Nintendo Why? Fi

As people should be aware it is illegal to use your mobile phone while driving. That's no talking and certainly no texting at the wheel. Nintendo being the law abiding citizens that they are have implemented this into the forth coming Mario Kart Wii. There will be no texting and most definately no chatting during races, but you can text your friends before the race using either a USB keyboard or the Wii remote. If you opt for the latter the race may well be over before you can type 'I'll pwn your face at this noob!' however.

Nintendo say they did toy with the idea of not only including a plastic wheel with the game but also a small bundle of sticks. Using these, players could rub them together vigorously to create smoke signals to organise online matches and chat to friends in a more reliable way than the Nintendo Wifi connection. The only reason these were removed from the final boxed version was that sending friend codes via this method proved even more time consuming than using the Wii remote. Well, that and the fact that players were winning races in a very real 'blaze' of glory!

So here's a plea to Nintendo. If you really are serious about charging to play certain games online, sort out the basics first. You only have to scan through the forum quickly to see the constant problems people are having trying to play any DS or Wii game online. The Geometry Wars online scoreboard is still an annoyance for me too, being something close to useless. Extensive was the word used on the box I believe, so why can't I choose to see my friends scores? And isn't it called Wii Connect 24? I assumed this meant 24hr and not the average number of times I would have to connect and disconnect from Nintendo Wifi to upload and view the scores. Still a great game though.

Update: Reading through a preview from people who have played the actual game it's said that the chat feature is even more limited than originally thought, consisting of a few preset phrases you can send to each other. The preview rated the game extremely highly but did say the plastic wheel control was rubbish and to stick with the other methods available.

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