Mario Kart Wii's online play -- a perspective

I told them I was going to wait a week while I practiced the courses. I didn't want to play online immediately and have about 25 "noob losses."

Well, after three days with the game, and hours of frustration unlocking the remainder of the courses, karts and characters (seriously, we're entering "Battletoads" toughness), I tried online play.

After about 30 minutes, I was disconnected. But I 

enjoyed most of the 30 minutes I played (aside from the nine second-place finishes, or else I'd be jumping for a 70-0 record).

Nintendo did its online play right with M.K. Wii. Yes, I've only played 30 minutes, but I've had no problems other than being disconnected by the game. Other observations:

* -- Maybe its because the game is out today that there are a lot of people, but I had no problem finding a match. Initially, you'll see who you're pitted against, and then you have to wait for their match to end before you can join in (think of it like a pick-up basketball game).

* -- The process to select the track is really nice, much better than M.K.D.S. Even if 11 people pick Coconut Mall and you pick Mario Circuit, the roulette can still bounce to Mario Circuit. 

* -- The streaming is really well. I still wish the races were on 150cc, but oh well.

* -- Items are still named B.I. Itch. However, in a four-player match, it's not as hectic as it is in a 1 vs 11 cpus match. Seems as though the game treats fourth place in a four-player race as though you're in fourth (red shells, 1 mushroom) instead of last (mega mushroom, star, lightning).

* -- I can't understand the versus rating, and I won't begin to try. You start out with 5,000 points, and as long as you finish in the top half of a race, you'll be OK.

The only things left for me to explore are the Mario Kart Channel, and battle mode. Those should be fun as well.