Nintendo dismisses Mario Kart rumours

By Ellie Gibson Published 29 January, 2008

Return of snaking still unconfirmed.

Nintendo has told Eurogamer the latest rumours to emerge about Mario Kart Wii are nothing more than speculation.

As reported by Aussie-Nintendo, Nmag Gamepro magazine claims the game will feature 32 courses - half of which will be brand new, half old favourites.

The mag also claims Baby Peach and Boo will appear as drivers, snaking will make a comeback, Battle mode will be playable online and the controls will be similar to those in Excite Truck.

Or not. According to a spokesperson, "Nintendo has not announced any further information on Mario Kart. We've spoken to the magazine and it's just pure rumour and speculation on their part."

So what do we know about MK Wii? It'll work with the new Wii steering wheel, and up to 12 players will be able to race online. Plus it's got motorbikes. For more info, visit the gamepage. Mario Kart Wii is due out in the first half of this year.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (28) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Razorus #1 4 years ago

    FIRST! I don't know what to say. Ermm......My name is Razorus (hello Razorus).
    I am an alcoholic but I havn't had a drink in 3 months! (applause).
    I was abused as a child.

  • gingerlink #2 4 years ago

    Reggie Confirmed online battle mode when it was announced, fools!

  • Cloudane #3 4 years ago

    I would prefer to know when Nintendo will release Super Mario Kart on the Virtual Console.

    I didn't enjoy Mario Kart 64 or Double Dash so I have no hope of enjoying this one either.

  • Nova5lag #4 4 years ago

    I PITY THE FOOL!

  • Razorus #5 4 years ago

    Ah yes, I have something to say now. The Official Nintendo Magazine of the UK had a similar "naughty naughty" a few issues ago when they were talking about how the game will feature tracks from the DS game. Nintendo told them off for chatting shit. Still would be good. As for controls, I hope hey allow for multiple control methods. Excite Truck had decent controls in my opinion but how will it suit something as manic as MK with green shells and shit flying around? I trust Nintendo to kick arse though.

  • abigsmurf #6 4 years ago

    god please don't include snaking. That'll completely stop me from playing online

  • seasidebaz #7 4 years ago

    @gingerlink: no he didn't. he confirmed online play.

    and the controls are already (almost) like excite truck, hence the wiiwheel that comes with it.

    and @razorus: shit as a weapon would be......... hmmmmmm

  • DonnieDarko333 #8 4 years ago

    Mario Kart wii will not be released till November in Europe, it's so bloody obvious, why they've stated Q2 08 is beyond me....

    Brawl, Mario Kart and Wii Fit within a few months? I don't think so....

  • jonsaan #9 4 years ago

    Controls similar to excitetruck. NNNooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  • seasidebaz #10 4 years ago

    @donniedarko:

    it's happening that way in america...

    http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2 008/01/29/wii-warm-up-mario-kart-vs-wii-fit/

  • gingerlink #11 4 years ago

    well, I knew about the online battle mode for it from the start, so maybe I'm one of these leaked sources...

    wait, that didn't make any sense, o well...

  • lemonfist #12 4 years ago

    I hope the controls work somethingk like this: steering with the nunchuck analogue stick, aiming items with the wii remote. That way it'd also be ideal for co-op.

  • FaceOmeter #13 4 years ago

    @cloudane:
    I feel your pain, but have you played the ball-bouncingly good DS version? It made me hot to my core...

  • smelly #14 4 years ago

    "I would prefer to know when Nintendo will release Super Mario Kart on the Virtual Console. "

    Erm.. almost definately around the launch of this one - as a way of promoting it

    Same goes for smash bros.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #15 4 years ago

    @ abigsmurf

    It's part of the game FFS. It's legimate, it's for good players and a consicous design decision by Nintendo. It's like saying "I really hope they don't put special moves in SFIV"

  • Johnson #16 4 years ago

    Razorus, people who write FIRST! in first posts deserve to have been abused as children. And again as adults.

  • toythatkills #17 4 years ago

    @Pac-man ate my wife

    Snaking might be legitimate but it's still shit. When I play games I like to have fun, and have never once found snaking to fit that description. Playing online means you have to do it to be competetive, which means no Mario Kart Wii for me.

  • gingerlink #18 4 years ago

    Is it me or when this was first posted, the tag line was "online battle mode still unconfirmed"

    Something which I then pointed out was false?

  • Muddtallica #19 4 years ago

    Pac-man: +1

    Agreed - I've never understood this ridiculous controversy over "snaking". It's a perfectly legitimate technique that's clearly been intentionally included (otherwise why would it keep coming back?) as a tactic for advanced players to increase speed and improve on their best times; if you can't do it, it's not the game's fault, nor is it the fault of those players who can do it. Like Pac-man says, I suck at stringing together combos on Soul Calibur and Street Fighter, but I'm not going to badger Namco and Capcom to remove combos from the game.

    I'm all for accessibility and inclusiveness in games, but it should never come at the expense of depth; why should the fact that some players aren't fussed about advancing beyond a certain level mean that you emasculate it for everyone else?

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #20 4 years ago

    @ toythatkills

    " Playing online means you have to do it to be competetive..."

    Erm, so why exactly would you play Mario Kart online for if not to be competative?! Are you a Sunday driver or something?

  • Fitzmogwai #21 4 years ago

    Not to worry - all the DS snakers will have crippled arthritic claws for hands in a few years' time.

    I will then sit back and enjoy my revenge upon all the snaking bastards.

  • toythatkills #22 4 years ago

    @Pac-man ate my wife

    You appear to have approached my point before veering off wildly, completely missing it. Of course you have to be competitive online, that was my point. In order to be competitive you have to snake, and I've never had fun snaking, so don't wish to do it and will not play online.

    EDIT: Spelling.
    Edited by 1 at 29/01/08 @ 17:42

  • CallousB #23 4 years ago

    "Snaking - if you can't do it, it's not the game's fault, nor is it the fault of those players who can do it"

    What if you can do it but simply don't want to because you think it makes for a very boring game? I think it damages the gameplay and the fun. I wouldn't want to play a fighting game online where the only way of winning was to do exactly the same special move over and over again. Of course Nintendo know that many people hate snaking so they should really include seperate modes for your prefered choice (not hard to do),that way everyone is happy..and if they don't include those seperate modes then the game IS at fault.

  • Muddtallica #24 4 years ago

    CallousB - but snaking isn't exactly like a special move, though...it's a skill or technique, like taking a corner properly, or circle-strafing in an FPS, or blocking correctly in a fighting game. Again, parrying in Soul Calibur is something I find hard to do, and I don't enjoy the amount of concentration it takes to be able to pull it off consistently, but I know that if I practiced it enough to make it second nature, then I'd be a lot better at the game, and would probably enjoy it more; for me, snaking is just the same. Like any of those other things, too, it's hardly the be-all and end-all of the game engine, like you make out; even if you are snaking, you still have to corner properly, use items well, negotiate the terrain obstacles and so forth...

    Still, I do agree that there should be options to have different levels of competition, and to match up players by ability, and I actually meant to mention that in my other post. Like you said, that way everyone's happy...

  • Ace_McCloud #25 4 years ago

    But it's not a beat em up and snaking is how you're meant to drive.

    It opens the door to a whole ocean of depth on how much you can improve, that simply pressing 'A' and holding a red shell behind you just doesn't do. It should be commended that nintendo make a game with so much depth, rather than a simple kidifiued game like so many of their recent easy titles.

    It's how you're meant to drive so learn it, you'll understand it's not a sure fire way for victory, you still need other skills and it makes it a far more interesting unique game. MK:DS controls are ridiculously painful though, GC is nice.

  • J.C #26 4 years ago

    Double Dash = MEH!

    This one had better be good!

  • Ace_McCloud #27 4 years ago

    ^^^ *sigh* DD has hands down the best racing controls of any MK

  • seasidebaz #28 4 years ago

    @gingerlink: sources, please. i have never seen this "confirmed" online battle mode announcement. (or if i did i forgot about it)