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Many of us knew voice chat wasn't going to happen for the Wii, but when Nintendo confirmed text chat for MarioKart Wii, it reassured us. We had some form of communication with other players right? Well, at least we thought we did...

Nintendo of Europe recently stated to IGN:

"You can create rooms for friends to join and even text chat while you're waiting for other racers."

Many gamers took this as good news. After all, Mario Kart Wii is a game under high demand and communication with other players just made it even more fun. Well that's until it was revealed that this statement was a lie...

Nintendo of America recently informed us that the "text chat" isn't at all what it has been made out to be. Yes, there is still going to be text chat included in the title, but only pre-determined phrases can be sent to friends before a race begins. Probably phrases such as "let's race!" or "I hope I win". Basically, this means we won't even be able to chat in our own words.

I suppose this could be seen as bad news or good news. I know I'm disappointed with this as I would love to talk to online friends whilst playing. But I understand that by Nintendo giving players a choice of phrases it will prevent any insults or bad language being sent to others. At least this way Nintendo cannot receive any complaints.

On a more brighter note, those of you who enjoy having your friends round to play, here's some good news. Even though the wheel peripheral will be included as a bundle with MarioKart Wii, it is also going to be available to buy separately; which should enlighten those who enjoy multiplayer the most. Even though the Gamecube controller has been labelled as the favourite controller to use, there are still many out there who are looking forward to using the wheel peripheral. It will apparently be available to buy separately for around £6 from most stockists. If you play a lot of multiplayer, I'd definitely consider picking an extra wheel up at that price.

Written by: Natalie Wilson

I'd go with the cheaper package without the wheel, which I'd never use anyways. As for the voice chat I saw it in Ricky's post. Pity is all I can say.

Nice article Nat.

It's a shame about the lack of voice or text chat.

Oh my gawd, Nintendo you really are ghey. Nintendo even stopped EA Nation's text chat system. Now the whole thing is filled up with:

"Good game"
"Good game"
"Play again?"
"I'm going to win!"
"Good game"

That's just great. -.-'  Failure, once again. It wouldn't kill them to take a risk every now and then.

The company that supposively takes risks, has now become the safest company going.

*kisses xbox live headset*

So does this mean the game bundled with the wheel will cost more than $50?

Who knows and who even cares? If it costs more with the (useless) wheel then I'll look for the wheel-less copy.

I'd prefer it much more if they had the game available to buy separately aswell as in the bundle rather than the wheel being available to buy separately.

Anyone else annoyed at the fact that Nintendo has only given us pre-written text messages?

Yeppers. It's disappointing to say the least. I keep hoping for them to get it right. I still say add voice chat as an option or text chatting (real not this crap) and let Parental Controls be big brother and watch the kiddies.

Oh well to text chat. Things always seem too good to be true with Nintendo.

This is why I use my 360 for online play

*nurses left ear from loud kissing noise*