Haven’t you ever wanted to play Mario Kart in real life?  On second thought, hopefully you haven’t, as I don’t want to see you throwing around a banana peel as I drive down I-94.

But I’ll be honest, if there was a way to do it without risking all there terrible side effects you hear about on drug commercials, I would be all over that.  The thrill of swerving, speed boosts, shells (red or blue, not the green), what’s not to love?

So now that we’re on the topic of Mario Kart, let’s go off on a tangent about the Wii version (also, I just realized that Wii capitalized spells World War II–and Nintendo is based in Japan–conspiracy theories anyone?).  To the horror of many, the first time I played Mario Kart was on a friend’s Wii.  Now, it was a blast, and I became obsessed with the game.  But the Wii version is far from perfect (FYI:  I consider myself part of the “Double Dash” crowd, you just can’t beat a Toad Yoshi combo).  One, the wheel.  Who honestly likes the wheel?  Obviously a huge portion of people.  Maybe my deltoids aren’t in shape, but I do not find it fun holding the wheel straight out in front of my face.

“But it makes it more realistic!”  Oh really?  It’s not attached to anything!  In those exciting moments, I’m not a calm limo driver, I’m freaking out, I’m moving around, and that wheel is going with me.  If this was a casual “drive your kids to daycare” game, yeah, I could do that.  But I’m not keeping my arms still during an intense game of Mario Kart.  And they’re definitely not hanging out in front of me like a Zombie with drivers license.

Yeah, I’m being a little harsh, but I feel like anyone with a Wii has an obligation to us non-Wii owners to have a couple of Gamecube controllers on hand.  Some of us have a normal adrenaline response that just isn’t compatible with the Wii remote.  It’s kind of sad… Nintendo came so far and it just keeps going downhill.  There’s a reason N64 never gets old.  Sure, some of it’s nostalgia, but I honestly think the games on my N64 are 10x more fun than any Wii game.  Furthermore, you can’t blame all of it on nostalgia, because even though I love Halo 2 (it’s the only Halo game where I actually understood what was going on), Halo 4 is definitely more fun in multiplayer.

But in all honesty, Mario Kart Wii with a Gamecube controller is a blast.  The large amount of levels are great, and even though Double Dash will always remain #1, this game comes in a close second.

THIS WEEK IN THE HALLWAY:  Get ready to meet a new character.  And this isn’t just any new character.  It’s been in the planning for quite a while, and it’s going to be legend… wait for it… (more in next weeks blog).

OFF TOPIC:  I watched the Touch season premiere over the weekend, and I have to say, this is a show everyone should be watching.  Season 1 was epic (with a very uplifting feel to it), and Season 2 is just as promising.  Every episode is available on Hulu, so check it out if you have an account!  You won’t regret it!

Till next week,

TY