Mario Kart Wii zooms into North America in April

There are only seventeen days between the worldwide debut of Mario Kart Wii in Japan and its corresponding launch in North America. We get Mario Kart Wii on April 27. On the same day Nintendo will also release the Mario Kart Wii Channel, which lets players join tournaments, see when their friends are online, browse the worldwide rakings and (most importantly for me) grab ghost data.

Similar to the product launch in Japan, Nintendo will sell extra Wii Wheels in North America for an undisclosed price. But why bother with a plastic shell? Mario Kart Wii is compatible with the remote/nunchuck combination, the Classic Controller and the trusty Gamecube controller.