Over four hundred licenses were issued Friday by Nintendo
for Mario Kart 8 at WonderCon 2014. The picture might be unflattering and it
being the size of a standard photograph instead of a license a bit strange. It
may only work in the Mushroom Kingdom. It says "NOT A VAILD DRIVER'S
LICENSE" in capital letters underneath your picture and the ESRB has it
down for Comic Mischief with Mario or the character of your choosing blazing
across a track on it. It is still something to show another Nintendo fan and
say, "Oh, do you not have one? It's because you're not a real racer or a
fan." Then you should jump on your kart and drive away.
Mario Kart 8 was playable alongside many soon to be released
Nintendo titles at their WonderCon booth over the last three-day weekend in Anaheim. Mario Kart 8 was the main draw, but there were other titles to demo.
Nintendo fans could play Kirby Triple Deluxe for 3DS, where Kirby
has the new ability called Hypernova, allowing him to inhale exponentially.
Though Kirby sucks more than ever before the game doesn't.
Mario Golf: World Tour for 3DS had me playing as the villainous
Bowser and friendly Yoshi on courses around the Mushroom Kingdom. I'm not that
good at the game, Yoshi hid in his egg form when I took too many strokes and
Bowser nearly busted my 3DS screen. The animations were cute and saddening at
my status of not being up to par.
Mushroom Kingdom levels remixed for golf courses always allow for major
distractions.
Those who played Nintendo titles got special promo items. If
you played on a 2DS you would get a blue or red 2DS case. If you tried a 3DS, a
Mario Kart 8 lanyard was yours.
Mario Kart 8 was of course the big draw. It wasn't just the
free licenses that Nintendo printed out or the photo area with a Mario Kart for
you to take your picture on. It was the races. Fans as Princess Peach, Luigi,
Donkey Kong, Mario and more raced on tracks now with hover abilities, letting
their karts go almost anywhere.
The biggest news is this Mario Kart will be the first Nintendo
developed titled for the Wii U with online multi-player. Race fans can once again
battle their friends across the globe without their 3DS or last console Wii.
Nintendo booth members spouted special Mario Kart 8 shirts
in blue in white fashion. Many attendees wanted those as promos. The game comes
out May 30th.
Bandai Namco was also offering up its titles to the masses
with demos for Dark Souls II and Dynasty Warrior Reborn 2. Booth workers told
me that Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution was the most played demo at the
booth. Ninja fighters never get tiring. When I was talking to booth workers the demo
for Dark Souls II was bit longer.
