The Gadgets Page

When I’m not playing my DS alone with Animal Crossing, all my group Nintendo DS time is spent with Mario Kart. I look back at myself from before a time when I owned anything by Nintendo. Would that girl understand the draw of Mario Kart? Could I explain to her how intensely fun it is? What would a conversation with her be like?

Laura of the Present: Oh man! You have GOT to get yourself a Nintendo DS!

Laura of the Past: Yeah, I know! I can’t wait to play that Brain Age game!

Laura of the Present: No, forget about that, seriously. You’ll play it religiously for a month and then quit. In fact, you’ll probably like Big Brain Academy better, but that’s another story.

Laura of the Past: Why do I need a DS then, smartie pants?

Laura of the Present: There’s this game called Mario Kart! It will totally…

Laura of the Past: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. It’s a racing game. We were going to buy it for Kristen on the Gamecube. It’s just a racing game. It can’t compare to Project Gotham or Colin McRae.

Laura of the Present: No, seriously. Mario Kart is WAY funner than either one of those.

Laura of the Past: Why?

I can tell she doesn’t believe me.

Laura of the Present: Because you can play against Stacey and Dan and Mike all at the same time. I think you can play eight people total. It totally rocks!

Laura of the Past: Everyone plays on my DS? How can you split a screen EIGHT ways?

Laura of the Present: No, listen to me. Mario Kart is THE reason that Mike, Stacey AND Dan are all going to buy DSes of their own. All four of you are going to play race after race against each other until your right thumb hurts so bad you can’t hold a pencil. Seriously, it’s THAT fun. They don’t split the screen, each of you can only see the race from your point of view on your screen. Remember how confused you get with the split screen because you realize halfway through the race that you’ve been looking at Mike’s car instead of your own. You won’t even remember that problem with Mario Kart. It’s that easy.

Laura of the Past: Umm…

I’m not convincing her. What can I tell her that will convince her that this game is MORE than awesome?!

Laura of the Present: You get to choose your character and your kart. The more you play, the more karts you open up.

Laura of the Past: Yeah, so what. I can do that with Project Gotham.

Laura of the Present: No, this is totally better. You get to be Toad!

Laura of the Past: I get to be a toad? What, like a frog?

Oh, man! How do I describe Toad to her? How do I describe that level of cuteness? He’s more than a mushroom. He’s Toad! I can’t do it!

Laura of the Present: Nevermind that!

What is the killer app? Oh yeah, the turtle shells!

Laura of the Present: You get to shoot Stacey with turtle shells…

Laura of the Past: I get to shoot Stacey?

She’s interested, now reel her in…

Laura of the Present: Yeah, Stacey, Dan and Mike. You get to trip them with banana peels, shoot them with shells, turn them into itsy-bitsy tiny karts that can fall through the mesh into the lava.

Laura of the Past: I get to push them into lava?

I’ve got her!

Laura of the Present: Yep! Plus, you can push them into water and outer space!

Laura of the Past: Outer space?

Oops! I went too far. She’s not buying the outer space thing. How could I describe Rainbow Ridge in a way that makes sense?! Oh man, there’s no way! Just drop it!

Laura of the Present: Yeah, but only on one race. That’s not important. The important thing is that you need to get yourself a DS.

Laura of the Past: Okay, I’ll buy one right now.

Laura of the Present: Nope. You gotta wait until they come out with the DS Lite because the screen is brighter. Don’t wait too long, though, ’cause then you’ll be tempted to buy the pink one. You don’t want to buy the pink one.

Laura of the Past: I hate pink.

Laura of the Present: You won’t hate this pink, trust me.

Laura of the Past: Now I KNOW you’re lying to me.