Next Weeks Big Releases Dominate!
WhatIfGaming writes: "Nintendo is celebrating the highly anticipated release of Mario Kart® Wii and the companion Wii Wheel accessory with a fun-packed launch party at the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza..."
On Thursday, April 24th, unsuspecting New Yorkers will be in for a shock as they call for a cab... and wind up with a plumber?
While those of you in Europe and Japan are enjoying Mario Kart, the rest of us are trying to wait as patiently as we can, not knowing what to expect. Sure, we've seen and heard many racing-related things when it comes to Nintendo's upcoming title, but there's been one aspect of the game that hasn't been talked about much -- Battle Mode.
A guide on what steps to take to unlock each of the 14 secret characters in Mario Kart Wii. For example on how to unlock the Miis:
Consumers might be seeing price cuts for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 in the coming months, claimed analyst Jesse Divnich of research firm EEDAR in a report sent to Gamasutra following today's NPD sales figures for March.
Kotaku writes:This isn't confirmed, and we're going to have to wait until Media Create releases the "official" numbers, but apparently Mario Kart Wii moved 300,000 copies on launch day. To put things in perspective, Mario Kart DS did 160,000 at launch, while Mario Kart Double Dash did 180,000 on its first day.
Nintendo overtakes Sony's 'Gran Turismo 5: Prologue' at the top of the All Formats Chart as 'Mario Kart Wii' records the 8th biggest launch week ever in the UK. 'Mario Kart Wii' is far and away the biggest launch of any Nintendo published title. It's also bigger than the launch weeks of all 5 other Mario Wii games combined (Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Strikers, Mario Party 8 and Super Paper Mario). Mario has performed heroically on Nintendo's next-gen format with Wii games featuring Mario accounting for 21.2% of all Wii units since the launch of the console in December 2006.
Nintendo has told Eurogamer that it has had no reports of problems with Mario Kart Wii discs.
The exact same issue that happened to Japanese gamers that bought Brawl is now happening with Mario Kart Wii. Some people that purchased the game are complaining that their Wii cannot read the disc, and the game is freezing/crashing. Nintendo has once again stated that the problem is due to Mario Kart Wii being a double-layer disc. Nintendo will clean your Wii for you, which should do away with the problem.
Mario Kart Wii was released just a few days ago, yet people managed to use cheating exploits to gain the upper hand in the Wi-Fi community; more specifically, the Time Trials mode. People have been earning ridiculous times that clearly cannot be achieved by racing normally. Nintendo seems to be on the case, however. Reports have began to drop in that Nintendo has rectified the issue. It's great to see the big N taking expeditious action, but at the same time, it's a shame people are trying to ruin the online experience.
Kotaku writes: "There's word that cheaters (you bastards!) are apparently moving in full force on Mario Kart Wii. Either that, or there's a bug. The Time Trials mode is getting hit hardest with all sorts of impossible times appearing. According to Mercurys Phoenix at the Official Nintendo Magazine forums writes:
VGChartz via ameblo is reporting that the first day sales in Japan on April 10th were as follows:
CVG writes: "Mario Kart Wii has sold over three hundred thousand units in its native country of Japan, reports are suggesting.
Mario Kart Wii is released today (April 11th) in the UK and Nintendo of Europe has a Mario Kart Wii website with the latest info and details on the game. Check out the control schemes, game modes, characters, courses, items and more on the Nintendo of Europe Mario Kart Wii website.
Looks like some places, at least in Germany, might already be selling the highly-anticipated Wii title, which comes in a plastic case versus a sleeve. Plus, new characters revealed!
Datel's Freeloader disc for the Nintendo Wii arrived last month as a miracle for many a player who, they hoped, would help allow them to play region-locked games on their console. It seemed to have been working without a hitch so far, but now it seems that the solution does not work with the Japanese version of Mario Kart Wii, throwing the future of the device into question.
Sam's Club is throwing a little midnight launch event to mark the landing of Mario Kart (Wii), and to draw in the crowds they're promising that 15 consoles will be available for purchase at each store during the launch.
CVG writes: "Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has given Mario Kart Wii an impressive score of 10/9/9/9 in its review, according to German website GameFront.de.
The latest fact sheet handed to Kotaku from Nintendo contains some notes on the game's four control schemes. Here's what it says for the Classic and GameCube controls: