Today was the Mario Kart Wii event at the Nintendo World Store. Anyone who was roaming around Rockefeller Center had a chance to get their hands on the title, get free swag and take part in a tournament, amongst other things. After getting detoured en route due to the MTA conveniently doing construction on tracks that I needed to take to get there (thanks, MTA) I had finally arrived at the Store.

For the most part, the event took place outdoors; an area that is frequented by NBC’s The Today Show was being used by the Nintendo World Store to give people a chance to play Mario Kart Wii a full day before its release. They had about a dozen Wii Station’s set up with two Wii Wheels per console, each Station having their own worker in attendance just incase anyone had inquires about the game. The workers were very informative and not just people hired to take up space; practices other retailers are notoriously known for.

Aside from the Wii Stations was a DJ booth and an area dedicated to the tournament. Those participating in tournament — and, I would later found out those who purchased the game today — received a free Mario Kart Wii t-shirt. Not too sure if it’s something I’d wear on the street, but a good collectible, nonetheless. The top prize were one of those Wii Stations I mentioned earlier which included in a flat screen television, Wii and Mario Kart Wii, of course.

As I roamed around the play area I asked a slew of people, mostly kids since they’re cute and less likely to think I’m a creepo, about the Wii Wheel. One girl I questioned said: “It was fun, but it took me awhile to get used to it.” And that was the general consensus about the Wheel; no one I asked disliked it, but none of them were “ZOMGZ” about it, either. After getting my hands on it I thought the same thing: a gimmicky, but necessary peripheral if you choose to use the Wii Remote over the other control schemes, which is what I plan on doing. The GameCube controller might be better for competitive racers, but I’ll be one of those “new technology adopters.”

To add to the fun, two celebrities were present at the event: Jason Priestly and Chance Crawford. Priestly was said to be there by Nintendo themselves, so I expected to see the former 90210 star present, but Chance was a surprise to me and, as expected, my girlfriend, who took all the pictures you see (thanks, Mel). Not too sure why Priestly was in attendance, he seemed more interested in other things — such as the woman from ESPN interviewing him — than Mario Kart Wii. He did give the game a test run for a few minutes, though. As previously stated, Chance was a surprise and seemed more interested in the game. I suppose it’s an age thing. Trying to get their opinions about Mario Kart was nearly impossible; both were either surrounded by their agents, spokespeople or, in Chance’s case, paparazzi.

After picking up my Mario Kart Wii License and the game I left. I came, I saw, and gave into the Wheel. Tomorrow, when the game goes on sale to all of the public, I’ll be picking up two more Wheels for family and friends. The event was a blast. It’s always a good time being around people who have the same interests as you and I advise anyone in the tri-state area who hasn’t already attended a Nintendo World Store party to check out the next one.

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