Mario Kart Wii pencilled in for pre-summer release

Mario may be making a

triple dent on the Wii charts

at the moment with the success of Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Party 8, but the plumber’s high-flying antics look set to receive a further boost next year with the confirmation of a Q1-Q2 ’08 arrival for Mario Kart Wii.

Not a huge amount is known about the racing sequel as of yet, but the news that one of the most popular ever racing series will be with us in Europe some time before the nights start drawing in is music to the ears of both hardcore and casual gamers alike.

On the downside, however, Nintendo’s latest release schedule makes no mention of Super Smash Brothers Brawl – which now looks set to arrive at July at the very, very earliest, despite it’s Q1 release in Japan and North America.

Other big hitting titles dated include Capcom’s highly rated Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure, which will be released on January 18th, and Nintendo duo Wii Chess and Donkey Kong Jet Race, which will arrive on January 18th and January 25th respectively.

February will bring with it Kuju’s Battalion Wars 2 on the 15th and Rising Star’s No More Heroes on the 29th. And expect the arrival of Sega Superstar Tennis the following month. Slightly more speculative is the release date of Konami’s Wii adaptation of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, which will be here some time between January and June.