There is a new tournament up in Mario Kart Wii online, between September 1 and September 10.  Set in the N64 Skyscraper Battle Ground, try your skills and set the best time.  Just do it between September 1 and September 10.

I just finished the Lightning race on the 150CC class of Mario Kart Wii. Yes, I know, everyone else has already finished and is laughing because I’m so slow. However, I’m very busy, so my playing time gets drastically cut down. However, in light of this momentous occasion, I am posting some videos of the various shortcuts in the courses that you can use to rocket yourself to “A” scores and gold cups!

Do you for some reason NOT have Mario Kart Wii?

These are just a few of the 40+ videos online about the shortcuts in Mario Kart.  There are some rpetty devious ones out there, as well - we’re still big fans of actually playing the games we buy!

Mario Kart Wii is coming in the second quarter of 2008 (we hope sooner than later in the Spring) - and Sterling McGarvey over at Gamespy.com has provided a good preview post of what we can expect to see from this very anticipated release. Support for 12 players online, a Mario Kart Channel on the Wii, and ridiculously versatile controls are all very positive points as we see it. An excerpt from Sterling’s article over at GameSpy:

There’ll be three new power-ups as well. The POW item looks like the old POW box from the original Mario Bros., and as in that arcade classic it causes havoc on the stage. If you’re in, say, fifth place, the POW will cause every car that’s ahead of you to spin out and lose control. The Lightning Cloud is even more devastating; it’s like a mixture of the Golden Mushroom and “hot potato.” You’ll get huge boosts of speed for a limited time, but as the clock ticks, you run the risk of being hit by lightning, which shrinks your kart. Fortunately (for you, not your fellow racers), you can pass the Lightning Cloud around to other people when you bump into them and leave someone else to deal with the consequences. Finally, there’s the Giant Mushroom, which, just like in New Super Mario Bros., allows you to super-size yourself and leave a trail of turmoil in your wake.

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