I love me some Mario Kart: Wii

Photo by: Adam Melancon

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it on here - which means that I could've made this very post two months ago with nary a recollection of it - but, management at our company was wise enough to buy us a big screen TV with a Wii, a few games, furniture, snacks and cubicle walls to keep gameplay, relaxing and semi-private. All this was done to provide us a place to go during lunch or on a quick break to relieve stress and bond with each other...

To date we've had three wii tournaments (all take place on Fridays, with games lasting about 2-3 minutes). The first was wii bowling (I ended up in the Semi Finals), the second was Mario Kart: Wii, which I dominated, and the third was whatever that shooting game is in the Wii Play game (I dominated there as well). No matter what new game is introduced, I still go back to Mario Kart.

I probably spend 15 minutes a day (on my own time) playing Mario Kart, feverishly trying to beat the 150cc lightning cup - or whatever cup I've unlocked from the previous day. For the last couple of days, I've been playing the lightning cup... and it's tough.

On 150cc, the computer cheats like a Chinese olympic gymnastics team. You get out in front of the pack, they use a special item that targets the player in first place. When you think you're doing well, you're not. You're only a shell away from being in 10th place. They smack you with one item, then two other people smack you with other things as they fly by. It's frustrating, but ultimately just challenging enough to require obsessive daily play from me.

I mentioned that we rented it a while back, and that I beat on some kids online whose motor skills have yet to develop to elite functionality that has graced these hands and eyes. It's not fair, really... but that's no reason not to shame a toddler.

The game is still pretty hard to find (I've only checked Target and Wal-mart while grocery shopping), but I did find one a few weeks ago at Wal-mart... which ended up being our company copy (with 4 wheels!). So, I'm pondering whether to buy it again for the house. I'm not sure that I would enjoy it as much if I could play it all the time, or whether the work "fun zone" would have the same effect if I owned all the games that were there and could play them at any time.

It's quite a quandary. Will buying the game I like make me like the game I buy less? Maybe 15 minutes a day is the optimal time for continous enjoyment of Mario Kart: Wii...