while the default number of ports has grown and wireless technology makes it still easier to gather friends around the TV's loving glow, design standards still conspire to keep gamers locked safely in their basements, alone.

That Guy Syndrome
Probably the worst fate that can befall a multiplayer game is that guy syndrome. If you're already a multiplayer gamer, there's a good chance that you already know what I'm talking about. Once you've gained enough expertise to consistently crush your fellow players, you've become that guy (or girl), and nobody is likely to want to play with you any more. So suddenly you find yourself back in the basement, cuddling the latest iteration of Final Fantasy, because at least it will never hate you.

It turns out that it matters how often you win or lose when you're trying to have fun (thanks science), so if you've become the undying master of the secret ninja trick, the game gets boring for you and frustrating to everyone else. Did you set out to upset this balance? Probably not, but the game probably strongly encouraged you to do so.

To see what I mean, let's take a recent gaming example: Super Mario Kart Wii. While you can pick up and play this game with friends straight out of the box, only about half of the playable characters and usable vehicles are unlocked from the outset. About a quarter of the game's courses are locked as well. This isn’t really a problem in itself, but if you picked up the game to play with friends, you'll probably be progressively annoyed that it doesn't seem to matter how many multiplayer games you play, those rewards remain locked. In fact the only way to get at those courses, karts, and characters is to sit down in single-player mode and keep playing until you've completed a series of increasingly difficult tasks (think Xbox Live Achievements). By the time you've finished unlocking everything in the game, you've outraced the hardest time trials on every course and beaten every grand prix with a high ranking.

Suddenly, whether you meant to or not, you've become that guy, and your multiplayer game might as well not be.

Unlockables
It's not like Mario Kart Wii is some kind of abberation from a neophyte developer; it's a venerable franchise from the company that resurrected video gaming in the 1980s. The problem actually seems to be more closely linked to unlockables and the single-player mentality that goes along with them.

Ever since someone decided that games have to be long to be good, developers have been padding to reach the golden forty-hour mark. While this sometimes amounts to changing the walking speed or irritating minigames, you can also offer concept art and intergalactic bounty hunters in bikinis to encourage gamers to replay for mastery. These bite-size rewards are sometimes charming, especially for fans just looking for an excuse to keep playing, but as soon as the unlockables start horning in on gameplay, there's a risk they'll compromise the game.

Nowhere is this more apparent in Super Smash Bros.: Brawl. It's been said elsewhere that the game plays like a love letter to Nintendo fans, however what may surprise you is that half of the interesting new characters aren't playable right out of the box. Players who heard that they'd be able to settle old playground Mario vs. Sonic feuds were disappointed until they had more or less completed the game's story mode.

Well, that's not entirely true, and it shows a place where Brawl does multiplayer right, and in a way that ought to be emulated by other multiplayer games. In addition to the story mode, Sonic can be unlocked by playing 10 multiplayer hours, 300 multiplayer matches, or by clearing classic mode with 10 characters. None of these is exactly trivial, so that childhood grudge will still have to wait, but at least it lets different players with different gameplay objectives get at the gameplay unlockables. It's a rare treat to see a multiplayer unlockable that can be obtained in . . . multiplayer mode.

However, even though Brawl nearly gets it right, the unlocking process is still pretty ill considered. One of the charms of Smash Bros.: Brawl is that you can sit down and play a quick game whenever you want. So it begs the question why the designers of bite-sized gameplay thought it'd be a good idea to make potentially casual gamers wait so long to get the game they bought. If you sit down for an eigty hour RPG, you're basically making a tacit agreement to spend a while getting at all the content. However it seems like no one who bought Brawl for a two minute game really signed up to spend ten hours getting it. Multiplayer unlockables need to consider their context before just picking big numbers out of a hat. You just spent seven hours of minimum wage labor buying the game. Is there any justifiable reason that you should pay another ten?

In fairness, teaching players to play the game takes time. Portal spends nearly half its total length just getting the player acquainted with the finer workings of its mind-bending gamepay. However, it doesn't really seem like you need to play 300 games before you can beat the snot out of an Italian plumber.

That said, this time-guzzling design paradigm would be a lot more reasonable if designers would just let uninterested players opt out of the grind. Guitar Hero, for example, is designed to repeatedly drag the player through increasingly difficult versions of songs they've already learned to prepare them for the next grueling set. However, if you'd just like to play the harder songs on lower difficulty settings without ever really learning them on expert difficulty, you can just tap an unlock code on the main menu to get at every track in the game. It's a little kludgey to enter the code every time you want to play, but at least it gives the player the opportunity to ignore the designers and play the game as they like.

One Of Us!
These annoyances haven't kept the World of Warcraft from accumulating ten million players (many of whom are that guy), and they haven't put Nintendo out of business. However, they are playing a role in any trouble you've had getting a few friends together to play video games for an hour or two. Designers and marketers should take note of this problem, because if core gamers aren't drawing people to multiplayer games, word of mouth isn't selling games like it should be. All that really needs to be done is to keep an eye to the fact that multiplayer doesn't have to be the icing on the game design cake. It can be the throbbing heart that makes gamers keep coming back to see one another and the world they're exploring together. Stop trying so hard to keep players out, and maybe they'll come in.

Sorry I haven't been posting but I just got this new computer in my room.  It is really cool.  And also for you Mario Kart Wii people that have the game, It is so awesome! If you post a comment tell me who you unlocked, what shortcuts you know because I know about 17 of them because of the almighty youtube! And also if you see me on WiFi then you know I may stink.  So far I got a gold trophie in every CC there is and im working on Mirror Mode! So beat that you mario kart people.  And anyways, I'm back in the wordpress studios(just kidding i'm sitting at my desk next to my bed) but anyways keep karting!

He completely fell for it, and when the girls finally showed up we let them have a go at it too. Neither of them did very well, but that was the first time they played on Nintendo DS and two screens was very confusing for them. All of them came below average for first timers which is acceptable since they don't play much. My sister on the other hand got 863 on her first go, which was good, and after 3 tries she got above 1000.

After that we decided to go to Uno and there we played Mario Kart Wii. Sadly they only had 2 controllers and we were 4, so we played 2 at a time.

Here's (form the left) Linda and Ewelina while playing MK: Wii

(from the left) Mine and Erik's turn to play

After playing for a while we got hungry so we went to 'Nya Peking' and had something to eat. It was good food, and I was impressed that the waitress memorised most of what we ordered in her mind when we wanted to pay.

On the way home when we dropped off Linda I got to see where she lived. She's got a dog and a cat that can live together!

When I got home I let my sister play Brain Training as I wrote earlier and she got 863 on her first try. Now she can't let go of it and won't give it back to me. I have a feeling that the battery will run out soon, and once she gets the charger she will just keep playing :P

Edit: Yep, she just continued playing after I got out the charger... haha she's completely into the game :P

What are unlockables, you ask? Good question! In olden games of karting yore, they were new Grand Prix races (e.g., Special Cup and 150cc options). I remember being a kid (probably before Allison was born!) in my dad's basement in Iowa, playing Super Mario Kart with my cousins trying to unlock the elusive 150cc Grand Prix race. Why did we want to do this? (Again, another GREAT question!) Because we had done everything else! We loved the game, but we were to the point of hanging upside down off the edge of the blue sectional sofa in order to make the game more difficult. (It worked.)

Now you don't have to hang off the couch! Mario Kart Wii has a crapload (for lack of a better word) of unlockables. It is possible to unlock new karts, new characters, new bikes, new tracks, new Grand Prix races, and the magical "mirror mode."

I am not very far into freeing the unlockables, I will admit. I tend to fixate on one particular unlockable, which I have to unlock before moving on. Yeah, just a bit OCD. Right now I am focusing on the characters purely because they are the most fun. :) I am having EXTREME difficulty getting 1 star ratings on grand prix races, though. I have done my online research, and still, the best I seem to get is an A rating (I'm talking about 100cc races here, folks). Bah. If anyone has suggestions, I will gladly accept them!

BTW, if you would like to see a list of all the unlockables, I direct you to GameFAQs's page on Mario Kart Wii Cheats (even though they aren't really cheats).

So enough about me... how many unlockables do you have?

Hi! I'm Allison also know as Alli although Erica refuses to call me that. Older sisters; what are you going to do with them? So, yes, Erica and I are the related ones. Gaming runs in our blood, so I think we're qualified.

I'm 13 and I was brought into this to provide the clever commentary that only a teenager can bring. Also, I have nothing else to do this summer...

Ok, so currently I'm playing Mario Kart Wii and I looooove it. Actually, that's an understatement. I'm pretty good when I play against the people in my house and the game itself, but recently I've been playing people around the world on Nintendo WFC, and I stink.

It's late and I'm beginning to be at a loss for words, so I'll let you two take it from here!

Allison

Mario Kart Wii
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Super Mario Galaxy
Wii Sports
Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaro's Treasure

plus a short downloadable game: Lostwinds

And that's it.

There are definitely many other good games for the system but they're all available in either near-identical versions on PS2 or superior versions on PS3/X360. For instance, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 are both available for GameCube.  Bully and Okami are available for PS2.  I really can't recommend purchasing a Wii over an Xbox 360 unless you have a major hard-on for Nintendo (like I do).

kicknz

Mario Kart Wii takes safe, yet enjoyable steps forward by introducing a steering wheel periphiral, motor bikes, and the best online interface seen on the Wii so far. Nintendo's attempt to bridge the gap between the hardcore and the casual is a bit sloppy at times due to "rubber band AI", but overall skill *typically* dominates in online play.

The classic gameplay of the Mario Kart series is mostly unchanged in Mario Kart Wii. Up to 12 racers compete against one another on 32 tracks set in the Mario universe. Along the way, racers grab items to boost their abilities or attack their opponents. The single player mode is highlighted by the Grand Prix which is composed of eight cups, each of which contain four tracks. Players can also participate in time trials where they race alone to achieve the fastest times possible. The multiplayer mode allows for up to four players to race or battle against eachother and computers using splitscreen.

While the core gameplay of the series has gone relatively untouched, there *have* been a few major changes made in this installment.

The biggest change is the introduction of the Wii Wheel, a steering wheel-shaped frame that houses a Wiimote allowing the player to steer his racer like an actual go kart. The Wii Wheel is included with the game, and extra Wheels are sold seperately for around $15. A large extension of the B button is placed on the back of the Wheel allowing players to drift, a vital technique on most tracks. Players can choose either automatic or manual options for drifting. The automatic setting executes drifting *for* the player as they turn. Players that choose the manual setting must drift on their own but can achieve mini-turbos, small bursts of speed, by holding a drift for an extended period of time. The drift mechanic makes it so that players don't have to over extend their turning of the Wii Wheel. The result is a comfortable and fun control scheme that quickly becomes second nature.

Players aren't restricted to *just* the Wii Wheel to play Mario Kart Wii.

Obviously, the Wiimote on its own can be held sideways to play with the same control scheme as the Wii Wheel, but players can also use the Wiimote with the Nunchuk, the Classic Controller, or a GameCube Controller for more traditional control schemes. Each method has its own pros and cons so players should be sure to test out each type to find the one they prefer. It should be noted that Nintendo encourages the use of the Wii Wheel by awarding players with a golden Wii Wheel icon by their names in online play if they use the Wheel as their primary control method.

Another obvious change, mentioned earlier, is the inclusion of motor bikes.

While karts can achieve super mini-turbos after drifting, bikes can only achieve regular mini-turbos. To make up for this, bikes allow racers to perform wheelies, a technique that slightly increases the racer's speed while greatly reducing their handling and making them vulnerable to physical contact with other vehicles. Wheelies are performed by pulling up on the Wii-Wheel, back on the Wiimote, or by pressing up on the D-Pad with the other control methods. These controls also allow players to perform tricks after jumping off of ramps. After performing a trick, the racer's vehicle receives a small burst of speed upon landing.

Using these techniques in conjunction with drifting are vital to place well in the online versus mode.

The online interface for Mario Kart Wii is executed extremely well for a Wii title. Players can choose between single player or two player splitscreen and are then given the choice of competing against other players across the globe, in their continental region, or in their friend list. They are then prompted to choose between versus or battle mode. Players begin with a rating of 5,000 in each mode and gain or lose points depending on their performance. Versus mode attempts to pit you against up to 11 other players. When you first join a group, you are able to see the liscenced Mii for each player along with their name and their location on the globe. Players can come and go between races. Before each race, players are allowed to vote on the track they would like to race on next. Once all the votes are in, a track in chosen at random from the list. Playing high will typically earn you rating points though placing in the top half won't always guarantee a positive gain as your rating seems to be based on your progress from race to race as well. With no "rubberband AI" to compete against, players are able to rely more upon their skill to win in online versus mode, but players in lower positions will still receive powerful items more frequently maintaining the somewhat random nature of the races. Players will see their fair share of landslide victories, split-second upsets, and all around close matches. In the case of players finishing a match way ahead of others, the race will end with the current position either 30 seconds after someone has finished or when the one before last position has been decided. That way, players won't be held back by less experienced or less serious racers.

In battle mode, players drive around tracks made exclusively for the the mode. They also vote for the tracks in the same way they do in versus mode. Players are split into two teams before each match and alternate between balloon battle and coin runners. Balloon battle is based on the traditional battle mode from previous installments. Players hit opponents with items to pop the balloons attached to their vehicle. Doing so gains that player a point which is added to the team's total. When the time runs out, the team with the most points wins, and individual players are rewarded with rating points based on how much they contributed to the team's score. Coin runners uses the same concept, but instead of scoring points by popping balloons, players race around collecting coins on the track. Only a limited number of coins spawn on the track so players must attack opponents to make them drop their coins. A player's coin total is displayed when they are close by.

The online play suffers from typical problems that other online games have such as lag which, of course, depends on the internet connections of the participating players. Red shells, which are supposed to seek nearby opponents, will *sometimes* hover around the player and not strike them right away or even at all. Also, while there is no headset communications available, players have found other ways of showing their agression, primarily through picking the same (often disliked) track repeatedly, even after having raced on that track with the same group. Of course, tracks are chosen randomly from a list of each player's vote, it can still become a source of frustration.

Mario Kart Wii also features the Mario Kart Channel, where players can add new friends, race other players' ghosts in time trial, view rankings, and participate in tournaments which consist of a single race against computer opponents on slightly modified courses.

All in all, Mario Kart Wii stands out among other Wii titles in its excellent online interface and gameplay. On its own, the core gameplay is the same, but rather soulless in its presentation. Nintendo insists on playing it safe, and while I'm sure the long time Mario Kart fans have everything they need here, the inclusion of a story or campaign mode of some sort would add the depth and face this franchise needs to remain innovative.

Until then, enjoy playing like a girl. :P

Boom Blox
Carnival Games
Elebits
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Manhunt 2
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Strikers Charged
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2
Pokémon Battle Revolution
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Red Steel
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Soulcalibur Legends
Trauma Center: New Blood
Trauma Center: Second Opinion

a la sección de videojuegos para Wii.

While in Louisville, a trip to BME--specifically, the Bardstown Road location--is absolutely necessary; in fact, it's probably where the bulk of my "research" (read: purchasing) will take place.  For my money, it's the best place in the state to buy the latest and greatest video games.  They're always trading, and they recognize that games like Final Fantasy VII have a much greater value than, say, Cooking Mama.  BME offers lots of games on many systems, and they're also a great place to find DVDs and TV box sets (I recently picked up a 3-DVD set that included The Aviator, The Departed, and Goodfellas, all for $19.99). 

I think this post is evolving from a review of a few games into a commentary on the system itself. Probably a better way to go of it, as I'm currently entertaining the idea of a Mario Kart Wii vs. Super Smash Bros. Brawl post.  Maybe I should include a comparison to its predecessor, the Gamecube--a system that never quite got off the ground.  All of these are details to be hammered out on the road, I suppose.  Let me know if you have any thoughts on the matter.