New Items, Characters and Tracks Make for Head-Over-Heels Fun in Mario Kart 8
Nintendo today revealed new information about Mario Kart 8, the latest installment in the fan-favorite racing series launching exclusively for the Wii U console on May 30 in stores and in the Nintendo eShop. For the first time in HD, Mario Kart 8 introduces original track designs that highlight the game’s new anti-gravity feature, which allows players to race upside down or up vertical surfaces. Racers will also enjoy a variety of series-favorite features, including the return of 12-player online competitive play*, four-player local multiplayer, hang gliders, underwater racing and motorbikes.
New features in Mario Kart 8 include
• Spin Boost: While racing upside down or on walls, players can bump into other racers or certain track obstacles to get a speed boost. The Spin Boost fundamentally redefines the way that players compete, and makes anti-gravity racing even more exhilarating.
• Returning Characters: In Mario Kart 8, players can race with returning characters Metal Mario, Lakitu and Shy Guy. These newly revealed returning characters join a host of previously announced favorites, including all seven of Bowser’s Koopalings, who are playable for the first time in video game history.
• New Items: Two new items join the fray in Mario Kart 8. First, the Piranha Plant attaches to the front of the player’s kart and chomps at other characters, banana peels on the track or even shells thrown by other characters. Each time the Piranha Plant lunges forward to bite, the player receives a brief boost of speed. The second new item is the Boomerang Flower. After acquiring it, racers can throw a Boomerang at opponents to stun them, and its arc allows players to strike multiple opponents with a single toss. The Boomerang can be thrown three times – forward or backward.
• New Courses: Remixed classic courses make a return in Mario Kart 8, with favorites such as Moo Moo Meadows from Mario Kart Wii, Toad’s Turnpike from Mario Kart 64 and Donut Plains from Super Mario Kart, among others. The graphics and layout of these courses have been redesigned and re-imagined. For example, Toad’s Turnpike now allows players to drive up certain walls in anti-gravity mode. Mario Kart 8 will include 16 new courses and 16 remixed classic courses.
• Live Recorded Music: For the first time in the Mario Kart series, select courses in Mario Kart 8 feature music recorded by live performers.
• Control Scheme: Mario Kart 8 will support a variety of control schemes, including the Wii U GamePad, the Wii U Pro Controller, the Wii Wheel and the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The game can also be played in off-TV mode using just the Wii U GamePad.
Wii Sports Club Retail Version Coming to North America on July 25
Wii Sports Club for Wii U Arrives in Stores on July 25
Fore! Love! Strike! Home run! TKO! All five of these phrases are going to echo through the homes of Wii U owners everywhere when the five-sports-in-one packaged version of Wii Sports Club hits stores on July 25 at a suggested retail price of $39.99. With Wii Sports Club, the millions of people who fell in love with Wii Sports can now hop off their couches and get active with new versions of the five original classic sports – Tennis, Bowling, Golf, Baseball and Boxing – enhanced with online multiplayer and optimized for play with the Wii U GamePad controller.
Wii Sports Club feels like a new experience, with the addition of crisp high-definition graphics and Wii MotionPlus technology, as well as creative uses of the Wii U GamePad. For example, in Wii Sports Club – Baseball, the pitcher aims a fastball, change-up or curveball by moving the GamePad around in real space and pressing a button to throw. If the ball gets hit in the air, the player holds the GamePad to track and catch the fly ball – just like they would with a baseball glove! In Wii Sports Club – Golf, players place the GamePad on the floor. The ball will appear on the GamePad controller’s screen and then “fly” to the TV screen when players take their golf swing using the Wii Remote Plus controller.
Using the game’s new online multiplayer mode, players no longer have to wait for a reunion or holiday gathering to play with friends and family members who live far away. Gamers from all over the country who own the game and have a broadband Internet connection can play Wii Sports Club together. Players also can join a club to represent their regions and build online communities with fellow club members by sending tips, pep talks and other messages via Miiverse.
There are so many new features in Wii Sports Club that players will feel like they are playing the game for the first time. The added GamePad features elicit the same “You have to try this!” reactions generated after playing the original Wii Sports.
Digital versions of all five Wii Sports Club games will also be available in the Nintendo eShop on Wii U starting at 6 p.m. PT on June 26. For more information about the game, visit wiisportsclub.nintendo.com.
《钢铲骑士》6月26日将登陆北美3DS WiiU平台
日前,Yacht Club Games在推特上确认,他们最新开发的8位复古风游戏《钢铲骑士(Shovel Knight)》将于2014年6月26日登陆北美WiiU和3DS的eShop。
June 26th!!! Mark your calendars! Tell your friends! We have official word from Nintendo and Steam that Shovel Knight will be released and playable on the 26th of this month! Get ready for the greatest 8-Bit inspired adventure game to sweep you off your feet and deliver pure fun directly into your soul. We’ve worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for more than a year to bring this game to you; we’re extremely proud of the result, and we hope you love it just as much as we do. We hit some snags along the way and we’re sorry that we couldn’t deliver it sooner, but, hopefully, it will prove more than worth the wait!
As an important note, this release date of June 26th for Shovel Knight 1.0 is for the American region on Nintendo’s eShop for Wii U and 3DS. This includes USA, Canada, and Mexico. We’ve been working through localization and ratings specific to the European region. Hard working developers and publishers who have come before us have helped improve this process and so we have been receiving great support. We hope that we will have good news to share soon. The Steam version will be an international release.