Nearly a year old and

It’s been 10 months since Mario Kart Wii was released in Europe and I thought I’d get in a personal early first birthday retrospective. One of the first major titles to hit shelves in Europe before North America there was much comment, much excitement, and much trepidation from the gaming community prior to release. After the success of MKDS, which has just passed 14 million sales, many found it hard to see how Nintendo could improve on the franchise.

I was one of the many that descended on the 24-hour supermarkets to pick up a copy at midnight, driving furiously home so that I could play the game while most gamers were in bed dreaming of red shells. I got home, unpacked my wheel and began to re-learn how to play Mario Kart. Since then it has barely left my Wii.

Many people couldn’t adjust to the updated control scheme. I recall one blogger likening the Wii Wheel to “strapping a biscuit tin to your wiimote”; many complained about a lack of accuracy. Me? I just plugged away at it getting better with every hour of track time.

Then there were, and still are, those who complain “it isn’t fair” or that the game is “a whole lot of luck and very little skill”. These whining voices are from a generation of gamers who want instant gratification, easy wins and no learning curve. They aren’t prepared to accept that their shortcomings as gamers are to blame as it must be the game’s fault.

Then there are those, like myself, who aren’t naturally brilliant but have learned how to play the game; learned the tricks, the techniques that allow us to improve our scores. We’ve played endlessly online (which is by far the best Nintendo online interface) and been beaten by some of the best out there, but always learning and always getting that little bit better.

I’ve set myself the challenge of hitting a ** rating by the end of the month, a step up from my current * rating. So far out of the 5 revisited Grand Prix I have achieved my goal on the first attempt. Only 8 more to go until that second star is mine!

Mario Kart Wii. You have provided me with many laughs, many tears and more than the occasional swear word. Nearly Happy First Birthday to you.

Why not join in the regular races arranged on the Gameov3r FORUM