On December 2nd we welcome the seventh instalment in the Mario Kart series, Mario Kart 7 on the Nintendo 3DS. For the first time players will have the ability to glide, drive underwater and customise their own vehicles with unlockable parts. And while the maximum number of players online has been reduced from twelve (as seen in Mario Kart Wii) to eight I doubt that will ruin the multiplayer enjoyment Mario Kart is known for. If anything it'll likely make online races even more competitive.

Little over a month after its release and after everyone has got to grips with the game, unlocking all the characters & courses, the N-Europe Mario Kart League will make its return in January 2012.

The Birth
Just over 3 years ago not long after Mario Kart Wii was released, one of our forum members (Dazzybee) came up with the idea for a weekly N-E Mario Kart tournament utilising the Wii versions online mode. It started off as just a bit of fun, but over the next few weeks, it became more and more competitive and eventually a league table was introduced to keep track of everyones weekly performance.

The format was simple, every Thursday Night, we played two league GPs and then on completion of those we would play some balloon battles & a team GP to finish the night. Over time rules were introduced, player of the month awards were handed out and the league got quite a following, all twelve slots were filled on the regular basis with up to five or sometimes six reserves waiting in the wings if any of the twelve couldn't make it. Claiming one of the twelve slots when the now iconic "Who's in?" was posted by the league host became an event itself.

Thursday Nights became the night you dare not miss out on and if you did, it made you even more determined to get one of the twelve slots the week after. Friendships & rivalries were made during the first year as we all recapped the night's events on the forums, pointing out how races were won & lost.

The Second Year � how could we top the first year? The 2009 season was hugely anticipated, how would we top the previous year? Lessons were learnt from the previous year and the league was much more organised from the start with a new points system introduced which made updating the league table much easier for players to follow.

The points system is as follows:
The total points you have gained from Grand Prix (GPs) are divided by the number of GPs you have taken part in, giving you your average. This is what determines your position in the league table, so if you do miss a league night, if won't affect your score but you will most likely change position in the league.

For example, if I scored the following points in 6 GPs: 32, 10, 19, 40, 16 & 19. I would have a total of 136 which would be divided by 6 giving me an average of 22.6.

You have to stay active to have a chance of winning the league as you couldn't win the league by taking part in say the first 5 nights then stop taking part as you would be moved to the 'Inactive Players' list once you had missed 5 nights in a row. New players were declaring their interest in taking part each week as word of mouth spread that if you missed Thursday Night, you missed a hell of a lot. Unfortunately work commitments meant Dazzybee played less and less so it was agreed I (Lostmario) would take over running of the league. One of the first things I did was introduce more theme nights to keep everyone interested in the league and to try to stop it becoming repetitive.

The second year of the League was a great success; we had built up a great following with eight/nine regulars playing and some newcomers joining each week.

The Third Year - where the FIFA World Cup wrecked everything
With the third year, as I was now firmly in charge of the league, I wanted to shake things up a bit. A new league table was introduced, theme nights were now every week with the "Who's in?" post now including a colourful guide to what courses, characters & vehicles needed to be used. The league had come on leaps and bounds from 2 years prior but at its core was still the league template originally created by Dazzybee.

The first five months went great, we had a mix of the regulars from the 2008/2009 seasons plus a few newcomers but in the summer the FIFA World Cup played havoc with organising the league nights. We never recovered and the league was soon cancelled due to lack of interest.

The Fourth Year � taking Mario Kart back to its roots
The league returned in 2011 and in an attempt to tempt some of the regulars from the 2008/2009 seasons to return, I shook things up a bit. I took Mario Kart back to its roots by making the league "Karts only", strangely this was met by a mixed reaction, some loved it but many hated it. I never quite understood the hatred but players had become accustomed to using Bikes as their vehicle of choice in the game.

The first few weeks went okay, numbers were up compared to the previous year but a lot of people had just grown bored of Mario Kart on the Wii, if one game needed DLC in the form of new tracks & new characters, this was it. The 2011 season ended prematurely in March due to poor numbers.

2012 � The League Shall Be Reborn
But now with a new Mario Kart game on the horizon, the N-E Mario Kart League will return, bigger and better on the Nintendo 3DS. As a tribute to the great times had on Mario Kart Wii the N-E faithfull organised one last N-E Mario Kart Wii Night as a kind of closing ceremony before the release of Mario Kart 7. This "Farewell Race" took place last Thursday November 25th to a great success, both in numbers of players and fun had by all.

With that we now look to the future and the begining of the 2012 N-E Mario Kart League. The first league on a new MK game and a new system to boot.

On Thursday 5th January 2012 at 8pm, shells will fly once again. Are you ready?

Keep your eyes on the N-E Forums in the Handheld Online Gaming boards for more details when the league thread becomes active. Or why not head there once you've picked up your copy of Mario Kart 7 if you are looking for players to set up some online races with in the general Mario Kart 7 Meet Up thread.

By N-E Forum Member & MK League Host Lostmario