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‘Mario Kart Wii’ scores; ‘GTA IV’ hype is white-hot
Usually we don’t get a glut of high-profile video games in the same week until the holiday season, but on Sunday, Nintendo launched “Mario Kart Wii,” and “Grand Theft Auto IV” launches at midnight tonight.
Because “GTA IV” isn’t available for the Wii, that means everybody (or at least everyone who’s a video gamer) wins. I took “Kart” for a spin a few hours Sunday and found it to be a worthy addition to Nintendo’s racing franchise.
I’m not ready to do a full review yet, but the little I played demonstrated that the goofy white plastic wheel that ships with “Mario Kart Wii” is more useful than I expected. The white wheel, which holds the Wiimote that clips into place, has a nice heft to it. Surprisingly, the racing game responds very well to rotations of the wheel. I thought the wheel might be annoying to hold up in the air and that it would make the game impossible to play. Nintendo must have worried about this too. They’ve made the game compatible with the older GameCube controller, the Wiimote minus the wheel and other Nintendo controllers that don’t require you to hold an object in the air for long periods.
“Kart” has the beautifully rendered, colorful tracks you’d expect from past “Mario Kart” games, but it also has nicely implemented online play. The game shows you where your online opponents hail from. If that sounds worrisome to parents, the game warns you to change your character name before venturing onto the Internet if it identifies your personal information in any way. Also, there’s no voice chatting in the game.
Nevertheless, online play, which has never been Nintendo’s strong suit, is a treat. The matches run smoothly, and it’s not hard to find a race and hop into the action.
I’ll post more about “Mario Kart Wii” as I keep playing, but so far I’m impressed.
As for the other big game, this week, it looks like “Grand Theft Auto IV” might be an even bigger hit than anyone expected. The violent, ambitious game, which we previewed in today’s paper, got a stellar write-up in The New York Times this morning and garnered unheard-of acclaim from the gaming press, scoring perfect and near-perfect reviews from those who played it early.
I don’t have a copy of the game yet, but I’ll be playing it as soon as I get my hands on it. By all indications so far, Rockstar has succeeded on its ambitions. Analysts are expecting the game to sell at least 9 million copies (at $60 a pop). If the game is as good as it sounds, expect it to have a long, long shelf life.
And if the angry e-mail I got this morning (a mass e-mail, but still) from lawyer and anti-“GTA”-crusader Jack Thompson is any indication, the argument about violence in video games (regardless of the quality of the game) is about to make a big comeback in mainstream media.
Some Best Buy stores and Gamestops will be having midnight launches for “GTA IV” tonight. If you have any hard-core gamers in your workplace, expect them to call in sick or to see them stumble in bleary-eyed Tuesday morning. Or, hey, that person might be you.
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By Niko
April 28, 2008 8:05 PM | Link to this
I will be up all night enjoying the lovely ladies of liberty city and then taking my money back from them!!!!!