games  anime  |  toys
Destructoid is gaming news, community, videos, and sometimes love. Take the tour or jump in with Facebook:

 


Mario Kart Wii will support text chat. Welcome to 1994, Nintendo photo

Nintendo has recently announced some of the new online features that Mario Kart Wii will contain. First, lets start with the good. The game will be up to 12 players online and players will also be able to watch their friend's race in spectator mode. You'll also be able to compare your race times against other players through the Mario Kart Channel. Easily the best part of Mario Kart's online service is that you'll be able to download other people's ghost data so you can see how they were able to get such a good time on tracks.

Now here's the bad news: You can talk to your friends, but only through text. You can create a room and invite people to text while waiting to play the game, but you can only text them in these rooms. And God knows how broken the texting system will be. If it's anything like Opera's text Wiimote interface, then forget about it. 

How long is it going to take Nintendo to realize their Online service is completely broken? At least the service is free ... oh wait, nevermind!


Continue: More wii stories





prev
next 50 comments

68 comments | showing # 1 to 50

Justice's Avatar
Justice at 02/26/2008 19:39
Lack of voice chat is incredibly stupid.
DaedHead8's Avatar
DaedHead8 at 02/26/2008 19:40
Y0j1mb0's Avatar
Y0j1mb0 at 02/26/2008 19:42
LMAO!!
Lord The Night Knight's Avatar
Lord The Night Knight at 02/26/2008 19:43
The Wii has a keyboard interface now.
Toneman's Avatar
Toneman at 02/26/2008 19:45
Mario Kart Wii will support what I'm doing right now. In a sense, commenting on Destructoid is very much like playing Mario Kart Wii.

Oh, I got a red shell somebody's fucked.
grrza's Avatar
grrza at 02/26/2008 19:49
How the fuck are you supposed to type and play mariokart at the same time?

Looking at other people's ghost data seems dirty... but awesome!
mgmgarcia01's Avatar
mgmgarcia01 at 02/26/2008 20:12
Fuckin Nintendo, why cant i break up with you already, you fuck my shit up SOOO many times
jdub28's Avatar
jdub28 at 02/26/2008 20:13
toneman may be on to something:



am i doing it right
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 02/26/2008 20:18
Breaking news: Nintendo blows at online.

Next on the agenda: Microsoft's console breaks and PS3 has no games.
jdub28's Avatar
jdub28 at 02/26/2008 20:21
im only buying mario kart if DK can ride a dog

Lord The Night Knight's Avatar
Lord The Night Knight at 02/26/2008 20:27
"Breaking news: Nintendo blows at online.

Next on the agenda: Microsoft's console breaks and PS3 has no games."

BTW, why do you need voice chat in a racing game?
B-Radicate's Avatar
B-Radicate at 02/26/2008 20:31
Because the MOTHER FUCKING DS has voice chat, Lord The Night Knight. That's why.

Nintendo can lick my balls. I'm done with them after Smash comes out as it'll likely be the last game I ever buy for my Wii.
skyler's Avatar
skyler at 02/26/2008 20:48
Nintendo has created this amazing new technology where up to 12 people can "talk to each other" in a "room" by typing messages on a virtual keyboard! just when you think nintendo cant be more innovative, they turn around and blow your mind with something like this! Sony must be crushed by this new gameplay innovation. If nintendo can do something like this in the year 2008, imagine what can happen in 10 years! i cant wait to see their new inventions adopted by their "competitors"( i use this term loosely)
Luigi takes over's Avatar
Luigi takes over at 02/26/2008 20:55
Once again, its no surprise or disappointment that nintendo's online strategy for Mario Kart is sub par.

I'm okay with text comments. I don't see what the big deal is with voice chat. It's typically for games that require some sort of team strategy occasionally, Mario Kart not being one of them. Brawl might have needed it, but not Mario Kart.

Pokemon Battle Revolution didn't have voice chat or text chat OR a visible leader board. I kept playing matches online because it was fun to have a living thinking opponent.

I'm sorry you cant shout racial slurs at the next person who blue shells you just before you cross the finish line on the final lap.
StriderS's Avatar
StriderS at 02/26/2008 20:56
grrrrrrr!!! i hate nintend my wii is dusty cause of their crapy online i ply my xbox way moar
Orionsaint's Avatar
Orionsaint at 02/26/2008 20:58
Funny how ahead of their time Nintendo was in innovating the gamepad, but how far behind they've been in other areas, like being late to using CDs/DVDs. Now with online gaming. They take baby steps.
Wiizilla's Avatar
Wiizilla at 02/26/2008 20:59
@unstoppablejuggernaut

Becouse you know, the SNES and N64 Mario Kart did have online voice chat. How the hell is adding a lobby where you can actually comunicate, like WITH WORDS THAT YOU CHOOSE, a step BACKWORDS for nintendo? In fact this is HUGE for them!

Expecting anything more would be just setting yourself up for dissapointment. Next thing you know you'll refuse to buy a ps3 BECOUSE mgs4 you can't strip the bad guys naked, pile there uncontious bodies onto eachother and watch in glee as they wake up in suprise and struggle to get out of the massive orgy you put them in.
Luigi takes over's Avatar
Luigi takes over at 02/26/2008 21:04
@unstoppablejuggernaut

If the lack of voice chat breaks the whole game for you then you didn't want the game in the first place. Also, I find it ironic that you're going to go play a game lacking an online function entirely instead. Why not pick up some RIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR instead.

@b-radicate
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW


Just saying, I end up muting half the people who talked when I play Halo 3. The other half who talked I ignored. VOICE CHAT IS AWESOME. The only people I really talked to were my friends. AWESOME.
BluFire's Avatar
BluFire at 02/26/2008 21:25
If you're giving out text chat, there might as well be voice chat. You can do just as much in text chat as you can in voice... basically. You can't do this in voice chat (excuse me if this messes up) :


_________________________________________________
| \
| \
| |
| /
| /
__________________________________________________
\
) ' \
( | \
\
( ^ \
^ ) \
( ' ' \
^ ^ |
) ( |
! \ ] /
\______/\_____/

Meh. I know it's gonna come out wrong. But you know what it is.
Anyway, what does limiting to text do? I don't understand.
bleep's Avatar
bleep at 02/26/2008 21:32
You don't know what you got till its gone
freeman1's Avatar
freeman1 at 02/26/2008 21:32
I think it's completely stupid that Pokemon on DS has voice chat, but Brawl and Mario Kart don't.

Is the text chat FC only? Or can you actually talk to other people? And can you actually enter a 12 player race without exchanging FCs with 11 people?
Wiizilla's Avatar
Wiizilla at 02/26/2008 21:40
@freeman1
You've always been able to have random matches with people in like EVERY online game nintendo's had. Why the fuck do people keep acting like you need FC's to play online at all.

Seriously, it seems like people make everything nintendo does sound a lot worse then it really is just becouse they're bitter that the "family device" is beating out their high end graphical bahemeths. I'm also refering to the last line in the article.
WDot's Avatar
WDot at 02/26/2008 21:46
It's not so much the fact that it's text chat only that sucks, but the fact that you still have this stupid friend code and friends-only mechanism in the Wii. Half of the fun of playing some online games is just chewing the fat while you play. I understand Nintendo wants to protect kids from pedophiles or some crap, but the fact is plenty of forums allow people to give out their friend codes like candy. I've met total strangers that were NOT child molesters (some of them probably younger than I am) through DS games, it's just that Nintendo has made it inconvenient for me.
Sharpless's Avatar
Sharpless at 02/26/2008 22:07
@Lord The Night Knight
Why the hell WOULDN'T you have voice chat in an online-capable video game in frigging 2008? I let it slide when Brawl wouldn't have voice chat, but this is getting ridiculous. Nintendo is seriously overdoing this "Wii/DS is for pedos" damage control thing. You sure as hell can't tell me that it's outside of their technological capabilities. If Sony and Microsoft can do it, so can Nintendo.

I'm increasingly starting to believe that Nintendo just doesn't give a fuck anymore, simply because they're on top of the world and no one can knock them off.
Wiizilla's Avatar
Wiizilla at 02/26/2008 22:19
well, considering no other online nintendo game so much as had any kind of lobbies at all, Nintendo seems to slowly but surely getting something exceptible.

Well, for you anyway. being a gamecube only owner last generation I'm just happy to have online play.
freeman1's Avatar
freeman1 at 02/26/2008 22:26
@Wiizilla
You can't have random wi-fi matches in every Nintendo game. In Pokemon D/P you HAVE to exchange FCs in order to play online.

And I don't own a PS3 or a 360. I only have a Wii. So I don't know what my "high end graphical behemoth" is, unless you're talking about the one behind my zipper. And I don't need anyone's help beating that one.

The fact is Nintendo's online sucks. Mario Kart Wii sounds like it's going to have the best online features of any Wii/DS game to date, so at least they're showing improvement. But it's still years behind Microsoft and Sony.

Not everybody who criticises Nintendo is a Nintendo hater. The fact is, if they never got any negative criticism they probably wouldn't be as great as they are today. People complain about Nintendo's crappy online because we hope that eventually they'll hear us and fix it.
Wiizilla's Avatar
Wiizilla at 02/26/2008 22:34
@freeman
[i]You can't have random wi-fi matches in every Nintendo game. In Pokemon D/P you HAVE to exchange FCs in order to play online.
[/i]
but that was only so people would be forced to buy pokemon battle revolution to get there share of random online matches. It would be fully possible on the DS.

here's a question, how do you know nintendo's online sucks if your a wii only owner and don't have anything to compare it to?
---AMARU---'s Avatar
---AMARU--- at 02/26/2008 22:42
pay and play can suck me
Wiizilla's Avatar
Wiizilla at 02/26/2008 22:47
@---AMARU---
how could you have something when you don't even know how it works?
freeman1's Avatar
freeman1 at 02/26/2008 22:47
That's a stupid question. I've played the other consoles, I just don't own them. And I do have a PS2, and even that had better online then Wii.

And even if I had never played any other console in my life, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that having voice chat would be better then not having it. Or that having one gamer tag for every game would be better then having individual friend codes for each game. I could go on, but you get the point.
Wiizilla's Avatar
Wiizilla at 02/26/2008 23:07
@freeman

I wrote a long response to your post but it didn't go up becouse something wird happened and I'm not typing it all again so I'll summerizes it:

I agree that firend codes per game is retarded but with nintendo's family firendly image there's no way they can allow comunication with strangers without people being dicks to little kids. They allowed emblems in MKDS and people used that opertunity to draw dicks. Stranger chat will be safe when Communism becomes an acceptible form of government, meaning when human kind becomes perfect, meaning never
LarkOhiya's Avatar
LarkOhiya at 02/26/2008 23:17
This has nothing to do with any other consoles or how people are threatened by the Wii. this has everything to do with Nintendo continually failing somehow with every generation in the most Obvious way.
Wiizilla's Avatar
Wiizilla at 02/26/2008 23:25
@LarkOhiya
That's exatly what this is about. I'll say it one more time: they can't include stranger chat becouse people, especially hardcoregamers, get there kicks out of tramatizing kids. and don't bring up the curinf 13 year old you met on Halo, becouse this is Mario Kart and has a different audience.
Lord The Night Knight's Avatar
Lord The Night Knight at 02/26/2008 23:46
"Why the hell WOULDN'T you have voice chat in an online-capable video game in frigging 2008?"

What kind of voice chat would you use in a Mario Kart game.

I am dead serious about that question? Do you want it "just because", or do you have legitimate uses planned for it?
JonDarkwood's Avatar
JonDarkwood at 02/27/2008 00:02
Lord the Night Knight, it's not a matter of why you'd use it in a Mario Kart game, it's a matter of it being a lackluster implementation console-wide where the other two big players have a much more fleshed out online service.

There's not really any excuse for things like this to be ignored, other than "it's nintendo" which seems to be a pretty easily accepted if pathetic excuse.
Mr Bas's Avatar
Mr Bas at 02/27/2008 00:08
It's the same as with Brawl, but please think about this now:

XBOX360 has voice chat
PS3 has voice chat
Wii HASN'T voice chat

BUT

For the 360 you need Live, which costs
For the PS3 you need a PS3, which costs MOAR than a Wii

You only get what you pay for. Some people here think they have a right to have voice-chat included in a game. Maybe you'll get it someday, but when/if that happens, it's going to be via Pay and Play.

@Wiizilla

I completely agree with you and that's exactly the point I made in the Brawl discussion, still some retards think Nintendo's first priority is to make the hardcore feel comfortable.
BlackSunEmpire's Avatar
BlackSunEmpire at 02/27/2008 01:13
Nintendo doesn't seem to have really got a hang of multiplayer past 4 people sitting in the same room waggling with each other (intentionally made to sound dirty). This online thing is something theyve tacked on because they had to, they are not choosing to implement it well.

Maybe things would be different if they spent a little less time on pokemon channels.
freeman1's Avatar
freeman1 at 02/27/2008 01:37
I'm even more annoyed by the lack of options online then I am by the lack of voice chat or rankings. For example, if I want to play a random wifi match in Brawl it has to be a 4 player time match. That's completely stupid. Why can't I choose to play one on one or stock matches without requiring a friend code?

That's why I asked earlier if it was possible to join a 12 player race without friend codes. I could easily see Nintendo doing something stupid like having 4 player only random races, with the ability to race with up to 12 players in FC races.

Sort of like in Pokemon Battle Revolution. You can only use half of your Pokemon in random matches, so you have to exchange FCs with someone just to use your whole team. That's retarded.

It's bad enough that you need FCs to play with specific people, but why do they have to completely butcher online play for non FC matches?
Fanatism's Avatar
Fanatism at 02/27/2008 02:10
@freeman1
There are rankings in mario kart wii.
Cowboy TTop's Avatar
Cowboy TTop at 02/27/2008 02:24
Oh dear Nintendo. One step forward and two back as always. Want to get online but they are more scared of the net than anyone, and tarnishing their image.

If you can't do onine properly don't bother and I'm sure gamers will vote with their feet and not use this service. It seems to be about what Nintendo wants, not what we want.

Damn, even doing something with Skype would be better than this crap. Minus 10 lives, Nintendo.
Fanatism's Avatar
Fanatism at 02/27/2008 02:58
@cowboy
"tarnishing theier image"
They're only making those hardcore people who has a need to call people fags when they're playing as princess peach.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 02/27/2008 03:41
Goddammit Nintendo. Even as an IRC user, I think this is a bad decision.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 02/27/2008 05:15
And we are expected to pay for this.


Morons.
CALkulon's Avatar
CALkulon at 02/27/2008 05:24
This sucks. You can't "type" more than a few words per minute anyway, the point and click interface is shite!

12 people online is great, but it's completely unpersonal if you can't TALK to people dammit.

Nintendo is making this a total fuck up, with online. Just like with GC.

Getting increasingly fed up with them catering to everyone but pure gamers, thank fuck I bought a PS3 too.
Luigi takes over's Avatar
Luigi takes over at 02/27/2008 05:33
Talk to people in the lobby, race.

@Blufire

how is text different from voice when it comes to vulgarities? Easy! Word-filters! Also, the very fact that your penis drawing(I assume it was a penis drawing) failed to show shows that it would probably fail in Mario Kart Online.

Not as easy as say "n-word n-word n-word n-word", eh?

If they make this "pay to play" I scoff at them
Mr Bas's Avatar
Mr Bas at 02/27/2008 05:50
@Jim

I though Pay and Play was more like XBOX Live (whatever that means). Correct me if I'm wrong but except for the price we have to pay for every game there are no extra fees for MKWii, right?


@CALkulon

You can plug in a USB-Keyboard btw.


@Luigi takes over

Even Nintendo isn't as naive as that to make MKWii pay and play.
Samit Sarkar's Avatar
Samit Sarkar at 02/27/2008 05:52
Does the Wii support USB keyboards? If so, then I can kinda (barely) understand this decision. But “typing” using the Wiimote to pick letters from the on-screen keyboard is retardedly slow, and that’s just dumb. Either way, though, Nintendo needs to get with the damn times. This is getting ridiculous.
Mr Bas's Avatar
Mr Bas at 02/27/2008 07:13
I tried it and it works so yeah you can use it.

People are just expecting too much from them, they aren't a company that has it's main focus on the hardcore, they still are very popular amongst the kids and families so they have to concentrate on these customers. If you don't like that it's your opinion but it's not like Nintendo is going to change their strategy.
Snaileb 's Avatar
Snaileb at 02/27/2008 07:45
I love this article. Please raise more awareness for Nintendo's suck, or they will never learn.
Mr Bas's Avatar
Mr Bas at 02/27/2008 07:55
They suck because they protect their younger consumers because their parents are too dumb for that? What a retarded logic.
prev next 50 comments

Comment with Facebook





Click connect and comment instantly!

Comment with Dtoid





New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds

Comments policy

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?

Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!

 
New on Destructoid.TV play all videos

Loading
Loading Destructoid Videos



    Win this!
    Reminder: We're giving away six copies of Magnacarta 2!



    Dtoid Twitter    Got news?   tips@destructoid.com

    Reviews & Previews
    Mahjongg Artifacts 2 review
    Dragon Age: Origins review
    Lost Winds: The Winter of the Melodias review
    Osmos review
    Space Invaders Extreme 2 review
    Half-Minute Hero review
    JU-ON: The Grudge review
    Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble review
    Thexder Neo review
    Domino Rally review
    more reviews
    PS3's 256-player MAG
    Rooms The Main Building
    Skate 3
    Hudson's bringing back the Bonk
    James Cameron's Avatar
    Bomberman Battlefest
    Calling
    Bad Company 2's multiplayer
    Partying like it's 1959 in BioShock 2's multiplayer
    BioShock 2 through the eyes of Big Daddy
    more previews


    - The Dtoid Army is 49514 strong -

    Showing Cblogs with 3+ faps   show all

    Call for entries: do the wrong thing
    New to Dtoid? Read the survival guide




     Originals
    Jim Sterling: Ten 'classic' games that did not age well





















    More Destructoid Originals



     Popular now more
























    Destructoid's editorial lovefest is:
    Nick Chester
    Editor-in-Chief    		 Jim Sterling
    Reviews Editor
    Dale North
    News Editor    		 Hamza Aziz
    Community Manager
    Anthony Burch
    Features Editor    		 Rey Gutierrez
    Video editor & director
    Niero
    Founder, publisher
    Letters to the editors
    tips@destructoid.com
    Associate Editors
    Ashley Davis Jonathan Holmes
    Brad Nicholson Jonathan Ross
    Brad Rice Jordan Devore
    Chad Concelmo Matthew Razak
    Colette Bennett Tom Fronczak
    Conrad Zimmerman Topher Cantler
    Dyson Samit Sarkar
    Contributors
    Adam Dork
    Ben Perlee
    Daniel Lingen
    Joseph Leray    		 Joe Burling
    Mikey
    Will Maddock
    Stella Wong





     

     
      get involved

    register or login
    post a blog
    post a forum
    enter a contest
    contribute a news tip
    suggest a feature
    be a guest editor
    		 support

    new member's guide
    login assistance
    tech support
    report abuse
    email our editors
    read our dev blog
    nuclear crisis?
    		 keep in touch

    RSS feed
    Twitter
    Facebook
    Myspace
    Flickr
    Game nights
    Meetup+play online     		seriously

    about Destructoid
    advertising
    terms of use
    privacy policy
    jobs at MM
    buy our crap     		our network

    Tomopop
    Japanator
    Despingation?



    Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
    living the dream since March 16, 2006