What exactly is it that makes Mario Kart so much different than any other kart copycat out there? I mean, it’s quite simple in theory – you have a Nintendo character driving a kart trying to reach the finish line first and in doing so you have weapons to help you achieve this. We’ve seen Crash Bandicoot, Disney, Looney Tunes and other well known brands slap their characters into a kart game and achieve nothing more than a good dose of embarrassment. Nintendo are the Gods of kart racing (among other) and it does not seem as if they are planning on letting up anytime soon.

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Mario Kart Wii.

Journalists attending the press launch of Mario Kart Wii were in for a big surprise and a big challenge! Once we had all been given the chance to get behind the steering wheel and the buzz had quietened down a bit, we were told the good news.

Core Gaming was giving us journalists a chance many gamers would only dream about – a competition was on the go and the prize up for grabs was enough to motivate even the most casual gamer to sit up and take notice. The prize was none other than a year’s free supply of Wii games. Yes, you read that correctly, a year’s free supply of Wii games.

It was at this stage that I wished another member of the El33tonline team had attended the launch, a somewhat more seasoned Mario Kart racer, if you get my drift. But as anyone who has ever played Mario Kart will know, a race is not won until you actually cross that finish line. You could be in first place up until a couple of metres before the finish line, only to get taken out by a red shell and your friend whiz past you to take what should have been your spot on the podium. I guess what I am trying to say in essence is this, I did stand a chance and already my stomach was quivering at the thought of racing and possibly winning.

But you must understand that we were racing with the best of the best, not only in the gaming industry, but against two South African Go Kart Champions. Real life ones I mean.

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El33tonline attended the media launch of Mario Kart Wii at an event held in Johannesburg yesterday. Core Gaming Group, Nintendo’s representative company in South Africa, invited us to pit our racing skills not just against our fellow gamers but against some of South Africa’s top Go-Karting champions.

Upon walking into the venue, The Cigar Bar at the Wanderers Club, you were faced with two large screens, both running Mario Kart Wii of course.

As usual The Nintendo Team had outdone themselves, with the event running smoothly, tasty food and drinks to go around and the volume turned up real loud to help us indulge in a little Mario Kart Wii racing.

Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, briefly introduced us to the game before setting us loose on the racetrack, but not before we were each issued with a Wii Driving Licence of course.

After participating in a bit of healthy competition on the race track and catching up with two South African Go Kart Champions (Fabienne Lanz and Jennifer Murray), we headed off to begin our racing at home with a copy of Mario Kart Wii tucked firmly under our arm.

Head over to a detailed look at the launch with more pictures.

While on a recent expedition into the wilds of Pavilion shopping centre, I stumbled across a great find.

Mario Kart Wii has finally hit the shelves in SA! I have only seen it in Look and Listen so far but stock will probably start trickling in to most retail shops over the course of the weekend and next week.

It was priced at R550 if my memory serves me correct. Maybe see you online?

By the way, watch this space…more Mario Kart Wii details to follow late next week.

While The Nintendo Team had confirmed that Mario Kart Wii would launch in South Africa in mid-May, an exact date had yet to be announced.

A quick glance at Nintendo’s website shows that it has been updated to reflect that Mario Kart Wii will be racing on to South African shelves on the 29th of May. That’s just next week you know!

Mario Kart Wii is the latest installment in Nintendo’s popular racing series and marks the series debut on the Wii. The game includes dozens of characters (each with his or her own collection of customised vehicles), 16 new courses as well as 16 classic courses from previous Mario Kart titles. It features numerous online options including the ability for up to 16 players to compete online while up to four can race on one console.

In addition gamers will be able to race either karts or motorbikes and can choose to race as their Miis. The game even boasts a new Mario Kart Channel which allows players to compete in tournaments, check rankings, keep tabs on friend’s online activity and download ghost data.

Expect our review of the game as soon as we have careened around the Mushroom Kingdom. We will keep our ear to the ground for a price and let you know soonest.

Core Gaming have been working tirelessly to launch Wii Fit in South Africa and more. We caught up with them this week to discuss what is in the pipeline for this rapidly growing gaming region.

Wii Fit is flying off the shelves since it was launched across South Africa on the 5th of May. The Nintendo Team has revealed that they have sold through 1/3 of their stock to consumers in the two weeks since the games’ launch and that their warehouse is completely sold out.

Mario Kart Wii should be hitting stores in the next week or so. The games’ launch is pending classification at the Film and Publication Board (FPB) but Mario’s racing adventure on the Wii will no doubt be well worth the wait.

You will be happy to know that the Nintendo Team is “placing a focus now in bringing in some classic titles we’ve missed like Super Paper Mario, Link’s Crossbow Training and so forth.” This means that Nintendo fans have lots to look forward to throughout 2008.

The highly anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be released in South Africa to coincide with Europe, so expect it to be on shelves mid-year.

Better start saving your pennies and clearing your social calendar because gaming is about to get even hotter.

Core Gaming recently launched Wii Fit in South Africa. With the launch tucked securely under their belts, we managed to catch up with The Nintendo Team who gave us the scoop on some dates to diarise.

Mario Kart Wii will be launching across South Africa in mid-May. The latest instalment in Nintendo’s popular racing series has yet to be stamped with a price but mid-May is just around the corner so you better start your engines! The game comes bundled with a new accessory, the Wii Wheel, which looks set to revolutionise your Mario Kart gaming experience.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of this year’s most hotly anticipated titles. It was recently announced that SSBB would be released across Europe on the 27th of June, but until now South African fans of the series have been in the dark as to when they can enter the brawl. While an official release date has yet to be announced, it looks like South Africa will follow the European launch of the game and SSBB will probably arrive in South Africa mid-year.

The question on many Wii gamers’ minds is when the Wii Shop Channel will be launching in South Africa. The Nintendo Team confirmed that it is definitely coming, but it is just a matter of when. Nintendo of Europe is currently working on the stars catalogue, which they hope will be released in 2008. It is going to take significantly longer to bring Virtual Console titles to South Africa but rest assured that it is in the works!

The Nintendo Team also confirmed that they will once again be at rAge this year, showcasing both the Nintendo DS and Wii. With great games like Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the cards, they look set to raise the temperature of the gaming circuit.

Once we get solid release dates and prices you will be the first to know.

Mario Kart Wii is the latest installment in Nintendo’s popular racing series and marks the series debut on the Wii. The game comes bundled with the Wii Wheel and went on sale across North America this past Sunday, the 27th of April at a retail price of $49.99.

“Just like Wii Sports, Mario Kart Wii will have everyone in the household playing together, laughing and having fun,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “With the Wii Wheel and ability to race with Mii caricatures, Mario Kart Wii literally puts players directly into the game.”

The game includes dozens of characters (each with his or her own collection of customised vehicles), 16 new courses as well as 16 classic courses from previous Mario Kart titles. Up to 16 players can compete online while up to four can race on one console.

In addition gamers will be able to race either karts or motorbikes and can choose to hurtle around the Mushroom Kingdom as their Miis. The game even boasts a new Mario Kart Channel which allows players to compete in tournaments, check rankings, keep tabs on friend’s online activity and download ghost data.

Whereas most publishers chose to avoid launching their games this week due to the launch of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV today, Nintendo fixed the 27th of April as the North American release date of Mario Kart Wii.

Many were dubious as to how Mario would fare against GTA but the bottom line is that these two games are aimed at two completely different target audiences, not to mention that GTA IV is only available on the Xbox 360 and PS3. The sales figures will speak louder than words and both publishers will no doubt flaunt them as soon as they have them.

Mario Kart Wii was released in Japan on the 10th of April and across Europe one day later on the 11th of April.

For the second week in a row, Mario Kart Wii topped the Japanese software chart, selling 202 000 copies and bringing its two week total to 795,000 according to video game sales tracking company Media Create. It is rapidly approaching the total sales of Mario Kart’s last outing on the GameCube and should surpass it in next week’s figures.

Another outperformer is Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G which managed another 124 000 sales in its fourth week on the market. As an expanded release of Monster Hunter Portable 2, it has quickly outsold every other PSP title in Japan on its way to 1 714 000 copies sold and at this rate could reach the 2 million mark.

A new release from Nintendo on the DS showed up in third place. It doesn’t have an official English announcement yet, so we’re using a name translated from Japanese as We’re Fossil Diggers (or Collectors). The game managed 35 000 copies sold for the week.

Slow week for new releases

Meanwhile, Wii Fit continues its climb to 2 million, this week selling 32 000 copies for a to-date total for 1 897 000. Koei’s Musou Orochi: The Evil King Returns rounds out the top five on the PS2 with 24 000 copies sold.

Very few new releases showed up this week, the only ones in the top 30 being We’re Fossil Diggers, 2 super-budget releases from the Phoenix Wright series (both being the fourth release of each game, and the third outing for each on the DS), and a Bookkeeping title from Square-Enix on the DS. This means the rest of the top 10 was filled with holdovers - Pokemon Ranger, Beautiful Writing Training DS, Deca Sporta, Super Smash Bros Brawl and Wii Sports. After a fairly inconspicuous start, Deca Sporta has steadily climbed to 148 000 copies sold - an excellent result for Hudson.

Nintendo’s Mario Kart Wii topped the Japanese software chart, selling an impressive 594 000 copies in its opening week. The title was released on the 10th of April so this figure accounts for just three days of sales. It will be interesting to see how many copies Mario Kart Wii sells in a full seven day period and only time will tell if it will continue to sell as well as Mario Kart DS has.

Taking a stroll down memory lane now, the previous iteration of the popular Mario Kart series was Mario Kart DS. Released in Japan in December 2005, Mario Kart DS sold 224 411 copies in its opening week while its life-to-date sales stand at 2.9 million copies. Its predecessor Mario Kart: Double Dash on the GameCube was released in Japan in November 2003 and sold 179 230 copies in its launch week with its life-to-date sales being 825 984 copies.

MHP2G passes SSBB

The latest Media Create figures show that Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2G continued to sell well in its third week of release. The popular title moved down one place to finish second with 222 000 copies for the week ending the 13th of April. It is interesting to note that MHP2G has now passed Super Smash Bros. Brawl in terms of life-to-date sales, MHP2G stands at 1.59 million while SSBB records 1.56 million.

Koei’s Musou Orochi: The Evil King Returns for the PS2 moves down one place to number 3 with 56 000 copies and Nintendo’s Wii Fit picks up the pace, moving up three positions to number 4 with 31 000 copies. Life-to-date sales of Wii Fit now stands at 1.86 million, if MHP2G continues to sell well it may well pass Nintendo’s exercise game. If we take into account the fact that the PSP has a higher install base than the Wii and that MHP2G costs just $50 in comparison to Wii Fit’s slightly higher $130 price tag, the likelihood of this happening seems to increase.

Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage for the Nintendo DS gains one place to settle in fifth with 30 000 copies while Namco Bandai’s Tottado! Yowiko’s Deserted Island Life for the Nintendo DS moves up two places to number 6 with 26 000 copies. The PS2 version of Konami’s Pro Baseball Spirits 5 drops three places to number 7 with 22 000 copies while Square Enix’s Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution for the PSP moves down five places to number 8 with 18 000 copies. Hudson’s Deca Sporta for the Wii gains one place finish ninth with 17 000 copies while Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl moves down one place to settle into tenth with 14 000 copies.

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Nintendo’s Mario Kart Wii has raced to the top of the UK’s All Formats Chart, recording the 8th biggest launch week ever in the UK. Mario Kart Wii is also the biggest launch of any Nintendo published title, boasting a bigger launch week than the launch weeks of all five other Mario Wii games combined (Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Strikers, Mario Party 8 and Super Paper Mario).

Mario’s performance on Nintendo’s Wii to date has been outstanding, Wii games featuring the Italian plumber have accounted for 21.2% of Wii units since the console was launched in December 2006. In addition Mario now boasts four games in the All Formats Top 40. Sega’s Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games moves down one place to number 3 (behind Sony’s Gran Turismo 5: Prologue which also moves down one position to number 2), New Super Mario Bros. is at number 23 and Mario Kart DS re-enters the Top 40 at number 30.

Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 keeps up the pace at number 4 while Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 moves down two places to number 5. Sega’s Condemned 2 loses one position to finish in sixth place with sales falling by 20% while Nintendo’s Wii Play gains one spot to finish seventh. Activision’s Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock drops two places to number 8 while Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare moves up one place to number 9. Take 2’s Carnival: Funfair games moves up from last week’s number 13 to number 10.

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The latest series of Iwata asks interviews promise gamers insight into Mario Kart Wii. President of Nintendo Satoru Iwata recently chatted to lead designer Kenichiro Ashida, Hideki Konno and Shigeru Miyamoto about the many Wii Wheel prototypes.

The Wii Wheel is the biggest change for the latest installment in the popular Mario Kart racing series. However, it turns out that Nintendo went through about 30 prototypes to get the Wii Wheel just right.

“With regard to weight, we thought carefully about how many grams would best suit gameplay,” Ashida commented. “When considering durability, we wanted to make something strong using thick materials, but increasing the weight by even 30 grams would have been considered too heavy for some people. We eventually designed it to be as light as possible so people could use it for a long time without getting tired too quickly.”

Ashida believes that the Wii Wheel is different to other wheels because “it’s a wheel that’s used mid-air,” it doesn’t have a drive shaft and it is light. It “only seemed natural to make the Wii Wheel pure white” since both the Wii Zapper and the Wii Balance Board were pure white.

The Wii logo was placed on the back so the player would not always see it but it was still visible to people who are watching. The blue ring was placed on the back to make it more fun and consequently the blue ring was used in the logo for Mario Kart Wii.

Miyamoto’s comment on the Wii Wheel was that “it costs a lot, so we needed it to do a lot of work!”

Mario Kart Wii is due to be released across Europe on the 11th of April and North America on the 27th of April.

Nintendo of America has announced that Mario Kart Wii will be released across North America on the 27th of April.

Mario Kart Wii will come bundled with the Wii Wheel and features online racing with up to 11 other drivers from around the world.

“Mario Kart Wii transforms one of our most popular franchises into a race that every member of the family can join,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Driving with the Wii Wheel could not be more natural, and this is one place where speeding is encouraged.”

The game will be released on the 11th of April in Europe.

Check out details of the online options and information about the new tracks, power-ups and bike racing too.

It’s official - Mario Kart Wii will be racing onto European shelves on the 11th of April!

But that’s not all - it comes bundled with the new Wii Wheel, features 32 tracks including 16 all new tracks, as well as new characters, weapons and vehicles. You will also be able to use your own Miis to race with and choose between karts and bikes for the first time ever.

You will be able to play against up to 11 players simultaneously worldwide using Nintendo Wi-Fi or up to four players in multiplayer mode.

Also check out details of the new Mario Kart Channel launching with the game.

All the details plus screenshots in our latest Mario Kart Wii coverage.

Mario Kart Wii is set to be released on the 10th of April in Japan and in quarter 2 in North America. Get ready to start your engines with this new boxart for the game. Every copy of the game will come packaged with a Wii Wheel.

Make sure you check back later for more information on Mario Kart Wii which Nintendo recently revealed to IGN, including new power-ups, track details (16 new ones!), game play, modes and racing with Miis! These details will no doubt be elaborated on at GDC this week.