Mario Kart Wii Racing

Nintendo Shareholders Still Clamoring For Mario On The iPhone

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Nintendo investors have been grumbling about Nintendo’s tendency to release flagship games only for their own platforms for years. Mario and Zelda have, in general, spent their entire lives on some sort of Nintendo hardware, barring a few odd versions released years ago . Why? Because Nintendo has long tried to control everything about their part of the gaming ecosphere, from developer licensing to hardware sales. Sadly, benighted investors don’t see the method to Nintendo’s madness, especially considering the 3DS’ slow sales as well as the rise of the smartphone market and are now asking the giant to branch out into smartphones.

This is a terrible idea.

Bloomberg has a short piece on the unrest and quotes one investor who says:

To be clear, Nintendo could, conceivably, “buy” its way into this market by releasing its own games for the various smartphone platforms. But why? Mario makes a lot of money two ways – by selling cheap hardware to the masses and by selling expensive software to those same masses. Mario Kart on the iPhone would be a hoot but Mario Kart Wii costs $30 and Mario Kart DS costs $18. The closest MK analog on the App Store is a $4.99 copy of Sega All Stars Racing , a good game to be sure but hardly a Nintendo-caliber release… and price.

There are two or three companies out there who can, for the most part, write their own ticket in the electronics market. Sony used to be one of them but, with the slow trickle-down of the Playstation brand into phones it’s clear they’re listening to their shareholders and not following their core competencies. Nintendo and Apple are the last “walled garden”-type manufacturers in existence and it will be a long time before they pollute their brand by deigning to port their flagship titles to smartphones.

Articles 20VN | Nintendo Mario Kart (Wii) - What's it Like? | nintendo ...

Super Mario Kart is the first video game in the Mario Kart series, released originally in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Well over a decade later, Mario Kart is one of the most successful racing franchises ever, and a Mario Kart title has appeared on every major Nintendo console since then including the Wii itself.

Mario Kart is back on a console in Mario Kart Wii, but is the game a decent addition to the franchise or should Mario Kart fans hunt around for their old SNES?

I for one, don't think so. This is what you most likely expected, a kart racing game with, you guessed it Mario himself. The latest version for the Wii is in many ways more of the same, but when a series has historically done so many things right, why change the formula. Mario Kart is a trademark of Nintendo and they sure do live up to their reputation of producing some very fine consoles and games. This one is a great game that Nintendo brought out specifically for the Wii console and also includes a Wii steering wheel and the control that you have with it is just great.

This is fun when you have friends over, or when you want to play online as it is a truly great multiplayer Wii title. The reason why this particular game is so great is because its caters for all types of gamers. Beginners, for example, can use the wheel and auto drift, whilst veteran gamers have more choice by using a GC (GameCube) controller from the nun-chuck combo and manually drifting or boosting around each corner.

I just have to say that fifteen minutes of Mario Kart is better than the strongest antidepressants. With the cast of Nintendo characters and the great graphics, this Mario Kart for Nintendo Wii is guaranteed to please the kidlets and the adults alike.

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