I hadn’t needed to mash the brakes in Mario Kart since skidding around the corners of Donut Plains 3 in the original Super Mario Kart over twenty years ago. Since then, brakes mean you’ve failed. You’ve stupidly hit a wall and need to make a U-turn, or you have two wheels hanging into space over the edge of a Rainbow Road.
Mario Kart 8’s 200cc mode has changed that, and the need to slow down to move forward is just one of many ways this addition has changed the Karting game.
Once you pop…
There’s someone posting as MrP.Ringle on Miiverse. Here my three favorite posts:
* “Favorite 80’s show? CHiPs… For obvious reasons” on the Netflix community
* “A Pringle Haiku: POP, the tubes open – Portals to snack wonderland – This was a triumph.” on the Nintendo Land community
* “You can use a Pringles tube to breath [sic] underwater like a ninja. Fact.” on the Ninja Gaiden community
The only game this character owns is ZombiU, and they’ve used the YouTube channel, but other than that, they’re just going around posting Pringles related trivia in all the different communities. They have posts from Scribblenauts to Wheel of Fortune.
Official Pringles social media advertising? Or just a passionate (and little bit nutso) fan? If it’s official, is this the first company using Miiverse as an ad campaign? Whoever it is, I find myself wanting Pringles. Sour Cream and Onion, please.
For someone as introverted as I am, the somewhat limited community experience of the Miiverse is perfect. I stayed away from Xbox Live, because the last thing I want to hear is some pre-pubescent twit call everyone “faggot” and make racial slurs.
Plus, I’m looking forward to searching an organic community for help if I get stuck on a game instead of looking up a YouTube video or going to GameFAQs. I really think what Nintendo is trying to do with Miiverse is get back to the classic days of gaming, when people didn’t have hint guides and playthroughs; they had each other.
Last week I picked up the final issue of Nintendo Power. Boy, was that a trip. Included with the last issue is a small poster featured every (almost?) cover of Nintendo Power over the last 14 years. I remember my first one: Volume 26 with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for NES on it.
Never played the game; never forgot the magazine.
Later, my mom would get me an Maniac Mansion issue from a K-B Toys (another relic of the past) that never threw out its old periodicals, but this was the first one that came in the mail. It seemed like months and months would pass between issues, instead of just four short weeks, as I eagerly awaited all the new game previews and–more than anything–the monthly Super Mario and Legend of Zelda comics. Man, I loved those, and probably read and re-read the Super Mario graphic novel compilation that came out until it fell apart. I wish I still had that thing…
I’m off track as usual. My point: the Miiverse is the coolest part of Nintendo Power finally brought into the Internet age–the community. Sure there’s still the occasional douche-tard drawing an ugly penis (why are all graffitti penises so ugly? Do the people who draw them also have deformed members?), but they get routed out fairly quickly. The majority of people in Miiverse seem to really want to be there. And that adds a lot of joy to the experience.
Okay, I kid. I honestly *love* Nintendo Land a lot more than I expected to, and have become quite hooked on it. Thanks to the Wii U’s Daily Log feature, I can see just how addicted I’ve become–six hours today!
Anyway, initial impressions were a lot more stunning than I expected, too. For one thing, the game has a very strong Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts vibe, at least visually. The hi-def looks incredible. Everything in the game is pieced together out of natural materials–fabrics, thread, buttons, iron, steel. Every bit of classic Nintendo minutiae, from rupees to Toad’s hat, has been given a handmade Etsy-style makeover. Plus, this:
Sister and brother from another mother…board?
Unlike Nuts & Bolts, Nintendo Land is actually fun. I can see it getting old sooner rather than later, but for now it’s a delightful distraction. All the nostalgia-based rewards add incentive. Honestly, Nintendo nostalgia is wearing thin, what with seven or eight(teen) new Mario-related titles every year, but Nintendo Land’s handmade feel adds to their originality.
I don’t think screenshots or video can do Nintendo Land and the Miiverse experience justice. I was expecting to have fun, but I wasn’t expecting the small value seeing other people’s comments add to the game. Most of them are stupid, but there are occasionally fun, quirky posts, and some incredible black-and-white artwork not seen since the days of PictoChat. Remember that? Who knew that Miis + PictoChat would equal something really cool?
It’s late. I’ve wasted 1/4 of my day riding around in a wooden Yoshi cart. More on Miiverse tomorrow.
Chance Lee 