Nintendo, in a move that I can only imagine was designed specifically to stick it to their Wii army, has confirmed that there will be zero voice chat in the upcoming system seller (like the Wii really needs another one of those) Mario Kart Wii.

According to Nintendo of Europe, you will be allowed to text chat (because that’s convenient) by creating rooms for you and your friends, and you’ll even be able to text chat while waiting for other racers to join for online matches.

Nintendo also points out another function of Mario Kart Wii’s online functionality that will allow you to join in a friend’s race that is currently in play, allowing you to watch the race in progress while waiting for the next track to load.

Considering all the earth-shattering news over the past few days between EA & Take-Two, and Phil Harrison’s sudden departure from Sony, it’s nice to see that Nintendo is still screwing the pooch on online play. It gives everything a feel of normalcy again.

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