Nintendophiles 02.21.08
Posted by Theo Fraser on 02.21.2008
It's yet another Mario Kart Wii blowout this week, as the info just keeps on coming! Plus, Nintendo announce launch plans for WiiWare and Wii Fit, SUDA 51 starts work on a new DS project, and an interesting concept game surfaces for the WiiWare service. Check out all the Nintendo goodness in the latest edition of Nintendophiles!
Well I was all ready to be in a foul mood this week after my phone died on me last night (and Orange are refusing to give me a replacement phone, meaning I'll be phone-less for at least a week), but then we receive glorious news from Nintendo; the Mario Kart Wii release date (in the UK at least), alongside a batch of ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY screenshots for the game! Naturally that perked me up a heck of a lot. I won't waste your time here; read on and let that smile come to your face. Mario Kart Wii is going to be awesome...you can just feel it.
Yet Another Mario Kart Overload! UK Launch date, new Wii Channel and updated impressions
Credit: CVG, Cubed3, IGN, 1UP
Recent Mario Kart games have typically been released in PAL territories before the US, and Mario Kart Wii appears to be no exception, as an April 11th UK date has been set. North American fans need fear not, however, as preliminary dates being thrown around show the game as still arriving on US shores in the same month, so it's not a major wait! And heck, us UK folk are seemingly going to have to wait for AGES to get our hands on Super Smash Bros. Brawl so it's a fair trade!
Nintendo of Europe didn't merely give us a date to mark on our calendars, however. Oh no, they stuck around to talk about some of the special features the game includes, as well as unveiling 170 brand-spanking-new screens. How utterly kind of you, Nintendo! Check out Mario in his BADASS Viper Kart...
Let's begin with a quick word on controls. We've known for quite some time that the game would be packaged with a ‘Wii Wheel', which is basically just a wheel-shaped shell for the Wii remote, allowing you to authentically "drive" your karts, like a normal steering wheel accessory. What we didn't know was that this wouldn't be the only method of control. It turns out that there will actually be FIVE methods of control, and much like the Smash Bros. Brawl controls, all your bases are covered, as you can choose from:
Wii Wheel
Wii remote turned on its side
Wii remote and nunchuk combination
Classic Controller
Gamecube Controller
That's a really cool mix of styles to suit all your needs, so if you can't be bothered with all that motion-sensing business, you can simply pick up a standard joypad and play it ‘regularly' like the good ol' days. Much like with Brawl, it'd be wise to try out each method and see which one best suits you, instead of favoring one to begin with and ignoring all the other choices.
Nintendo also confirmed that the game will launch alongside a new dedicated Wii Channel; the aptly named Mario Kart Channel! As well as keeping track of your worldwide ranking and various league tables, this is the place you'll find Ghost Data and where you can track your friends' online progress, even allowing you to jump straight into an online match with them as soon as the next course becomes available! How awesome is that?! With features like that included in the mix, you'll never be left at the sidelines waiting for an opponent to connect. This could be Nintendo's most accessible online game yet. In more tantalising news regarding this Wii Channel, Nintendo are reportedly planning to host various special online events, and if these occur at regular intervals, we could be looking at an online mode that will keep us going for years to come. Bravo, Nintendo! More of the same please!
Nintendo of Europe weren't the only ones to dish out the info on Mario Kart this week, however. Many US journalists went hands on with the game for the first time, so various reports have surfaced, giving updated impressions of how the title plays, and fans will be glad to hear that all reports have been positive.
For those of you interested in how the Bikes handle differently to the standard Karts, we now have an idea of what to expect. Bikes are reportedly more manoeuvrable, but also more prone to being battered around. Basically, if you're on a bike and someone like Bowser comes roaring alongside you, you better move out of his way! Bikes also have the advantage of being able to perform wheelies by shaking the Wii remote (or pressing a D-pad direction when not using a motion-sensitive control setup), which after a while gives you a momentary speed burst, but naturally it's a double-edged sword, as it'll leave you even more vulnerable to spinning out. Something to use with caution, then. Take a look at Donkey Kong below, pulling off a fancy handle-bar headstand...
Three new items have been revealed for the series, and they sound like worthy additions in my book. First up is the Mega Mushroom, taken straight from New Super Mario Bros., which upon use will super-size your Kart, allowing you to plough through your rivals with ease. Next up, the classic POW Block returns to a Mario game, stunning other nearby racers with a violent shockwave, and finally the Lightning Cloud item gives you an extended boost of speed, presumably functioning a lot like the Golden Mushrooms in Double Dash. There's nothing there that will drastically change the gameplay, but they seem like fine inclusions if you ask me.
The final newsworthy piece of information goes back to the topic of online play, and it's just a small matter, but one that will no doubt come as great news to fans. Online play will in fact enable up to two human players per console, meaning that you'll be able to compete split-screen style against racers from across the world. That's absolutely terrific, and a great use of resources by the development team. Online play is all about multiple players, of course, so there should be no reason why only one person can compete on any one console.
So there you have it! Wow, I'm exhausted; that's quite a lot of info to take in. All of its good news, though, so I think we can all rest easy that this is shaping up to be a worthy successor to all the great Mario Kart titles before it. With around two months to go until its release, we can hope to hear more very soon. Personally, I'm looking forward to a full track listing! And whilst we're at it, how about some confirmation on those playable characters, huh?
WiiWare, Wii Fit US launch dates determined
Credit: Wall Street Journal, Nintendo
The Wall Street Journal was the first place to break the news, but Nintendo quickly responded and confirmed the details. The Nintendo Wii "WiiWare" service will launch in the US on May 12th, so mark that date down in your diaries!
Then, a mere 7 days later, the highly-successful-in-Japan Wii Fit title will hit store shelves on May 19th, so you'll be wobbling around on your Balance Board that weekend!
Nintendo have yet to announce all of the titles that will accompany the WiiWare's launch, but we do know that Pokemon Farm/Pokemon Ranch is confirmed, and the Final Fantasy Crystal Chroniclesgame is scheduled for a release around that time, possibly allowing it to be a launch title as well. No doubt Nintendo will give us a full rundown in the near future.
Things may be quiet on the Wii front just now, but clearly there are good times ahead. Hardware sales are still going strong, but I'd expect them to pick up even more alongside the Wii Fit release, as that could easily have more mainstream appeal than the Wii Sports package had.
As for the WiiWare service, I've said many times before that it's a great idea for smaller developers, but I'm also pleased to see big-time development teams utilising it, such as Square Enix, who are using it to try out a new method of gameplay, heading into unexplored territory, whilst giving it the Final Fantasy name as a selling point. That's good business, people, and if it's successful as a WiiWare format, we could see more of this type of thing in the future, on a bigger scale as a full-blown Wii title. Things like this make me extraordinarily excited about the WiiWare launch, and I personally cannot wait to see what others have in store for us once the service has properly debuted and companies can see how well it functions.
SUDA 51's latest project: Flower, Sun and Rain
Here we have a trailer for the brand new SUDA 51 project, entitled Flower, Sun and Rain, coming this Spring (in Japan) to the Nintendo DS. As per usual with a SUDA game, I have no idea what's going on, but apparently the story revolves around an assassin named Sumio Mondo, who is tasked with diffusing a bomb on a plane. He is unsuccessful in his attempt, and the plane blows up...but upon waking up in the morning, he finds nothing has happened, and the process takes place again, a la Groundhog Day. Except that each time he goes through the same day, the world gets more and more warped, so Mondo has to look for a way to escape this crazy turn of events. Color me intrigued! Nevertheless, I think you'd be hard pressed to get any of that out of the following crazy trailer, which is mainly live-action footage but does have a couple of glimpses of gameplay from the middle section onwards. Looks like it could be kinda cool! Take a look for yourself.
New WiiWare title in development; say hello to "LostWinds"
Seeing as this edition of Nintendophiles celebrates the news of the WiiWare launch date, I figured it'd be appropriate to talk about a brand new WiiWare title that has just been announced, being developed by Frontier Developments, entitled LostWinds. Hey, it must be cool because there's no space between Lost and Winds.
It actually sounds like a pretty good concept. The lead character, Toku, possesses a connection with the physical world and ‘Enril' the Wind Spirit (presumably the role the Wii pointer takes in the proceedings). Together, they can perform unique moves, and judging by the first screens, you'll be able to manipulate the wind and thus move Toku in unusual ways to help him get further through the 22 levels that have been promised, as you battle the curse set upon the world of Mistralis by the evil Balasar. The nunchuk moves Toku normally, and then the Wii remote controls wind movement, attacks and special techniques. By the sounds of it, these techniques will come in handy for Zack & Wiki-esque puzzles that form one part of the gameplay.
For a WiiWare title, I'm impressed. The graphics are solid and the concept is very promising. If Frontier can give us some challenging puzzles to sink our teeth into, you can be sure I'll be plugging this to the moon and back upon its WiiWare launch in a couple of month's time. My fingers are well and truly crossed that development goes well and they are able to deliver fully what they've set out to do.
The 411 Games Crew
The SIXAXIS News Report brings you news of the potential launch for the PS3's Home! That's not all, however, as Mark Salmela has much more on Final Fantasy XIII, Little Big Planet, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Fallout 3! That's a stellar line-up right there...better go check it out!
The Select and Start News Report is presented by Vincent Chiucchi! This week, Vincent gives you the lowdown on the death of HD-DVD, more Jack Thompson craziness, Lawsuit of the Week and more!
Check out Damian Sarcuni's review of No More Heroes...and then go buy it!
That's not it for the Hate Master this week, however, as Damian Sarcuni also has his regular Angry Gaming column, presenting an Ode to the Capcom Five; those five "exclusive" Gamecube titles...you know, the ones that Shinji Mikami said he'd cut his head off for if they ever were released on rival consoles. Hmmm...
Chris Evans' PC Centric Extravaganza looks at EA's Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, which is pretty much the Holy Grail for RTS fans. Catch that as well as the Far Cry movie trailer, a change in games ratings in the UK amongst other topics! Chris Evans has got you covered.
Outside right now it's a Total Lunar Eclipse, so I'm gonna go check that out. After all, who knows what kind of craziness might go down? I'm hoping that all the girls take their clothes off and perform some kind of sexy ritual dance-esque thing. Unlikely, sure, but a man can hold out hope.
Wow. great coverage on the Mario Kart game, and I have to agree, even though small (compared to all the other news) it is good to hear that nintendo has added the ability to play spilt screen two players and take that online. Online multiplayer does mean multiplayer, so why cant more than one person on one console join in on the fun. Me and my bro will love this option, more games should have this including first person shooters!!!
Posted By: spider (Guest) on February 21, 2008 at 01:48 AM
Beyond excited now about Mario Kart Wii. Hope the original MK goes on the VC soon as a little teaser!
But with all these WiiWare games and a new Wii channel my Wii's internal memory is going to be full. C'mon Nintendo sort this out (a hard drive or at least the ability to play VC games whilst they are saved to an SD card!)
Posted By: Terry K (Guest) on February 21, 2008 at 10:41 AM
