"If you're mad about this, than you're obviously one of the evil people. No doubt that you want to send children messages like "Your tears turn me on." and "I have a lollipop in my pants for you." You people make me sick."

I love you so much CTZ.

Phew, my special place is safe!

THANKS NINTENDO!

Goddammit Nintendo.

Nintendo sucks at the internet.

I'd prefer to be ass raped by the internet then deal with Nintendo's bullshit.

so...I can't find those crazy little 15 year old kids acting like grown 30 year olds?

THANKS NINTENDO! You guys sure help me get through my gaming experience so much better![/sarcasm]

what's next? Playing the computer online? Oh wait, Brawl has that. ^_^ Nintendo Wins.

Thanks phedophiles! You broke the internet, now nobody gets to talk.

wwwwwwwwwwwwwwtttttttttttttttttfffffffffffffffffff

Smash Bros. will likely be the last Nintendo game I ever purchase. So this has no real effect on me, but as someone who used to support Nintendo wholeheartedly, it's shit like this that makes me sick to the point where I have abandoned not only hope, but the company as a whole.

Amazing how a feature unrelated to actual gameplay is more important than, well, GAMEPLAY.

Come on. If they said they were removing half the weapons, I would actually be complaining.

I used to be optimistic about Nintendo getting into online and was always hopeful they would actually get it right at some point. Now I just don't give a shit.

This is an abomination. An abomination, I tell you!

THIS AGGRESSION WILL NOT STAND!

Fun to see people saying voice chat doesn't matter. Nothing like having to use to Skype to talk to a friend of yours when you're playing together.

Thank the gods! this is great

And no I am not being sarcastic.

I love this decision, I do not want to hear all the bullshit that comes from the mouths or keyboards of oxygen thieves, I am so sick of the addition of text and voice to games, of it is fucking revolutionary you says?

<just cracked voice of 15 year old> haha i wtfpwn you you %*^*% *#*& coc^&*&er *#$(&# </just cracked voice of 15 year old>

Yeah

What a revolution

I support this decision wholeheartedley, thank you Nintendo for sparing me.

@Jim: VC doesn't matter a damn whit. I never use it and I have no problem setting up online matches with people. And is it honestly THAT fucking important to you to be able to badmouth your opponent when you beat them?

If we were talking about some kind of squad-based shooter where you need to co-ordinate attacks and strategies, then yes, complain all you want about the lack of VC online. But for fucking MARIO KART? You guys are throwing the biggest damn hissy fit over something so completely trivial as Voice Chat in a damn KART RACING GAME. Think about that for a second.

Nintendo's safe approach to online is doing more harm than good. Friend codes are inconvenient and the lack of basic features such as voice cha and even proper text messaging is unacceptable in this day and age. I understand that Nintendo likes to do things differently, but alienating gamers is not a wise move.

I don't personally don't care all that much about voice chat as I'm not much of an online gamer to begin with.In fact, I never use it even in games like Counter-Strike. However, the feature would be nice to have in games like Brawl and Mario Lart and it would show that Nintendo is headed in the right direction with their online strategy.Unfortunately, it seems as this rate, that Nintendo may not change its mind until it releases its next new home console and starts to realize and correct its past mistakes. Hopefully.

On the bright side, as long as Mario Kart turns out to be a fun and well made game, then I can pretty much forgive its disappointing lack of proper online communication.

I'll just use Live for the voice chat, then play Smash and Mario Kart online. Problem solved ghetto-style.

I should not have to do this though.

The issue isn't just that we can't talk to each other in a racing game. This is quite possibly a sign of things to come, not just for Mario Kart and Brawl, but for whatever else Nintendo comes out with. What happens when they release their own Resistance or Halo or Call of Duty without voice or text chat?

Nintendo does not know how to run an online service. Period. If they continue to operate in this way, they will begin to lose their fanbase. Eventually, they're going to feel it.

@Jim:
I myself don't necessarily need voice or text chat for online gaming, but I'm surprised anyone doesn't think this is a stupid decision on Nintendo's part.

Also,

What he said.

@ Gen Eric Gui.
Get a group of friends together and play Mario Kart Double Dash, Smash Bros Melee, what have you. Play one round where nobody talks at all. For the second round have everyone write 4 messages on peices paper and use them for communication. For the third round actually talk and yell at eachother.

When you're done, come back and tell us which round was the most fun.

If you're not up for this 3 round test then STFU.

They make me regret buying my wii more and more everyday.
Most of the people I know who own a 360, one of the bigger reasons they got it, "so I could play with all my friends on xbox live".
Seriously, online stuff, pretty important.
And voice chat is hella important, because gaming doesn't give much time for texting, and without communication what's the point in playing with your friends?

Custom msg: HHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!

But to be completely serious; the people who want these features are not the target audience. Nintendo wants to be able to sell to moms and dads who can play online without learning fun new words like cunt, clusterfuck, and fag.

Nintendo's not being stupid, just playing it safe with their target crowd which is, unfortunately not us.

am i the only person that really hates voice chat?
i pretty much hate the majority of people that play online and use voice chat... it just makes me sad that i play video games... and so do these people...
i really dont like the fixed text... i really dont like to have any form of communication with the other person im playing against. but if "Hi!" is going to be a fixed text choice... then it will be spammed to the fullest until the race starts... or whenever you can do it.

"Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!"

@ chicken

Clearly you're an anti-social laking any friends. Clearly.

Can you people get it through your thick skulls that voice chat isn't only meant for chatting it away with strangers?

I have friends. I sometimes don't have them around my house. We got on our consoles and we play. We talk while we play. We have a good time. See what I'm getting at?

You hating the feature doesn't mean it should be stripped away. Give people the option to use it. It's a standard, Nintendo.