Nintendo Releases Mario Kart Downloadable Content

A new battle arena has been released for Wii title Mario Kart Wii, becoming one of the first ever pieces of downloadable content for an existing title on a Nintendo home console. The small arena has been released as part of an online tournament for the game and features a simple circular design where players are challenged to knock four “Spikey Topmen” (spinning top-like enemies first featured in Super Mario Galaxy) off the edge in as short at time as possible. The challenge can only be played in tournament mode, not in the standard multiplayer modes, and is available alongside downloadable “ghost” time trial cars for users to compete against. Extra downloadable content of a type now commonplace on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are an atypical addition for the Wii, likely due to its limited internal storage space. MTV Games and Harmonix have chosen, for instance, to release new tracks for Rock Band in the form of new retail 'track pack' discs. Nintendo has hinted of a “solution” to this issue for frequent downloaders, although to date rumors of an optional hard drive have been repeatedly denied by the company.