http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?url=http://www.jeux-france.com/news24125.html&lp=fr_en&tt=url
We implied yesterday a date of exit for April and it proves that we were in truth since Mario Kart Wii will leave on April 10 to Japan. Nintendo thus reveals us the first images and information:

- the motor bikes will be usable in Coupe mode.
- the motor bikes can use the action special "Wheelie".
- a Wi-Fi mode with 12 players
- the possibility of playing with its Mii

Lastly, level races, should once again find to us 16 new races and as much of remakes of the old circuits. Among the latter, the many ones were already confirmed like Waluigi Stadium (Game Cube), Mario Circuit (Nintendo 64), Yoshi Falls (DS) or Ghost Swamp 2 (Super Nes).

UPDATE: Here of new images.
(Source: Famitsu)

If there's one thing that bugs me about this game it is that, despite the criticism surrounding MKDS, Nintendo have yet again implemented 'snaking' in this game.

And the fact that half the tracks are ports of tracks already seen in other Mario Kart games, doesn't please me in the slightest.

You could at least--y'know--actually WAIT until the game comes out before ruling that half the tracks are rehashed from the previous games.

Also, Nintendo implemented snaking... wut?

How come the graphics look like shit?

I'm one of those people who prefer tracks based on original ideas, rather than having rehashes of courses form previous games in the series. I'm not saying I don't like the game, but I wish those programmers and designers weren't so lazy.

As for snaking, it wouldn't be possible if they didn't program it in, so....

Or, they could just simply be:

A) Out of ideas
B) Saving ideas for future games
C) Unable to create them due to time constraints

You must love not using the turbo boost to get that extra bit of speed which could help you win the race. No wonder you hate it; you always lose because you can't use it.

How come the graphics look like shit?

If there's one thing that bugs me about this game it is that, despite the criticism surrounding MKDS, Nintendo have yet again implemented 'snaking' in this game.

And the fact that half the tracks are ports of tracks already seen in other Mario Kart games, doesn't please me in the slightest.

Going global with Mario Kart Wii

With Mario Kart Wii’s launch date of 11 April fast approaching, Wii owners are gearing up for a racing experience unrivalled by any other in the kart racing series. While the game introduces a slew of new features across the board, perhaps most eagerly awaited are its online options, which take the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection action found in Mario Kart DS to a whole new level.
In Mario Kart Wii you can go online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection by yourself or together with a friend playing on the same Wii console, and let the games begin! You can directly jump into online races with random players Worldwide, or opt for Continental if you prefer a challenge closer to home.

Then you will be placed in a new group of people looking for a match, or you will join an existing group. When the latter happens you will become a spectator of that group’s race currently in progress, as you wait for your turn to hit the track. With up to 12 players being able to battle or race on the circuits of the Mushroom Kingdom simultaneously, Mario Kart Wii is set to provide the biggest challenge in the series to date!

After swapping Friend Codes with other players, you will also be able to see how many of your mates are online, and choose to Create a Room or select Join Friend to gather in a room with your friends before you start your engines.
Once inside a room, the globe familiar from the Forecast Channel will highlight the location of all players present. This is where you can text chat with your friends by making a selection from dozens of predefined messages, letting you suggest exactly which kind of race you want to play: from Battle to Grand Prix, and from Team play to your circuit of choice. The Host then decides the race settings, but the track selection is based on the votes of all players combined.

Mario Kart Wii also allows you to install the Mario Kart Channel on your Wii console. This Channel lets you check up on a host of options without the need of inserting the Mario Kart Wii disc into your system.

The Ranking option lets you see your statistics for each track and compare your results to those of your Friends and other players worldwide, represented by their Miis. You’ll have the option of racing against the Ghosts of the best players, or improving your results gradually by taking on the Ghosts of rivals whose times are only slightly better than yours. Players can choose whether they want to share their Time Trial Ghosts with the rest of the world, allowing you to match your skills against the cream of the crop whenever you want.
Another all-new feature of this Channel are the Competitions, where Nintendo will on a regular basis invite players to speedy challenges similar to the Missions of Mario Kart DS. The Channel also allows you to check your ranking in running Competitions as well as Time Trials. You can also go here to register Friends and see if any of them are currently online.
There’s much more Mario Kart Wii to come, so stay tuned to the site for further updates!

Mario Kart Wii will be in shops 11 April, only on Wii.

Rosalina better be dang well in, as they said two secret characters have never been in a MK game before.

Is there a US release date yet btw?

Now my Gumshoe Mii actually has a real use >:D

Wait.... Miis can look like Gumshoe? DAMN!

You can improvise ;D

Go get a Wii. NOW.

I'm still a bit angry at this; we have to wait about half a year for Smash and the US have to wait 16 days for Mario Kart, it doesn't really seem fair.

Be a better market then.

We actually have Wiis around my house. I guess it's because there are a lot of people willing to buy one (especially all the old people that want to play Wii sports)

Why would you need to update a system to play a game on said system that meets the exact playing requirements of the game at hand? Seriously...

Mm.

At least they dropped the Double Dash crap. And snaking is sorta inevitable. You can't put something in (like turbo boosts) without someone abusing it. Then it catches on to everyone else. And turbo boosts have been in Mario Kart for ages =/