Extra Joy #7 - Wii U Nintendo Direct

Yesterday, Nintendo announced a whole ton of stuff at their latest Nintendo Direct conference all about the Wii U. Things we haven't heard of before, things we wanted and things we didn't know we wanted until now. Bombs were dropped and we came from the battlefield cover in ash. So naturally, we decided to talk about it in podcast form. It might be shorter than our average Extra Joys but hey, if you want to know what we thought of all the news, it might be worth a listen.

You can check out the downloadable MP3 version here.

Mario Kart 7's Maka Wuhu Problem

When it comes to gaming, glitches are a common thing. No game is really ever safe from having an occasional bug or programming error that messes with the game. Sometimes dragons fly backwards or characters get stuck in walls but for the most part, in any good game, glitches are few and far between and with the introduction of online gaming, even minor glitches are capable of being fixed through patches made by the developer.

Even the game of the year has horses that can climb up the side of mountains.

However, one developer seems to be a lot further behind the times than any others when it comes to online support with patches. Of course, I’m talking about Nintendo. Nintendo isn’t much for the whole “online” gaming thing and they’ve never sent out patches to fix any of their game’s problems even if they were in need of them. Thankfully, Nintendo games are pretty safe from glitches, their quality control is top notch. Too bad one of their latest games has a glitch that is beyond game breaking on a global scale.

The Top Ten Kart Racers (That Aren't Mario Kart)

Ever since Super Mario Kart hit the market 20 years ago, the racing genre has had a smaller sub-genre; the mascot-driven kart racer. Taking the arcade style racing game, throw in some crazy locations and power-ups and of course, some sort of licensed character seemed like instant cash for developers. It seems like every property out there has been involved in a Kart racing game at least one time or another, from Sonic to Pac-Man to South Park, the Smurfs and even Homies.

9.8/10

 However, it doesn’t always work out. Very few Kart racing games ever even come close to capturing half the magic of Mario Kart and even more of them are just flat out bad. Now, I love Kart racing games, especially Mario Kart, so I’ve played a lot over the years and I’d be lying if I didn’t say there have been quite a few that have stood out as more than just rip-offs. So, I’m counting down the top ten best Kart racing games, that are not Mario Kart. 

Review: Mario Kart 7

Those of us at Adamant Ditto have a long-standing appreciation for Mario Kart, as our group Wii outings can attest to. Most people would call Mario Kart DS the best entry in the series, and while I have a profound appreciation for that title, I'm afraid I'm the only person I've ever had contact with who keeps fonder memories of Double Dash. 

Still, it's hard to deny that Mario Kart DS was a tremendous leap forward for the franchise. It was the first game to feature an online mode as well as to include retro tracks, and even its original tracks are some of the best in the series. It featured a robust Mission Mode with actual boss battles (!) and, hands-down, the best single-cart multiplayer on the DS.

So how does Mario Kart's next portable title hold up?

VGM of the Week #5

Josh here, with my choice of VGM this week!

I've decided to go with a tune from a game that's being released and sold as I type this, Mario Kart 7!

Now, keep in mind that I haven't played this game yet, so this may not be the best Music Track in the game, but here it is, my choice this week:


Mario Kart has a Special place in Adamant Ditto's Heart, especially since the addition of Wi-Fi in Mario Kart DS. Since Mario Kart DS' release, we've been racing together, and I know that will continue with the release of Mario Kart 7.

Mario Kart Madness Strikes Back Videos Are Up

Did you miss our second Mario Kart Madness? Well, for shame. But don't worry, we recorded it so you can watch all of it on our Youtube channel. The first video is located below, the rest you can find in the video section in our Mario Kart Madness playlist. It was good fun and we appreciate everybody who showed up.

Mario Kart Madness Strikes Back

Yes, we're doing another one already. The last one was just so fun and pretty successful, so why not try for two? All of us here at Adamant Ditto want to do another so we're doin' it. So join us this Friday at 8 PM EST for Mario Kart Madness Strikes Back.

Oh and here's a dorky announcement video I made.

Mario Kart Madness Videos are Up

Hey, did you miss our first Mario Kart Madness? Well that's okay, because we've put the videos up on Youtube. We had a blast playing Mario Kart Wii with you guys. It was such a success, we plan to do it again sometime in the near future, so be on the look out for that. For now, enjoy the videos of last nights show.

And sorry for the low quality, we did rip it right from our stream after all. But don't worry, the laughs are still plentiful.





That's just part 1, you can find the rest over on our Youtube channel. There's also a link for it now in the videos section. So click on this here fancy button and it'll take you right to the playlist.

Mario Kart Madness TONIGHT

So anyway, join us tonight at 8 PM EST and we'll be playin' some Mario Kart Wii. Hook us up with your friend code if you wish to join. Should be a grand ol' time had by all.

And uh yeah.

The Ten Worst Mario Characters to Ever be Playable

Over the course of his 30 years in video gaming, Mario has made a lot of friends and a lot of enemies. So like any normal human being, he enjoys spending time with these people. Sometimes he likes to golf with them, maybe shoot some hoops or even throw a pretty crazy house party. Whatever he’s doing that day, Mario always has a colorful gang of characters to join him.

It's better than doing math.

But sometimes he makes some pretty dumb decisions when making up the guest list for these events. Doesn’t he ever stop to think that maybe those of us at home don’t want to go kart-racing as Baby Peach? Or lobby some tennis balls as Donkey Kong Jr.? Yes, the Mario universe has a great and varied bundle of characters but not all of them deserve to be playable. So I’m taking a quick look at the ten worst offenders. This is my list of the Worst Playable Mario Characters. 

But before we begin, I do want to get this out of the way now; no third party characters are on this list. Yes, I know Mario played basketball with Cactuar. I also know he once raced against some Tamagotchi thing. And yes, he has snowboard and jumped hurdles with Silver the Hedgehog. I know. But none of them are on this list. I’m looking specifically at Mario universe characters. Just because Bomberman once fought against Wario does not make him a Mario character. So without further delay, let’s start the list.

And you thought I was making the Tamagotchi thing up.

Matt's Top Ten Favorite Mario Kart Tracks

When it comes to video games, Mario Kart has to be the most prominent and important series in my life. Mario Kart 64 was the first Nintendo game I owned and was the whole reason I ever got into Nintendo as much as I did. It’s also the main reason I met everybody I’m great friends with today. If it wasn’t for my love for Mario Kart, I never would have joined my first internet message board, Mario Kart Central, and I never would have met the person who would lead me to meeting all the people I am currently associated with today. Mario Kart means more to me than any other video game ever could. Hell, my internet handle was Toadkarter for many years. Needless to say, I frickin’ love Mario Kart.

One of my favorite aspect of the Mario Kart series is it’s incredible track design. Nintendo has such a way with creating unique, fun and often times challenging levels and stages, so it makes sense that same creative genius would spill over into Mario Kart’s tracks. Whether avoiding boulders on Choco Choco Mountain or launching off of tree branches in Maple Treeway, the Mario Kart series simply can’t be beat when it comes to track design. So today, I’m counting down my top ten favorite Mario Kart tracks. It’s pretty difficult to narrow down over 90 tracks to just ten, but I’m going to attempt to do it the best I can.

Admittedly, this is still the best racing game with Pac-Man in it

Now before I begin, I just need to get this out of the way; there are no courses on the list from the SNES or Gameboy Advance entries of the series. The tracks in those games are mostly boring and just don’t stand out very much. It’s not really Nintendo’s fault, the game consoles they were working with just weren’t powerful enough to handle any truly wacky tracks that weren’t just…flat. Sure, Super Circuit has some cool ones like Cheese Land or Ribbon Road, but those are purely aesthetic. The tracks are still flat and boring. Likewise, there’s no tracks from either of the arcade entries on the list either. Partially because I’ve only played each of those games a few times, but also because the tracks in that game are pretty boring too. Racing through Diamond City from WarioWare is pretty cool, but look at the map in that screenshot there. It’s boring and uninspired. So no Arcade games this time around. Feel free to disagree, though. Anyway, let’s start the list.