Nintendo announced today that Mario Kart Wii will arrive on April 27th. (http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/2369/206/)

The game comes with the intuitive Wii Wheel, which makes it easy for novices to compete against veterans. And with a broadband hookup to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, players can compete with up to 11 other drivers from around the world.

Mario Kart Wii will include 16 new courses and 16 classic courses from previous Mario Kart games. For the first time ever, players have the option of racing with either karts or motorbikes. Players can also hit the road as their personalized Mii caricatures in addition to the handful of classic Nintendo characters found in the game. True to the series, the game features tons of racing, plenty of power-ups and oodles of objects for players to use to slow down other drivers. And 10 battle arenas will keep players busy between trips around the circuit.


Mario Kart Wii launches with a new channel added to the Wii Menu to enhance game play: The Mario Kart Wii Channel. This new channel builds on the huge online community of Wii owners and lets players compete in tournaments, check worldwide rankings, see when their friends are playing and download ghost data.

Looking forward to this in our house!!!

Now I HAVE TO find a Wii. :)

Can't wait. Got my pre-order at the local EBGames last week (along with the pre-order for Wii-Fit)

Great news... Wait - that means it's going up against GTA IV?

Well, I guess MK will have to wait, but I'm glad it didn't take as long to get a MK game on the Wii as it did for the 'cube...

I'm excited about this one too... I've been looking forward to it for a long time. I wish it wasn't coming bundled with the Wii Wheel though -- I don't really want another piece of plastic lying around the living room.

I've never played it before. Does anyone know if you'll be able to play multi-player without using WiFi? It won't be so much fun for my kids if they have to watch Dad racing all the time :p.

It's definitely an offline multiplayer game as well. It's the kind of game that isn't that much fun with only one player.

I've never played it before. Does anyone know if you'll be able to play multi-player without using WiFi? It won't be so much fun for my kids if they have to watch Dad racing all the time :p.
Of course, up to 4 players local can race against each other. It's a fun game. The part I like the most is when I am behind someone, I can throw a turtle shell and knock them off and pass them!

We should have a Canadian Digitial Home Cup Race

Oooh, this could be loads of fun! Doubt it's enough to get me to buy a Wii though, but still, fun. :)

reminder to all that Mario Kart Wii arrives later this week.

Mario Kart is one of the few games that most Wii owners will buy. It'll be easy to pull together huge online races from my friends, especially because 2 can race online from one Wii.

I'm really looking forward to this one.

I pre-ordered mine last week from Futrueshop. Looking forward to playing this.

Mario Kart is one of the few games that most Wii owners will buy. It'll be easy to pull together huge online races from my friends, especially because 2 can race online from one Wii.

I'm really looking forward to this one.
I agree. I've owned a Wii since launch and this will be the 1st game I buy, I've been renting or borrowing games until now. Should be fun!

I'm curious as to how the "wheel" works compared to the remote/numchuk combo. At first look I thought it was just a plastic holder, like the tennis racket, but in reading about the game they implied a numchuk was required for non-wheel play. The deal I got included the game and wheel but I assume separate wheels will be available as add-ons.......I guess I'll know more it a few days when it arrives.

Similar to the above posts, this is the first game (other than sports and the sampler - I forget the name) that I've purchased. We don't play often and I don't have any other consoles, but this game look interesting enough to fork out my $40.

from the reviews it seems like the wheel actually lets you steer, whereas if your using the wiimote+nunchuck your using the joystick for the steering.

If it is like Xcite Truck you put the controller in sideways and you use the wheel to steer.

From Wikipedia:

Wii Wheel

Nintendo has revealed a Wii Wheel peripheral that is packaged with Mario Kart Wii, which was released in the second quarter of 2008.[65] Cartoony, stylized versions of the Wii Wheel are depicted within the banner of Nintendo's official E3 page for Mario Kart Wii. As shown there, a button protrudes from the back of the Wii Wheel, which has a large, encircled Wii logo at its middle, although this has no function.[68] The Wii Wheel has a hole on the right side in the back to allow use of the wrist strap while the Wii Remote is attached to the accessory, and to make removing the remote from the wheel easier. It would also allow the user to use the pointing function of the Wii Remote while it is in the peripheral. The Wii Wheel can also be used for Excite Truck, Need for Speed: Carbon and other games that share its control configuration.

A single Wii Wheel is packaged with Mario Kart Wii, but more can be bought separately.[69]



By the sounds of that the wheel only acts as a holder for the remote. I ordered three more from dealextreme so the whole family can race!!

I think the wheel will be fun, but a little harder in more competitive races. When you play online, a wheel icon appears over players using the wheel control, and that wheel is gold if you've used it a lot. There's some pride among the European players about winning with the wheel.

I'm going to try the wheel, but I don't know how loyal I'll be to it if I'm always in last. The Wii-mote and nunchuck combination seems to be the choice of most reviewers.

Got it this morning and bought an extra wheel ($12). It works well and the kids are having a great time. So much so that I haven't had a chance to play it yet.