"It's not the most surprising announcement at E3, but it certainly is one of the most anticipated by Nintendo fans. Nintendo announced Mario Kart Wii. Nintendo's seminal arcade racer is finally bringing its shell-slinging, kart-driving action to the Wii."

One of the big things that stuck out to me is that Nintendo has confirmed at its E3 conference that the Wii version of Mario Kart will feature online racing as well as online battle mode.Thats a change from all Mario Kart games. Hopefully this impresses everyone...

Anyway, I'll will be updating this thread periodically with updates on the game. So far I have screenshots, videos and little information about Mario kart Wii, although not much as been released from Nintendo. So be sure to check daily for updates.




Mario Kart is a series of Nintendo racing games that feature characters from the Mario video game franchise. Mario Kart differs from many other racing games in that it does not seek to accurately simulate real world karts, driving conditions, or physics, making Mario Kart particularly easy to learn.



All control schemes have been confirmed.

Reggie has announced that Mario Kart Wii will have something packaged in with it. The Wii Wheel. The Wii mote will be placed in the Wii Wheel and locked in place. So once you turn on the game, you feel like a real racer with the steering wheel.

For advance players, you can also use the Wii mote/Nunchuck combo, the Classic or the GC controller. You can also use the Wii mote exclusively.

Here are a few screenshots of the Wii Wheel:



Here are the tracks that we know of:


Characters:

Mario
Luigi
Peach
Yoshi
Toad
Bowser
Wario
Waluigi
Koopa Troopa
Baby Mario
Baby Luigi
Baby Wario (???)
Donkey Kong
Boo (maybe unlockable)
Baby Peach

Miis are also confirmed to be playable.

Tracks:


Mushroom Cup
Luigi Circuit
Moo Moo Meadows
Mushroom Gorge
Toad's Factory

Flower Cup
Mario Circuit (NEW)
Coconut Mall
DK Summit
Wario's Gold Mine

Shell Cup
Peach Beach(MKDD)
Yoshi Falls(MKDS)
Ghost Valley 2(SMK)
Mario Raceway(MK64)

Banana Cup
Sherbert Island(MK64)
Shy Guy Beach(MKSC)
Delfino Square(MKDS)
Waluigi Stadium(MKDD)

(Cups Unknown)
Baby Mario Meadows
Mario Circuit(SMK)
DK Mountain(MKDD)
Luigi's Mansion (pending name)
Rainbow Road
Retro Raceway (pending name)
Moo Moo Farm (revamped)

Modes:

12-Player Online and Local Racing
Online and Local Battle Mode featuring Balloon Battle and Coin Runner
Mirror Mode
Mission Mode

Other Info:

- Online league and a global world ranking
- Local Rankings
- Channel for online aspect
- Send and receive time attack scores online, online ranking for time attack as well
- Upload/download Ghosts
- 4 player split screen local play and 2 player split screen online play
- 3 karts and 3 bikes per character
- 50cc = karts only. 100cc = bikes only. 150cc = both karts and bikes
- Some items only exclusive to karts, some exclusive to bikes.

Video of MKWii:

YouTube - Mario Kart Wii - Video, Images and Analysis


Release Dates:



United States Release:April 28th 2008
European Release:April 11th 2008
Australia Release: April 24th 2008

Full E3 Mario Kart Wii Video:

Gametrailers.com - Mario Kart Wii - E3 2007 Nintendo Press Conference Presentation

Mario Kart Wii 12 Karts not 8:

YouTube - Mario Kart Wii 12 Players?????

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