Mario Kart Wii Detailed, Release Date Still Hazy

Apparently Nintendo is finally catching on when it comes to Western gamers. With the Nintendo DS, we've found a surprising glut of excellent online play and soon we'll have Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, in addition to the few online enabled games already available. Now you can add one more to the list: Mario Kart Wii.

Famitsu reportedly got the inside story from Nintendo about Mario Kart Wii in the latest issue. Here's the deal....

Online Situation: "[Nintendo] would attempt to streamline the matchmaking process in Mario Kart Wii." (says Satoru Iwata)
Gameplay: New mid-air tricks as well as a landing boost if timed correctly
Modes: 16-player online matches, 4-player local split-screen and downloadable ghost race history.

Even furthermore, there are purportedly 32 tracks, 16 of which are brand new. We here at QPHQ don't speak much Japanese, so luckily our friends at IGN went through the translating for us. What the translation did not find, however, is an exact release date for this side of the Pacific. Looks like Spring '08 will have to do for now. But hey, we have Brawl in March! Woo!