Mario Kart Wii *NOT* rockin’ the text chat
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 11:40am by Jack
Get ready for updated graphics, 12-player online racing, new motorcycles and text chatting options that will remind you of what life was like on AOL in 1999!
That’s right, it would appear as though the Achilles Heel of Mario Kart Wii when it launches later this year will be the online interaction. Which will be text based. With registered friends only. Via the United States Postal Service. While a step up from Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s cookie cutter inspired text “slogans,” it’s still not much. At least racers will be able to discuss, well, something in between jaunts down Rainbow Road.
Nintendo’s European arm confirming on its site: “You can create rooms for friends to join and even text chat while you’re waiting for other racers.”
Nintendo: Protecting you from Internet predators. Protecting you from your FRIENDS. Watching out for YOU.
UPDATE: Commenters are concerned/confused about when the texting takes place. From the Joystiq story I read, it is like text messaging on your phone (with possible keyboard support — unconfirmed) that is done before and after races, not during.
NEW UPDATE: Who’s ready for pre-determined text slogans, provided by Nintendo? I hope you are, because that’s what really coming to Mario Kart Wii later this year.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:53 am
From:
http://www.wiiwii.tv/2008/02/27/hands-on-with-mario-kart-wii/
“EDIT: Something else we forgot to mention is the chatroom function in the online play. Nintendo haven’t given players the freedom to chat freely, but players can choose from a selection of phrases that best fits their mood. “I’m happy”, “I’m sad”, that kind of thing.”
Lets go back to 1989.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Question. How can you write stuff when you’re playing mario kart?
February 27th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
You won’t actually write anything, Lyskan… that would be nearly as dangerous in the eyes of Nintendo as actual chatting! You will send pre-programmed phrases, I assume via the directional button.
I don’t care much about not being able to chat while racing, but why can’t we dive into random online races like we already do in Mario Kart DS??
Nintendo is using the “to protect the children” card to compensate for a weak online network, me thinks.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Holy crap, if that last eidt is right, as DonWii posted, that’s retarded. I’m not sure what Nintendo is achieving by going that route. I guess I’ll just call up my friends on their cell phone instead of having a nice, integrated experience online.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t and haven’t played online much, but just playing Strikers a few times with friends online the ability to ask them if they want to play again, or “hey good shot” is invaluable.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
You know…if you don’t want to be viewed as a kiddie system, perhaps you should stop assuming most of your players are kids and need your “protection” Nintendo.
Stop trying to be the Jack Thompson of the video game industry.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
what’s the damn difference if we can yell into a microphone while driving, you cant do that in real life why should you in fake. even nj made a damn law making it illegal to drive while using a cell phone. focus on the road on the game, not what you’re saying. trash talk be damned…
February 27th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…. this is so Nintendo doesn’t have to put the dreaded “Game experience may change online” next to their precious E rating.
Which is fine, and I’m glad there’s no voice chat, but the friend codes only thing alone is enough to ensure I never play this online. Mario Kart DS’ online mode was essentially a “random” difficulty setting, as others have noted, and it sounds like this will be no different.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Either Nintendo is too prideful to admit they don’t get online and ask for help, or there is something weird going on behind the scenes (i.e. Sony saying rumble was “last-gen” as an excuse for pending litigation). Whatever the reason, it’s lame and a missed opportunity.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’m still suspecting a weak network as the real reason behind these Friend Code and Pay for Play decisions: by letting you only play against “friends”, Nintendo keeps the number of players simultaneously racing together to a really low number…
And the reason they can maintain random races in Mario Kart DS is probably because the amount of data that needs to get transmitted for that game is many times less than what will be needed to transmit for Mario Kart on Wii, not because of the graphics, of course, but because of the amount of virtual objects to keep track of while racing.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
“what’s the damn difference if we can yell into a microphone while driving, you cant do that in real life why should you in fake.”
Wow….in that case why is the game being made, since there is no such thing as a Bowser, or apes than can drive carts.
Geez, I’ve seen people try to bend over backwards to defend Nintendo but you take the cake pal.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
“what’s the damn difference if we can yell into a microphone while driving, you cant do that in real life why should you in fake.”
Sure you can. Ever watched a NASCAR event on TV? I watched 5 mins of one once, and I definitely heard chatter from driver to pit crew via a wireless headset.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
@ raindog: Ahem: http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/4806/mariokartdsonlineti7.jpg
Dear Nintendo,
YOU SUCK. This is a huge step down. Metroid Prime Hunters didn’t have communication during the game but at least between matches you could TALK to each other. Typing with the Wiimote is so damn slow I doubt anyone will be able to cobble up more than a sentence or two before the next race (assuming that the matching system will actually works well and the servers run fast.) You should have just left it out all together if you’re expecting us to thank you for this bs.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Well that stinks, I don’t think it should come as a surprise to anyone though.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
For a company that supposedly is so into innovation, they are EXTREMELY behind when it comes to online play. Heck at this point they’ve been no better than the Dreamcast.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
^ I know at least one Dreamcast game had voice chat.
February 27th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Wait ’til they reveal Mario Kart is “pay to play.”
February 27th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
@Derek B
Nobody would pay to play an online game that didn’t have voice chat and friend codes.
This is so FREAKING RETARDED!!!!! Nintendo is loosing me with all of this “online safety” crap!! I DONT GET IT!!! IF YOU DISPLAYED AN ONLINE NAME, THAT DOESN’T SUBJECT THEM TO CHILD MOLESTERS!!
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 27th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Jack, I’m starting to wonder why you even operate a Nintendo website.
Your post was filled with the sort of bitter sarcasm usually reserved for IGN XBox editorials.
If you’re like me then your head is filled with fond memories of Mario Kart matches in which you had no microphone, no headset, not even the option to text chat—just you and some pals huddled around the television throwing turtle shells at each other. You’re a Nintendo fan: you should know by now that Nintendo never “gets with the program”. Voice chat never has and never will make or break a game. And some of us long time Nintendo fans would rather not have to hear the foul-mouthed chatter of our peers, whether they be 12, 20, or 35.
February 27th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Hey Jack…looks like you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
February 27th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
LETS ALL PICK On JACK ….. =)
….ok…lets not.
Seriously, Nintendo needs to hire some competent Online gaming employees. The original X-box, from LAST generation, is far superior to the garbage we see online on the Wii. Now if Nintendo intends on any form of Pay & Play, they better get their Sh!t together…fast
Blind Fanboy said -”If you’re like me then your head is filled with fond memories of Mario Kart matches in which you had no microphone, no headset, not even the option to text chat—just you and some pals huddled around the television throwing turtle shells at each other.”
WELCOME TO 2008 !!!!!!!!!
Yeah Mario Kart 64 was great, stop living in the past….
February 28th, 2008 at 1:10 am
I see the BIG PICTURE here now. All you people here are Nintendo Bashers. Sure Nintendo’s online service SUCKS a$$ right now, but 12 player online in Mario Kart Wii is MORE THAN ENOUGH instead of having voice chat built in. Save that for a future game like a Mario Hoops Wii or a Mario Tennis Wii. Besides we get a kick a$$ new Nintendo periphal to use with our new racer.
February 28th, 2008 at 2:20 am
I see the BIG PICTURE here now. All you people are Blind Nintendo Fanboys. Sure Nintendo makes the best qu417y games for their systems, but voice chat built in would be MORE THAN ENOUGH instead of 12 player online. Save that for a future game that voice chat doesn’t make as much sense for, like Mario Hoops Wii or Mario Tennis Wii. And remember, Nintendo is bundling a worthless piece of plastic to use with out new racer.
See what I did there? BAM!
February 28th, 2008 at 2:39 am
Update: http://kotaku.com/361629/mario-kart-wii-doesnt-even-have-proper-text-chat
Dear Nintendo,
PLEASE fire your online team.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Wii Wii: Welcome to 2008 indeed.
Video games are still video games, and fun is still fun.
I’m not a PC gamer, and I have never owned and never will own an XBox so I don’t need a goddamn headset. I am not “blind” because I’m not the stereotypical beer-guzzling American whose definition of gaming is Halo and a LAN party. I’m not living in the fucking past; there have been 3 additions to the Mario Kart series since MK64, and yet that was the game you referenced. As far as Nintendo fans go, YOU are the one living in the past. Get your head out of your ass, and get your priorities straightened out; you don’t need and never will need voice chat. JUST MAKE FRIENDS AND INVITE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE/APARTMENT TO PLAY. But nooooo, that’s too simple! Too childish! It would never work….
February 28th, 2008 at 8:11 am
To paraphrase a certain Kotaku commenter who said it best:
If this feature is deciding factor in whether you buy an otherwise fantastic multiplayer game or not, then you’re no longer just any ordinary gamer: you’re an ONLINE WHORE.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Well, I know my friends and I are just planning on using Skype to voicechat while we play…
February 28th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Poochy, if not for the fact that Infendo already has a comment of the week, your comment about Kotaku would be it.
Fact is, a majority of Wii owners today could care less about online chat. The mere fact that they can race against strangers anonymously or against their Friend Code friends from hundreds and thousands of miles away is more than enough for the typical Wii owner.
Would a guy like me like voice chat with friends on my list? Sure thing, but I’m not delusional enough or full enough of myself to dictate that a console or a game are complete failures because it doesn’t fit my version of the world 100%.
I’m looking forward to this and Brawl. I’ll probably even play some anonymous online matches, as I do with Strikers Charged. What I won;t do is complain about Nintendo’s online stance. It’s pretty much set in stone. There will be few surprises this year with it, if any. That said, I’ll continue to support Nintendo because I believe their vision is better for gaming as a whole than what the other guys are offering.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:22 am
There’s no way Nintendo could get away with marketing a “Rated E” game, and have online chatting with no control over it.
Voice chatting with randoms (especially while playing a cartoon racer) is creepy. Uber creepy. Sorry.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
“you don’t need and never will need voice chat. JUST MAKE FRIENDS AND INVITE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE/APARTMENT TO PLAY. But nooooo, that’s too simple! Too childish! It would never work….”
Oh yes asshole, I’m sure it would go over great to call up my friends at 11:00 PM and say “HEY GUYS COME ON OVER AND LET’S PLAY SOME MARIO KART!” Yes, that makes a WHOLE LOT MORE sense and is SO MUCH simplier than being able to hook up and chat online. And you have the nerve to say anyone else is “living in the past”. I guess you shun such thing as email, text messaging, and phones in general since I guess you use the same logic “YOU NEVER NEED A PHONE! JUST GO TELL THEM IN PERSON!”
February 28th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
“Fact is, a majority of Wii owners today could care less about online chat. ”
Umm and you could also say a majority of Wii owners could care less about anything other than Wii Sports. Those probalby aren’t the ones that will even buy Mario Kart. The ones that will may have a different answer about voice chat than you think. And judging just by the small sample of responses here, I’d say more people would like it than you seem to believe.
February 28th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Res, you attack me as if I said that as an opinion. It’s not. related to that, Nintendo is a business, and will act accordingly to make as much money as possible. No demand for online chat from a majority of its user base? Fine, then it won’t provide them until it becomes financially necessary to do so (i.e., people start leaving the console en masse for something else). This is also a Nintendo blog for like minded, heavily pro-Nintendo people. So, not only do the opinions cited in this comment thread fall woefully short of the 200 or so needed to have even a slightly meaningful survey, it is also a sample of people who, largely, have the same opinion of things like this. That skews and makes incorrect your conclusion that a majority of posters here reflect in some way a better snapshot of Wii users than the one I’m talking about. With or without chatty players, Mario Kart Wii will sell just fine. Hence, Nintendo, as a corporation that exists to make money, could case less.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
here in the UK to play over wifi on the wii you have to say that you are over 18, so then what should be the problem with including voice chat?
February 28th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
“There’s no way Nintendo could get away with marketing a “Rated E” game, and have online chatting with no control over it.” I don’t understand why you guys are saying this. Online functionality has no say in the ESRB rating at all. Any and every online game simply has a disclaimer that states: “Game experience may change during online play.” Online doesn’t change the rating because the rating is solely for the game, not for the people that play the game online. I already mentioned this higher up. It’s like talking to a brick wall.
@ Poochy’s “I’m not ‘blind” comment: Lern 2 humour.
February 28th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
ResidentialEvil said - “Oh yes asshole, I’m sure it would go over great to call up my friends at 11:00 PM and say “HEY GUYS COME ON OVER AND LET’S PLAY SOME MARIO KART!” Yes, that makes a WHOLE LOT MORE sense and is SO MUCH simplier than being able to hook up and chat online. And you have the nerve to say anyone else is “living in the past”. I guess you shun such thing as email, text messaging, and phones in general since I guess you use the same logic “YOU NEVER NEED A PHONE! JUST GO TELL THEM IN PERSON!””
Amen . I have friends who live in Hong Kong, Relatives who live in England and pals that I just don’t see as much anymore because they are married and have kids now. So, hooking up online together, playing games with eachother, online chatting and sending text messages is GREAT, it is EASY and it is very very cool.
Blind, ill tempered FanBoy said -
“JUST MAKE FRIENDS AND INVITE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE/APARTMENT TO PLAY.”
Obviously, you don’t have that many friends. I played some very fun Wii Sports with 2 pals last weekend at my home. But in today’s day and age, it is more simple, convenient accesable to play online as well as at home.
You see, we should be able to DO BOTH.
Choose what we want to do, how we want to play. You are defending something that really needs not to be defended. Nintendo needs to give the Option to gamers to Choose.
You don’t want to play online, use voice chat? Good for you, don’t DO IT. If you DO want to play online, chat , message, then Nintendo should have the OPTION for gamers to do so.
It is NOT one or the other. There should be BOTH options. Welcome to last gen online gaming on the original X-box…
As gamers, we should be able to play locally with friends, OR online with friends, chat and send messages. We should have the OPTION to CHOOSE which type of gaming we want to do.
February 28th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
ResidentialEvil: Have you noticed that you and Wii Wii are the only two people throwing names like “asshole” and “blind” around here?
I never said that chatting, e-mail, and other long-distance forms of communications were weren’t great ways of tendering friendships;
I only stated that they weren’t a neccessary part of Mario Kart. They never have been, and they never…..ever…..will be.
Wii Wii: If I’m blind for not giving a damn about headsets, how blind are you for not realizing that they aren’t a vital aspect of the Mario Kart series? Do you really think Nintendo is living in 1996 because they won’t follow the paths laid by idiotic American FPS developers? Nintendo is not Bungee. They are Nintendo.
“Obviously, you don’t have that many friends. I played some very fun Wii Sports with 2 pals last weekend at my home. But in today’s day and age, it is more simple, convenient accesable to play online as well as at home.”
And so mankind slowly isolates itself from one another…
Yes, I have many friends. Sadly, it’s you who appears to not have many in “real life”.
February 28th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
“Welcome to last gen online gaming on the original X-box…”
Yeaaah…..what did I say earlier about Nintendo not following the trends of inferior American companies?
It’s a waste of time arguing this point with you, since you clearly Nintendo owes you everything on a silver platter. Nobody owes you diddly-shit, I’m afraid. Count your blessings every once in a while….seriously.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Oh poochie, little poochie.
So blindly dedicated to his “old school Nintendo can do no wrong”ways.
You make me laugh.
You see, you argue that things should not change. But my argument is NOT that things were bad to begin with. They were actually very good. Things dont need to be changed as much as ADDED. My argument is that Nintendo should not sit stagnant but they should allow for the simple OPTION for additional content in their new versions of these old classic games. Allow for the OPTION for gamers to either play oldschool style with frineds ar home or new school stlye online .Which ever they choose. Which ever works best for the gamer, the consumer. The Nintendo fan.
It is all about OPTIONS.
Nintendo needs to give gamers the options that we see in other games.
Online OR Offline.
With friends at home OR with friends around the world.
Chat, text OR mute and ignore.
Not giving gamers SIMPLE last generation options is just plain silly. Even a blind fanBOY could just turn these options off and pretend it was 1989 again, if they CHOOSE to .That simple.
But a blind fanBOY will never admit that Nintendo needs to wake up. They will just defend how great things WERE and how they should “not change”. But the truth is, Nintendo can and should do BOTH.
They can keep the old school fanBOYS happy and also give the option for more progressive gamers, who live in the present, to choose if they want to play online, chat text and play in the game world of 2008.
Simply put, there is NOTHING wrong with the old school Nintendo gameplay philosophy of yesterday ,Those games like Mario Kart 64 were great fun. As long as it is followed up by the OPTION to give a newschool, modern gameplay experience right along side it. Then gamers, not only fanBOYS, could decide what they wanted to do , how they wanted to play.
Now respond, once again, with blind fanboyism and irate funny comments. I need another good laugh. Although you are getting repetitive…
February 29th, 2008 at 12:23 am
*sniff sniff*
Wii Wii is pissing on everyone, what a naughty troll you are.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:59 am
Wii Wii: No, I’m afraid that you’re the one who is becoming repetitive. As well as stale and predictable. Tell me, if you’re not a Nintendo fanMAN yourself, then what you doing here? But alas, trolls like you are a dime a dozen on Nintendo blogs such as these. One of the most obvious marks of a troll is their inability to distinguish perception from reality. In a troll’s hate-filled mind they make bold presumptions about their targets whom they feel are worthy of their wrath, or in my case case, sheer jest. I was quite amused when you stated that I was arguing that things should not change. That’s your perception; as a bully you tend to gloss over boring things such as facts and skip straight to the chase which is the timeless “OMG UR BLIND FANBOY U MAKE ME LAUGH” which never fails in making you feel SO good about yourself.
“It is all about OPTIONS.
Nintendo needs to give gamers the options that we see in other games.
Online OR Offline.
With friends at home OR with friends around the world.
Chat, text OR mute and ignore.
Not giving gamers SIMPLE last generation options is just plain silly. Even a blind fanBOY could just turn these options off and pretend it was 1989 again, if they CHOOSE to .That simple.”
Nintendo doesn’t NEED to do anything. As I said before, you have had your mind reprogrammed by the likes of Bungee and Rockstar and fail to realise that there is an ENTIRE WORLD outside of America, and that Nintendo is a Japanese company—and since when do the Japanese give a shit about voice chat? No, let me rephrase that….since when did any classy, JAPANESE company include voice chat in any of their best-selling titles? I find it hilarious that what you consider “last generation” much of the world seems to do fine without. But if Nintendo doesn’t cater to your exact whim and make Mario Kart the way you want them to, then I suppose you won’t buy it, will you? Boo-hoo. There will always be billions who will.
I wish I were blind….so I could live a life ignorant of bitter, selfish people like you who delight in pissing on everyone’s parade. The reason you need online chat is because you lack a real social life, and the reason you lack that is because you seem to lack any real social skills.
“Now respond, once again, with blind fanboyism and irate funny comments. I need another good laugh. Although you are getting repetitive…” is not the best way to make friends. Basically, if I’m living in the past as you say then I must be one happy chap because I’m living in a better time and place where gamers aren’t defined by their FPS of choice, the online capabilities of their console of choice, or how “progressive” they are in terms of technology. In the world I was raised in it was all about which console was the greatest, which was mainly determined by which had the best games. There were no “mandatory features” that fucktards like you need to “get your game on”. We just sat down and played the fucking game. If you don’t like the way Nintendo is making the game DON’T BUY IT. Laugh at that, bitch.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:02 am
And FYI: This “blind fanboy” is all about change. Read any of Maelstrom’s Blue Ocean epics to see why Nintendo is working hard to erase your kind (i.e., “the hardcore”) from the pages of video game history.
February 29th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
“*sniff sniff*
Wii Wii is pissing on everyone, what a naughty troll you are.”
LOL! Don’t go under my bridge !
Repetitive, blind little poochie - I did not bother reading your FanBoy response. After all ,it must have went something like this….
“….blah blah blah… I am so blind I cant see change as a good thing….blah blah blah… Nintendo is the greatest and I cant see anything wrong about them…blah blah blah.. insult, blabh blah blah.. I love the SNES … Blah blah blah… Online is not for me, Blah blah..I wish I could marry Nintendo…… blah balah blah… I wish Yoshi was real… Blah balh balh I hate Microsoft…”
Y A W N
That is all I will be thinking when ever I see any responce on this Blog from you. At least I wont have to bother reading them..but you keep on typing eh ?
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
*ahem* To get back on topic…
I dunno, I see Nintendo’s point, and I suppose the Wii has a bit of a reputation for being “kid-friendly.” Maybe they could put an age limit, and, if you’re smart enough to know how to fake your age, or if you’re actually old enough, you’re probably smart enough to know about Internet safety.