Watch Mario Kart Wii played with and without Wii Wheel

45 Comments by Justin McElroy Mar 18th 2008 11:00PM
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Driving

More than a month out from the release of Mario Kart Wii, MTV's Stephen Totilo was allowed to take the game for a (literal) spin, first employing the accompanying wheel accessory and then playing without. You can see the differences between the two with the aid of the above video and the sans wheel clip after the break.

For his part, Totilo seems to be more of a wheelman, but we plan on reserving judgment until we put our own mitts around the attachment. How do you think you'll play?

(P.S. Sorry to our friends in Japan, the U.K. and Canada, as these videos won't load for you.)

Tags: mario-kart, mario-kart-wii, wii-wheel

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Polnareff: Mar 18th 2008; 11:16PM

Japan, the UK and Canada? That's pretty restricted =P

One of the very few moments I'm sad to be a Canadian -.-"

The Artist formally known as Jesus SSBB code: 0430-7963-559: Mar 19th 2008; 12:09AM

Really?
If I was Canadian I'd be sad all the time.

Jk jk
I love my brothers in the north :)

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force): Mar 19th 2008; 12:42AM

We love the 51st State of the US. ;P

/asshole

Gehodra: Mar 19th 2008; 2:22AM

That one seems more like a burn to the US!

...hehehe

Matt B: Mar 19th 2008; 9:07AM

I LOVE your beer!!

A Pissed-off English Gamer: Mar 19th 2008; 12:11PM

My name is too apt when it comes to commentating these days. Although i should change it to "Joyful" since I'll be playing this before the majority of Americans anyway.

Joshua: Mar 19th 2008; 4:21PM

Looks like they don't load for people in NJ, either. =/

John McPoop: Mar 18th 2008; 11:17PM

That Wii wheel is much smaller than I thought it would be... I think I would prefer to play it either without the wheel or with a classic controller.... You can't really see much in terms of gameplay but I am pretty sure it will be fun like the others. It looks pretty hard to use that wheel because its just floating in the air. Most gaming wheels have a base and either sit on your lap or clamp to a table.

ChooChooCharlie (Brawl: 1504-5357-9285): Mar 18th 2008; 11:41PM

Yeah, I'll give the motion controls a shot, but I'll most likely stick with the GameCube or maybe the classic controller.

Responsiveness FTW.

DangerMouse: Mar 18th 2008; 11:24PM

MTV is garbage. It's the internet, for fuck's sake. I thought MTV was the free speech/teenage generation's voice. I didn't realize it stopped at the border.

DarkMaTTer: Mar 19th 2008; 12:07AM

Heh - it makes me happy to be in a country too small (population wise) to be noticed by MTV.

It should be our new advertising slogan. Come to Australia, MTV doesn't give a bloody hell about it! :p

Ash Anderson: Mar 18th 2008; 11:25PM

I wanted to see these videos :(

ChooChooCharlie (Brawl: 1504-5357-9285): Mar 18th 2008; 11:31PM

Streaming video doesn't stream.

John McPoop: Mar 19th 2008; 12:02AM

(P.S. Sorry to our friends in Japan, the U.K. and Canada, as these videos won't load for you.)

Its at the bottom of the page...

ChooChooCharlie (Brawl: 1504-5357-9285): Mar 19th 2008; 12:14AM

I could see the videos, what I meant was that these crappy "streaming" videos have to pause and buffer about every 15 seconds.

It's irritating.

Nick: Mar 19th 2008; 1:23AM

depends on your internet.

Burnt Meatloaf: Mar 20th 2008; 4:38AM

Depends on caching, which most modern streaming formats cannot do worth crap.

giantenemycrab: Mar 18th 2008; 11:32PM

Looks pretty awkward to me..

I hate this crap: Mar 18th 2008; 11:40PM

Christ sake, these videos make me want to jump through the screen and beat some masculinity in to this guy.

"I feel like there could be a horn."

Thanks asshole, I'm sure the'll get right on that.

Game looks good though!

hello: Mar 18th 2008; 11:43PM

The camera man sucks, he just keeps looking away from the screen and zooms in on the controller, instead of doing it just once.

umm....hello???: Mar 19th 2008; 12:35AM

yeah, it was annoying because the announce would be telling him when to do something with the wiimote and they'd only focus on the controller while you couldn't see what was on the screen. lame. were they trying to promote the game or the wheel?

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force): Mar 19th 2008; 12:44AM

It didn't bother me, since the video was about the Mario Kart Wii control scheme.

Howard-the-Duck: Mar 18th 2008; 11:53PM

Haha the Nintendo guy was a little reluctant to let the MTV guy play without the wheel shell.

John McPoop: Mar 19th 2008; 12:07AM

I know and he totally sold up the wheel a lot.. about he turning and what not.... I hope the GC and classic controllers will be usable with the game or they sell a different wheel with an actual base... But, I don't think Nintendo will pull a Lair and force us to use the motion controls because that *could* be a deal breaker for some people

umm....hello???: Mar 19th 2008; 12:33AM

umm...if you watch the whole video they say that you CAN use the Wiimote, the Classic Controller, or a GameCube controller. which is awesome because I still have my GC controllers.

D_Average: Mar 19th 2008; 12:36AM

Hiring dorky reps is "intuitive" to Nintendo

lukeR: Mar 19th 2008; 5:42PM

that joke was d_average :/

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force): Mar 19th 2008; 12:48AM

There's a really easy fix to allow wheel-less players to enjoy the game comfortably (sure the game ships with the peripheral, but I'm thinking local multiplayer-wise).

Allow the option for the steering to be detected by a accelerometer tilt axis with the wiimote laying flat, instead of forcing players to hold the wiimote in an upright position (because of the thumb positioning on the face buttons).

meist3r: Mar 19th 2008; 9:49AM

I don't think it's that easy after all. Nintendo has put 3 accelerometers in the Wiimote that all work along a specific axis. Now if you tilt the Wiimote to your "flat" position I would guess some of the motion would not be picked up because two sensors don't pick up the right signals.

This is one of the major flaws of Nintendo's design for the Wiimote which could use at least half a dozen more accelerometers (for precise 1:1 motion sensing and environment awareness).

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force): Mar 19th 2008; 4:18PM

When the wiimote is held at a normal one-handed position, the accelerometers can detect pitch.

When you hold it flat sideways, it's the same axis which is tilting.

Twist: Mar 19th 2008; 1:06AM

Yes another Wii game that doesn't force you to use the stupid motion controls. Now if I could just use the CC or GC controller with Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 I might be tempted to get a Wii.

Fernando Rocker: Mar 19th 2008; 1:39AM

Well... Metroid Prime 3 doesn't use motion controls... uses the IR Pointer, the best feature in the Wii remote. Besides, thats the amazing about that game.

Same Mario Galaxy... you control Mario with the analog, just like the Gamecube stick, but using also the Ir Pointer to collect star bits... in fact, the only motion you use is to spin or to get shot thru the Stars and it's actually really good.

Dudeman08: Mar 19th 2008; 8:04AM

Dude, Twist, you're full of crap. Even if that was the case you would find something else to complain about.

P.S. Fernando is actually right about Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy, they rely more on the IR pointer and using the analog for their gameplay, not the "waggle" controls.

Matthew: Mar 19th 2008; 1:25AM

I think the wheel is worth it just to avoid the awkward feeling of the B-button on the regular setup.

However, I might just use a Gamecube controller.

J44xm: Mar 19th 2008; 3:18AM

Hey, I'm in Japan and the videos work just fine, FYI.

t_m: Mar 19th 2008; 4:59AM

watashi mo

japan is much more of a suckup, i think they've been promoted above canada in the 51st state thing...

Winters: Mar 19th 2008; 5:46AM

Pretty much anywhere outside of the US you mean? They dont work in Ireland here either :(

Finess: Mar 19th 2008; 6:35AM

US ftw, on a related note i'd only play with the wheel if i were playing with people using it. Looks too sloppy to be serious.

moominsean: Mar 19th 2008; 10:58AM

so they 10 people out there that use the 'jacket' have to take that thing off to put it in the wheel? that would be annoying.

JAmerican: Mar 19th 2008; 11:58AM

For NON-US people:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9O8i6WUvI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPptmQtPK2U

JAmerican

Owyn: Mar 19th 2008; 12:07PM

I love you.

Lewis: Mar 19th 2008; 1:40PM

So...It's a piece of plastic?

TrojanGuy: Mar 19th 2008; 5:03PM

Meh, I'm sticking with the Gamecube controller over either of these control schemes.

Burnt Meatloaf: Mar 20th 2008; 4:42AM

Using the WiiWheel with a motorcycle is not the optimal experience. A 3rd-party WiiHandlebar is just around the corner, complete with rainbow WiiTassels!

hvnlysoldr: Apr 9th 2008; 1:22AM

You're a shell of your former self Music TV.

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