Mario Kart Wii – Race For Your Life. Charlie… I Mean Mario

Oh, how the mighty has fallen. Instead of following up on the successes of Mario Kart Double Dash for the Gamecube and Mario Kart for the Nintendo OS. Nintendo has hammered the notion into our old-school skull that the next iteration of Mario Kart will be tailor-made for the Nintendo Wii’s target spectators: your grandmother, mother, and siblings. No two-guys-one-cart action, no innovation and tweaks needed; just good old fashioned racing and item—using,,, only neutered so much that it loses meaning as being a skill-based racing game that can be enjoyed by all.

Blue Shell-shocked
Let’s emphasize the positives first though. The new tracks are superb. Even if they recycled a lot of the maps from the previous games (do we really want to see Ghost Valley or the GSA Mario Kart tracts? Really?), the new ones stand out like gems because of the multiple paths and shortcuts laid out, in addition to how said maps have subtle changes as you go through laps. Coconut Mall and Grumble Volcano are good examples that highlight these key components.

The addition of bikes, even if it’s seemingly out-of-place, is handled well. The bikes themselves are light, turn way sharper than the karts, and can speed-boost on a straight path via popping a wheelie, while at the same time requiring much more practice than the stable body of the kart. Plus, if you shake the Wii Wheel or Wiimote while jumping off of a ramp, you can do tricks which give you a speed boost upon landing.

The online multiplayer mode is also great and accessible. While adding Friend Codes might instill confusion among many you can choose to play with strangers around the world via a few clicks of the Wiimote. Regardless, the online experience is completely smooth with nary a hitch before, during, and after a race.
The new additions aren’t all a bed of roses and sunshine like the game’s art style and music. The plastic Wii Wheel that comes mandatory with the game is Nintendo’s way of making everyone play equally bad against each other with the same horrendous control scheme, lt is nice for a novelty l5- minute spin, but it you want to actually win, the Nunchuk and Wiimote is the way to go.
“Mario Kart Wii feels a little too shallow for its own good, thus alienating players who rely on their skill rather than luck when playing Mario Kart games.”

Nintendo’s further reinforcing of their egalitarian ruleset is also apparent with the game’s default item appearance rate in both single player and multiplayer mode. Until you’ve tuned down the settings in custom games, you’ll be screwed more often than usual with the first-place-seeking Blue Shells and the new-and-not-welcomed-at-all P-Block which stuns everyone and takes away the item they’re holding. Every race feels even more like arbitrary luck than previous Mario Karts. No need for actual practice on how to drift properly and get sparks, people; anyone can just set it to Automatic (for auto-drifting), hold the accelerate button, and pray for the best.

Chop Shop Material
The online component and the new tracks are about the saving grace of this fallacious attempt at a next-gen Mario Kart. While I understand Nintendo policy of going back to basics, Mario Kart Wii feels a little too shallow for its own good, thus alienating players who rely on their skill rather than luck when playing Mario Kart games. However, it is still one of the better and well-made kart games in the market. It is just unfortunate that compared to the high-profile and polished gameplay of its gold-laden legacy, the latest Mario Kart feels content in claiming the bronze medal.

Luckily the Nintendo Wii is backwards-compatible, so you can go back and play the superior Mario Kart Double Dash instead.

Battlefield 2142 is an interesting take on the relatively simplistic nature of FPS games. DICE and EA have created a game that aims to blend the successful and fun elements of the previous Battlefield franchise games (Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2) with the careful strategic planning required in any RTS game. While at the most basic level 2142 is simply an advanced Battlefield 2 remake, it can also be seen as a successful attempt to bring a new importance to team play and game play planning. The background story of the 2142 world is that Earth has plunged into another Ice Age and two powerful forces; the Pan-Asian Coalition and the European Union must battle it out to decide who claims the last remaining parts of the Earth not covered in ice.

Multiplayer is the core of 2142, as it has been in other games of the franchise. Bots in single player mode only allow limited excitement as you play against them in the classic Battlefield Conquest mode (where you must capture strategic points on the map in order to reduce your enemy’s score to 0). Titan mode is available for multiplayer only, but the game play mechanics are vastly different to the staple defensive and offensive play in Conquest. While in Conquest mode the only way to reduce your opponent’s score is to capture strategic outposts and kill enemies, in Titan, your objective is to destroy the enemy’s Titan (a large flying fortress).

Missile silos replace strategic outposts on Titan maps and must be captured in order to destroy the enemy Titan’s shield. Once it is down, missiles continue to pound the enemy Titan hull until it is destroyed, or the silo is neutralized. A quicker victory can be achieved by storming the Titan with troops and blowing up the reactor at its core. This is obviously a far more difficult option as the Titan is well defended both internally and externally: huge cannons on the bottom of the Titan which can be controlled by players pound the ground below, anti-aircraft guns mounted on the Titan roof guard the skies, and players guard the halls of the Titan from the inside.

Weapons and vehicles obviously play an integral role in 2142 game play. The standard Battlefield 2 vehicle conversions exist, such as a small, 3-man jeep, APCs, tanks, and aircraft (a gunship and a transport). The only problem with some of these vehicles is that each has its own learning curve – aircraft are naturally harder to fly than a tank is to drive, and each vehicle has a different number of men it can carry and guns to mount. You can also hop into one of the many field emplacements on the map such as anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns. The maps are huge in typical Battlefield style with bunkers and hiding places everywhere for the skilled sniper or support gunner to utilize.

The weapons in 2142 are varied and each is suited to a particular play style. You can choose fro the Engineer kit (anti-vehicle guns, mines, explosives), Assault kit (assault rifles, grenades, medic kits), Support kit (machine guns, shields, ammo kits) or Recon kit (sniper rifles, sabotage devices, infiltration devices). Generally speaking, you cannot be jack-of-all trades because each weapon is unlocked progressively. You earn experience points with which you unlock the next item in a specific kit, and then begin to amass experience for the next unlock. This encourages more strategic play (specifically, more take-and-hold oriented play rather than mad, free-for-all rushes at important locations) but can be daunting for the newbie who gets gunned down by an experienced player with a much more powerful gun. However, you can pick up enemy kits that are dropped when a player dies, so you can try an item out before you actually use your own unlocks on it.

Players can choose to be squad leaders and command players in group of up to six soldiers, giving them orders to defend, attack, and basic directional commands. For those looking for a little more responsibility, you can take command of the squads on the team in the position of Commander. Commanders can play the game in an RTS-style overhead map where they can choose to drop supplies, deploy EMP and orbital strikes, and order squads around. Not for the faint of heart, a poor commander can lead a team to a quick demise while a skilled one can counter enemy movements effectively and make victory come swiftly.
The graphics and sounds are superb, but Battlefield 2 fans might be a little disappointed that there hasn’t been a complete graphics overhaul.

Graphics are similar to those of Battlefield 2 but a lot of improvements have been made here and there. The vehicles in particular look great, but are lacking damage modeling which could make blowing up a tank with an anti-tank rocket much more satisfying. Sounds are well done, and weapon sounds in particular contribute a lot to the game’s atmosphere. Support guns emit a low, rumbling sound as they fire and pistols make a short, high pitched sound as they shoot. The voice commands you can issue (Yes, No, I need ammo, etc.) may lack a little variety but these play only a small part in the overall 2142 experience.

Overall, 2142 is a solid progression from the Battlefield 2 modern combat setting to a new, futuristic, exciting battleground filled with all manner of vehicles to throttle and weapons to experiment with. A must buy for Battlefield fans and a good investment for those looking for a more strategic-oriented FPS game.

Ever wanted to connect your DSi to the Internet? Well, after following the steps listed in this tutorial, you should be well on your way! First, you must check to make sure that your own or have access to the following devices:

> A Nintendo DSi
> A Wireless router
> An Internet connection (Broadband is recommended, but a Dial-up connection will also work)

By connecting your game system to the Internet, you’ll open up a whole new world for yourself. You’ll be able to play Wi-Fi enabled games against other players around the world, search the web, perform system updates, and much more.

Setting up the system is actually quite easy, and only requires a few technical steps. This tutorial will be broken up into two sections, which covers setting up your DSi using the main menu or by using a Wi-Fi enabled game. Which ever method you choose will produce the same end result.

Note: A lot of restaurants, hotels, and stores are now providing free Wi-Fi access, so if you are any of these places and can find a connection, go for it!

Connecting your DSi (Regular method)

1. Power on your Nintendo DSi.
2. After the Health and Safety screen, you’ll be greeted by the DSi menu.
3. Find and select the “System Setings” icon. If you haven’t adjusted the order, it should be at the extreme left.
4. From here, press the over arrow 3 times (or tap the “3″) to navigate to the 3rd menu. Click on the “Internet” option.
5. Now, simply choose “Connection Settings”.
6. Select any connection that you would like to use (1-3). If it says “None”, then you can set up a new connection by tapping that option.
7. Select “Search for an Access Point”.
8. If there are any Wi-Fi connections within range, it will find the connection. Select the appropriate connection (most likely your router’s name) to connect. If your router uses a WEP key, then the DSi will prompt you to enter it.
9. It will then test the connection, checking for internet availability.
10. If everything goes right, then your connection will be confirmed and then you’ll be able to connect to the Internet from your DSi. Congratulations!

Connecting your DSi (Wi-Fi game method)
1. Power on your Nintendo DSi.
2. After the Health and Safety screen, you’ll be greeted by the DSi menu.
3. Insert a Wi-Fi enabled game. Examples include Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Tetris DS, …
4. Within the games main menu, go into the game settings and then select “Nintendo WFC Setup”
5. This menu will allow you to set up your Wifi settings similar to the regular method.
6. Follow steps 6-10 from the Regular method listed above in order to connect your DSi.