March 07, 2008 - Nintendo Australia has announced that Mario Kart Wii will be making its way to Australia on April 24, 2008, two weeks after its debut in Japan and fellow PAL region, Europe, on April 10 and 11 respectively.

The game will be available at the typical $99.95 retail price, bundled with the Wii Wheel, making the game simple for everyone to pick up and play no matter what experience they've got. And as has been previously announced, four additional control schemes will be on offer: the Wii Remote on its side, Wii-mote / Nunchuk combination, Classic Controller and GameCube controller.

Like Mario Kart DS before it, tracks from past games will be revisited, with 16 classic race tracks from Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS, Super Nintendo and Gameboy Advance, as well as 16 entirely new ones and 10 battle arenas.

New characters and the ability to play as your own Mii will also be on offer, along with new weapons and vehicle options -- it's not only karts, but motorbikes this time around, making manoeuvres like 'wheelies' a reality.

Up to 12 players from around the world can race simultaneously, and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection allows players to see whether friends are playing, create rooms and use the chat option to send messages prior to a race. Spectator options are also available, and of course, classic four-player local multiplayer action will be too.

The Mario Kart Channel will launch alongside the game, letting players monitor their worldwide ranking, share Ghost Data and access other special features and become involved in a global Mario Kart Wii racing community.