info(aka updates)

no u dont, willing ot bet

i can play it

go on then

its not out yet

lol

u said u could play it, we get it here earlier thn you cos its british made

no kidding einstein!

hahaahahah

wow

Nintendo Talks Mario Kart
Part one of Iwata Asks reveals new online details, ghost info, playable Miis, and hints at new characters.
by Bozon
April 4, 2008 - As part of an ongoing feature with Nintendo of Japan, the company's president, Satoru Iwata, sat down with top players in the product development of some of Nintendo's largest projects. Now that Brawl is reaching fans worldwide, Mr. Iwata turned his sights from Nintendo's brawler over to Mario Kart Wii. Reaching a more casual audience this time around, Mario Kart Wii offers unique tilt control, full Mii integration, 12-player racing and battle mode, and full online support. With such a full plate of features, options, and first time technologies on Wii, there are sure to be some great conversations behind the scenes. For the first edition of Iwata Asks, Mr. Iwata invited Kenichiro Ashida, project leader for the Wii Wheel, producer Hideki Konno, and Nintendo lead designer and all-around overlord Shigeru Miyamoto to sit down and chat about all things Mario Kart.


Iwata Asks begins again, this time with Mario Kart Wii.
Mr. Iwata started by asking about the Wii Wheel, which is coming free along with Mario Kart Wii. Iwata stated that people who are used to the GameCube or Classic Controller may want to instead use that as a means for achieving fast race times or winning matches. Konno responded to this issue, stating that "... we came up with a way of addressing that. We provided an incentive for using the Wii Wheel. When you battle someone you don't know, and in the rankings as well, a Wii Wheel icon appears to the right of your nickname on the screen."

Miyamoto also chimed in on the issue, explaining that "When someone using the GameCube controller gets passed by someone with the Wii Wheel icon, they're really chagrined. But just like with the Mii Contest Channel for contests, where the number of parts for faces are limited, it's more fun when there are restraints. When you can get a great time using the wheel, you've got a lot of bragging rights." There seems to be no denial that using a more classic form of control could yield more competitive results, but it's also obvious that the focus here was fun, rather than competition.

You don't cross the boss.Of course the Wii Wheel isn't the only addition to Mario Kart Wii, and so conversation moved from tilt control over to the new implementation of both bikes and Miis into Mario Kart. On the bike front, Konno explained that bikes came from his love for BMX, and that Wii may not have been the first time Mario Kart and bikes were mentioned in the same breath. "To be honest, there may have been some influence from my own hobbies. I love BMX bicycles and snowboarding. When we made the game for the DS, we wanted to put in some elements of extreme sports12 so the players could do some rough riding, but it was difficult to achieve in a handheld game. That's why we decided to make it happen for the Wii." Miyamoto added that, "Konno-san had been proposing ideas involving BMX bicycles ever since the GameCube version."

New details also seem to be emerging on the Mii front, as it appears that playable Miis are an unlockable within Mario Kart Wii. Iwata opened by stating that "On a different note, as touched upon earlier when we were discussing the voice talents, this is the first time Miis and Mario compete together," but Konno elaborated a bit further, mentioning that "We decided on that as we discussed this with Miyamoto-san. We thought that if no one but Miis appeared at the start, the game wouldn't feel much like Mario Kart, so we made it so Miis can be chosen later on."

Online and rankings were a huge portion of the interview as well, and it's obvious that connectivity and fun play a huge role in Mario Kart Wii, rather than an intimidating "may the best man win," experience. Konno mentioned straight away that he wanted online rankings included, but was questioned by Iwata during development as to why players would want to know they were ranked 80,000th in the world. Iwata followed up, explaining that "I remember that was brought up in one of the meetings during the Wi-Fi Connection's development process. Something we needed to tackle with Wi-Fi matches and rankings, was how only a few strong players would be happy, among thousands of others who couldn't become champions.


Online rankings that don't threaten your manhood.
You wanted to avoid that. This was discussed since the time we started development of the Wi-Fi Connection. So for Mario Kart Wii we tried something new." Instead, a distribution map is used to show players in relation to worldwide, local players, and friends. In this way, Nintendo hopes to make the Mario Kart experience feel connected, but not intimidating. Mr. Iwata states exactly that. "Instead of being told you're ranked 83,431, it's much more rewarding to be shown how many people around the world are playing at your level."

Mario Kart Wii is also the first time Nintendo has really explored the world of matchmaking and full online, so there was plenty to say on that topic as well. As well as having 12 players for local play, Nintendo confirmed that 12-player online is also a go. Konno commented further though, and the online structure is pretty interesting. "As I mentioned earlier, there was a tendency with the DS version for one's opponents to gradually decrease in number. This time up to 12 people can play each other, and new players can join your match after each race. In other words, if six people are in the first race, then even if two of them drop out in the next race, new players can participate for an eight, or even a twelve-player match. When you want to join players who are already playing, you can watch a live broadcast of the race going on at that moment."

Miyamoto also explained an integration between your connection and the Wii globe, similar to the weather or news channels. We've seen this globe briefly, but Mr. Miyamoto commented further on it, mentioning that "During matchmaking, a globe appears. If you live in Seattle, your Mii is standing there in Seattle. It's obvious which country the players are from." This allows far more connectivity than previous online efforts from Nintendo, where you'd link up with random players and have no idea what the connection was going to be like, where they were playing from, and why there was/wasn't performance issues during matches. Now you know what you're going into before a match begins.
The first prototype of the Wii Wheel.
The team also talked largely about playing with friends online, and how it all factored in t the Mario Kart Channel. Konno opened by explaining that "Even if you haven't inserted the Mario Kart Wii game disc, if you start up your Wii and check the Mario Kart Wii channel, you'll be able to see if Iwata-san is playing using Wi-Fi. If Miyamoto-san then selects Join, he can join Iwata-san in the match. With the DS, when you wanted to play together with your friends, you couldn't until you phoned them and agreed to a time. It wasn't convenient. I thought if the set-up could only be more convenient, people would be able to play more often with their friends." We may not be able to directly message players via online, but the Mario Kart Channel should help to connect players without needing to boot up the game, see if anyone's on, and then attempt to play. As a quick aside, this "game channel" system is also being used in Wii Fit, so it seems that Nintendo is setting a standard with stand-alone aspects of its games, attempting to offer players quicker connectivity without constantly changing discs.

As far as ghost data is concerned, Konno mentioned that the ability to download ghost data could mean that a first time player could potentially run into the top race time in the world, and that it wouldn't be a fun experience. To combat that, players also have the ability to download data that is just barely faster than them, pushing even beginner racers to improve lap times. Konno also mentioned that ghosts were being used in other ways. "We also added Ghost Battles. There's also a mode sort of like the 100-Man Brawl in Smash Bros., for racing with Ghosts. Ghost Data is sent to you randomly, and you can battle with a Ghost at about your level."



Early model with IR window. Other options.


Wii owners across the net have also been asking which of the two vehicle types are better, and apparently word got up to Mr. Iwata, so he confronted Konno on just that. Which is better, bikes, or karts? Konno replied, explaining "That's difficult to answer, but the motorbike is pretty good. For some courses a kart may be better, and for others the motorbike may be better. One advantage of the motorbike is that when you do a wheelie, you speed up, but wheel movement doesn't work during a wheelie, so it's only good on a straight course. On a course with lots of corners, it might be better to choose a kart so you could drift. We made the game so that each player can decide what works best after trying lots of different things." After going hands-on with it here in IGN LA, we've found that it really splits the game into two different feelings. If a slick, drift experience is what you're looking for, karts are unrivaled. If you want pure speed, and would rather hug the inside corner at the sacrifice of boost power around turns, bikes are the way to go.

Finally, Iwata asked Miyamoto, Konno, and Ashida for some closing comments. Ashida opened mentioning that "I myself am looking forward to playing Mario Kart Wii with my son. Mario Kart Wii only comes with one Wii Wheel, but you can buy Wii Wheels sold separately as well. It'll be great if everyone in the family played together using Wii Wheels." As far as Konno was concerned, it's all about online connectivity, as well as teasing another unlockable character. "I would like people to get together and have a lot of fun with this game. There are so many ways you can play, including features utilising the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. We would be very happy if people could play it with their family and friends, and also with people from around the world. By the way, a new character has joined in from Super Mario Galaxy, so I hope you look forward to it…"


Limited Edition, anyone? Better in black?


And finally, Miyamoto chimed in, summing up exactly what Nintendo hoped to achieve with the latest edition of Mario Kart. "Mario Kart Wii is, fundamentally, a game that lets you enjoy communication with others. On the surface it looks like a racing game, but it's a product that doesn't have to be about racing at all, so if you connect it to Wi-Fi, it'll feel like the Mario Kart experience just grew by four times. Miis appear, and you can connect to the Mii Contest Channel, and, while connecting to the world was also possible with the DS, this time you will realize the game has become a communication tool that you can play with an even greater sense of connection to the world."

We'll have more on Mario Kart Wii as we near the game's release, as well as further information from future "Iwata Asks" interviews. Watch out for the game's April 27 US release, which is quickly approaching.

screenshots http://media.wii.ign.com/media/949/949580/imgs_1.html

I gonna get Mario Kart very soon!

the game is very cool,you must get it

i got it

cool,you like it?

that game rocks

cool,glad you like it

lol i rank oen of th best online

my onlines out till i get a router

same here i need a router cause we changed internet companies but i use the neighbors wireless internet

my usb connector broke

Oh...