Mario Kart Wii’s Communication Options Extremely Limited
By Chris on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 7:01 AM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Games, Nintendo, Nintendo
If you were hoping to cackle maniacally each time your opponents fall victim to your banana peel in Mario Kart Wii (I sure was), you’ll have to do it with a lack of voice chat. New details on the game have revealed the game’s methods for allowing players to communicate with one another aren’t the most sophisticated options you can imagine.
In addition to a lack of voice chat, the game’s text chat won’t even allow you to send custom messages to your friends (no talking with strangers!). Instead, you’ll choose from a set of predefined words to converse. That’d be fine if it were an option, but as the only way to talk? Not very friendly.
And that of course means no chatting mid-game – so in no way, shape or form will you be able to grief your competition over the aforementioned banana peel. (Unless you’re willing to drop your Wiimote, pick up a phone and call your friend, in which case I’d like to shake your hand.)
Anything to keep the child predators away, I guess.
via Game|Life
“Anything to keep the child predators away, I guess.”
Is this what the world has come to?
Nintendo doesn’t seem to like people to grief, they seem to like everyone to enjoy themselves. My guess is this is why.
Agreed, nothing makes the Xbox Live, particularly Halo, online multiplayer experience less fun than dealing with trash talking Timmies.
I completely agree with ManOfTeal. Who wants to talk to those brats anyway?
So what’s to stop you from taking off your headset while playing Halo? Then you’re saved from hearing any of the griefing/kids/etc.
Yet Nintendo won’t even offer an option where I can talk to the people I know, which is something I’d enjoy being able to do for all of those banana peel reasons I talked about in the story.
How is being able to talk to your friends going to help you become a better player of Mario Kart? You are one of those people who likse to talk on the cell phone and drive at the same time aren’t you?
Seriously though, it’s not like you are playing a squad based FPS like Ghost Recon or Halo where being able to talk to your squad mates actually helps with playing the game.
It’s Mario Kart……..if you really need to shove the fact that you just totally pwned your buddie with a turtle shell call him on the phone or have him come over and play on the same TV…….otherwise just bask in your glory on your own.
I personnaly like the fact that Nintendo doesn’t make me have to choose to use my headset or not.
Dammit, I was going to buy a wii for this game, I guess not anymore
HEY NINTENDO, IT’S 2008 AND PEOPLE PLAY GAMES ONLINE TO INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER, OMG, I KNOW, WHAT A CONCEPT.