There'll be enough Wii Wheels for EVERYBODY!

by Chris Greenhough { Feb 27th 2008 at 4:00PM }

Everybody who cares, that is. Okay, maybe that's a little harsh. But having had previous experience with other Wiimote clip-ons, yours truly has yet to be sold on the Wii Wheel that will come with every copy of Mario Kart Wii.

Some of you might think differently however, and that's fine! In fact, Nintendo totally has you pro-Wii Wheel people in mind, because it'll be selling spare Wii Wheels (Wiils?) in Japan from April 11th, just one day after Mario Kart Wii launches. At ¥1,200 (around $11), it shouldn't be too pricey to equip friends and family for the sweaty-palmed, marathon multiplayer sessions that lie ahead. We suspect there's a fat profit to be made from these, so we're expecting to see them in the west at some point.

Gallery: Mario Kart Wii

[Via Siliconera]

Tags: accessories, japan, mario-kart, mario-kart-wii, racing, wii-wheel

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Nushio (NDF - Blue) @ Feb 27th 2008 4:26PM

Except that instead of 11 bucks, it'll be 20.
Thanks, but no thanks Nintendo!

Leeroy @ Feb 27th 2008 4:39PM

I know one thing, my wheel will be going straight on ebay(likely joining hundreds of others, lol).

Bought my Wii at launch and have come to realise that if a game allows you to use the good old wavebird, it'll probably be the best control option, that's what I'll be hitting the tracks with ;-)

Please go back to normal controllers for your next console Ninty.

Sonic_13 @ Feb 27th 2008 5:12PM

Absolutely not. There is no better control option right now than the Wii remote.

After racing using the Wii remote with Excite Truck I have trouble playing racing games that use a standard controller simply because it isn't as precise. Same goes for FPS's and other genres.

RosuNamikaze @ Feb 27th 2008 5:24PM

I agree.
I think the motion sensitive Wiimote is the way forward.
I say that's the true form of next generation ;)

Slightly off topic but when I played Mario Smash Football the other day I found myself shaking the controller to tackle..
:P

Haohmaru @ Feb 27th 2008 7:10PM

Excite Truck's motion-controlled driving worked so well. The fact that the same general idea is behind Mario Kart Wii's controls is probably the biggest draw to the game for me.

Joe Cart @ Feb 27th 2008 7:26PM

Booooooo bad call. If you like the old fashion regular controllers, good for you, go get an xbox or ps3 and join the played out crowd and play games the boring way... as for the rest of us, we know the true way to game is with the wii mote and nunchuck and the NEW generation of gaming.

Sisyphus @ Feb 27th 2008 4:43PM

If they had gone with generic controllers like everyone else, the Wii would be a collossal flop.

Joe Cart @ Feb 27th 2008 9:07PM

I wouldnt go THAT far... People always look forward to Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc. And games like No More Heroes brought some awsome new stuff to the table... but yes, i'm very thankful for the wii mote and nunchuck and motion controls and playing games an entirley different way than I did 2 years ago.

Sonic_13 @ Feb 27th 2008 5:10PM

"yours truly has yet to be sold on the Wii Wheel that will come with every copy of Mario Kart Wii"

It doesn't matter if you ever get sold on the Wii Wheel, because the point of it is to try and ease the learning curve and level the playing field a little between new and more experienced gamers.

The fact that people here complain how they won't use the Wii Wheel is pretty irrelevant to the reason for having it in the first place.

meist3r @ Feb 27th 2008 5:14PM

I'm not even against the Wii Wheel the designs I saw with the blue stripes on it looked pretty cool. My big concern is that controlling the actual game with it will probably be horrible. I don't have a Classic Controller and I won't buy one and I can only hope they will support GC pads too. I really really hope the Wheel will be cool though it wouldn't be a big surprise if Nintendo actually shook the world AGAIN.

Sonic_13 @ Feb 27th 2008 11:27PM

I don't know what controlling the game with the Wii Wheel will be like, but racing with the remote sideways is awesome (and I would image actually using the Wii Wheel wouldn't be much different).

As I and Haohmaru (see Haohmaru's comment above) can attest, racing like this is a great option that is even better than racing with a regular controller. The precision and ease of control you get from the Wii remote sideways is unmatched.

RosuNamikaze @ Feb 27th 2008 5:27PM

I honestly believe that Nintendo will pull these new controlls off..

Although it was inevitable, I was fairly scared for the next installment of MarioKart.
However, watching the trailers that have been released, the control looks flawless.. making me wonder if it is truely being controlled by the Wiimote.

Wii put trust in 'Tendo ;)

Tom @ Feb 27th 2008 7:17PM

I'm thinking this Wiil will be pretty cool. it comes with the game, and makes it feel more realistic. imo Nintendo's the ONLY company that made there console "next-gen" All that happened with the others was some improved graphics, better online, and the stupid poser Sixaxis for the PS3. So MKWii IS going to be one of the best racing games ever, if they can at least do the controls as well as Excite Truck (shouldn't be too hard)