Nintendo has announced that the much anticipated Mario Kart Wii, will be released in North America on April 27th, 2008. The game will arrive with the Wii Wheel peripheral and those gamers with a broadband connection, can compete with up to 11 other drivers from around the world for racing dominance.

Mario Kart Wii will include 16 new courses and 16 classic courses from previous Mario Kart games and 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.

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.