Opinion: Mario Kart Wii launch in SA detailed

Journalists attending the press launch of Mario Kart Wii were in for a big surprise and a big challenge! Once we had all been given the chance to get behind the steering wheel and the buzz had quietened down a bit, we were told the good news.

Core Gaming was giving us journalists a chance many gamers would only dream about – a competition was on the go and the prize up for grabs was enough to motivate even the most casual gamer to sit up and take notice. The prize was none other than a year’s free supply of Wii games. Yes, you read that correctly, a year’s free supply of Wii games.

It was at this stage that I wished another member of the El33tonline team had attended the launch, a somewhat more seasoned Mario Kart racer, if you get my drift. But as anyone who has ever played Mario Kart will know, a race is not won until you actually cross that finish line. You could be in first place up until a couple of metres before the finish line, only to get taken out by a red shell and your friend whiz past you to take what should have been your spot on the podium. I guess what I am trying to say in essence is this, I did stand a chance and already my stomach was quivering at the thought of racing and possibly winning.

But you must understand that we were racing with the best of the best, not only in the gaming industry, but against two South African Go Kart Champions. Real life ones I mean.

Sadly I think I drew a short straw by going head to head with both SA Go Kart Champions in my first race. Don’t for a minute think these girls cannot handle themselves on the virtual track as well as they do on the real track. What I soon learned was Mario Kart brings out the competitive streak in anybody and I was seriously going to need to step up my game. Not only for myself you understand, but to bring reviews of all these great Wii games to you our readers. Your education was at stake here!

Of course you want to know how I did. Well suffice it to say that if I had won I would probably not be writing this entertaining piece right now but rather revelling at my good fortune over a drink with my mates. Fabienne proved to be quite a strong contender, advancing well into the next rounds, and sadly I lost. But fear not loyal reader because I still walked away with a copy of Mario Kart Wii which I will be diligently playing to bring you a review as soon as possible. As an aside, if I had been in the final, who would have taken these pictures for you to gaze upon? Just as well then, sniff sniff.

Back to the competition then. The competition was structured as a round robin of sorts. Three players in a heat, with the winner of each race advancing to the next round until we entered the quarter and semi finals and finally the final. There was much shouting and jesting as people got eliminated, having been initiated to the unforgiving nature of Mario Kart.

So once the smoke had settled, it was Lauren from SACM and Nicholas from T3 who took top honours by racing all the way to the final. Lauren chose to race as Donkey Kong while Nicholas adopted Wario – perhaps each was trying to intimidate the other?

The final was a best of three races with the first position being closely contested in race number 1. Neck in neck, Nicholas just beat Lauren to the finishing line and then they were off again, Lauren cheered on by shouts of ‘Donkey!’ ‘Donkey!’ when Nicholas roared past her. Again both fought tooth and nail but ultimately Nicholas soared over the finishing line first again, clinching the victory and walking away with the spoils of one year’s free supply of Wii games.

Before I sign off I thought I would share one last picture with you, one of a few members of The Nintendo Team (Candice, Kerry, Matthew and Matt) putting the pedal to the medal. I promised to mention something about coffee but that's all I am going to say.

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