Thursday, November 17, 2011

Tell me if you've seen this before

Speaking of the Gay Geeks and Gaymers tumblog, I just saw the Mario Kart-inspired t-shirt design below (order shirts bearing the design here) while scrolling through it.

Nintendo should have included one of these shirts with every copy of Mario Kart Wii, don't you think? Or would it have hit too close to home for players of that game?



Regardless, it's certainly an image I can relate to--since I've been eviscerated by many a blue shell while playing the last entry in the Mario Kart series.

Hopefully I'll have better luck while playing Mario Kart 7, which will hit store shelves around the world in just a few weeks. (Pre-order the North American version here.)

10 comments:

famicomfreak said...

Honestly, I wish they would take that stupid turtle shell out. Bleh!

Bryan Ochalla said...

I pretty much agree, Famicom Freak. The other power-ups do plenty of damage, IMO -- and the blue shell tends to do *too much* damage!

Viewtiful_Justin said...

That's an amazing image. I had it on my blog a week or so ago...

And it's not so much the blue shell that gets to me...it's the asshole CPU that rides by and punches you off the track and into an abyss right afterwards...

Bryan Ochalla said...

You posted this on your tumblog, Justin? Damn, I guess I haven't been to it in a while. I wonder if the guys at Gay Geeks and Gaymers got it from you??

Anyway, YES, the problem isn't necessarily the blue shells, it's the CPU-controlled characters along with them. UGH!

The Dark Rift said...

Hello there sir! nice blog! =D hope you can visit mine also and follow back! keep it up !

i always wondered what this "gay gamer blog" is all about. cool

http://8-bit-dreams.blogspot.com/

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, Dark Rift! Thanks for visiting. I like the name of your blog and I'll definitely check it out shortly :)

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Oh, and BTW, I got over 90% of my hatred toward Mario Kart Wii. I came home from work and some friends were playing it with Robb, and I thought, "You know what? That looks fun again." And I promptly blew through the 150cc tracks and won golds on all but 1...still working on that. But I unlocked Daisy finally!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, that's great news, Justin! I understand why you got so pissed at the game, BTW. I developed similar feelings toward the game for a while thanks to the "cheap AI" that does its best to ruin the later stages of the game. That said, I absolutely can't wait to give the 3DS version a try. It looks amazing!

Random J said...

I love that image! *lol*

The blue shell has become such a signature and staple part of Mario Kart now, that I don't think Nintendo will remove it. The T-shirt signifies it's iconic status, whether we love it it hate it.

Part of me likes that it puts a bit of fear in whoever is in first place and that it can completely change the dynamic of a race. But another part of me hates how overpowered it is and that it seems easier to acquire with each Mario Kart game that comes out. It was so RARE in Mario Kart 64 and there was also no guarantee it would even hit the person in 1st place. But now, you could be in 4th or 6th place and get it frequently.

Nintendo either need to make the blue shell harder to get or put an option in the game which allows you to race with that item switched off.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Hey there, J! Yeah, I agree with you: It's far too iconic for the folks at Nintendo to remove it from the MK games entirely. I do think, as you do, though, that they could make it harder to get. Also, I much prefer the way it used to work (skimming across the ground rather than flying through the air) to how it works now. The good news, of course, is that I'm pretty sure the blue shell included in MK7 harks back to the olden days and skims across the ground.