Iwata Asks: Mario Kart and the Wii Wheel

Mario Kart is set to launch in the US later this month, so it was a natural fit for the latest Iwata Asks feature on Nintendo.com. This entry detailed the history of the series all the way up to Mario Kart Wii, including the development of the Wii Wheel. Kenichiro Ashida revealed that there were roughly 30 prototypes of the wheel before we get the present day Wiiel, which it seems to just be begging to be called.

Ashida said, “With regard to weight, we thought carefully about how many grams would best suit gameplay. When considering durability, we wanted to make something strong using thick materials, but increasing the weight by even 30 grams would have been considered too heavy for some people. We eventually designed it to be as light as possible so people could use it for a long time without getting tired too quickly.”

Miyamoto explained that a wheel is such a natural way of interacting, it was a perfect fit. “A steering wheel is so easy to understand. Almost everyone has the experience of using some kind of steering wheel, from riding toy cars with pedals as children, to driving real go karts at a theme park. Everyone knows how to turn the wheel right in order to go right. Besides, I kind of wanted to make a product that would come in a big box for a change!”

I’m surprised it actually took Nintendo this long to create a wheel. It seems more like they simply wanted to wait for Mario Kart to launch it, since third parties have been putting out cheap plastic circles and calling them wheels for quite some time now. It’s not like Mario Kart was the only driving game that could have used it; even the Wii launch game Excite Truck was using the same maneuvers as a wheel, only with nothing more than the Wiimote.