Mario Kart Wii Dated News

Nintendo has announced that Mario Kart Wii, one of its major releases for 2008, will be released in Europe on April 11th. While it was previously known that the game would have a Q2 2008 release, gamers will certainly be licking their lips at the prospect of playing it this early in the quarter.

Fans of the series will be glad to hear that Mario Kart Wii's selection of tracks will follow the winning formula of Mario Kart DS. There will be 16 all-new tracks as well as 16 classic tracks taken from various Mario Kart games in the series, which has spanned over 15 years.

Online races will support up to 11 players and it's certainly a little strange that Nintendo has landed on this unconventionally uneven number. Previous reports from Nintendo's Fall Conference last year had suggested that there would be 12 player online races. This missing player slot is sure to remain a mystery - perhaps it got lost in the Koopa Troopa Beach tunnel shortcut. Offline multiplayer will be the usual 4 player affair.

Further online features come from the Mario Kart Channel, which will be available as a Wii Channel upon the game's release. Rankings, worldwide events organised by Nintendo, the ability to share Ghost data, and pre-race voice-chat will all be provided on the channel.

As has been known for a while now, bikes will be a new feature for the Mario Kart series in this Wii iteration. It seems that one of the trade-off features of these bikes is that players can gain boosts by performing wheelies, which sounds like quite a similar dynamic to Mario Kart 64's Powerslides.

Players will also have the opportunity to import their Mii characters into races, while Nintendo has also confirmed some all-new characters to the Mario Kart starting grid, as well as the return of old favourites.

As for control options, Nintendo will be bundling a Wii Wheel with the game, which is basically a plastic steering wheel with a cavity in the back for the Wii Remote. Alternatively, players can simply hold the Wii Remote horizontally to control their kart/bike, opt for the Nunchuk and Remote control setup, or plug-in their Classic and Gamecube controllers for old-skool fun.

"Mario Kart Wii is an eagerly anticipated launch for Europe and we are confident that all those who have enjoyed playing previous Mario Kart games, in particular the Nintendo DS version, will be pleased and looking forward to its arrival," said Laurent Fischer, Managing Director of Marketing and PR at Nintendo Europe.

"Mario Kart Wii encompasses the core spirit of Mario Kart: an incredibly rich and deep gameplay experience that provides never ending fun. And with the Wii Wheel, every member of the whole family will feel comfortable to join in and experience kart racing regardless of whether they are a karting champion or a complete new beginner," he continues. "With the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service also allowing friends and family to compete around the globe, we are confident that Mario Kart fans won't be left disappointed with this installment exclusively on Wii."

One final piece of information to slot into this crammed piece of news: there will be a total of 10 Battle Arenas in the shipped game.