Coming out on August 25, 2008 (and available NOW for pre-order) is Mario Super Sluggers - if you’ve played Wii Sports, then you’re all ready to go with this upcoming title.  Players will use the same motions from Wii Sports Baseball to throw and bat, and the game promises to be yet another bridge between old hat gamers and those new to Wii gaming.

We’re making no judgements here at WeKnowWii.com, but when will someone come out with a game where it actually takes some skill to catch the ball?  We will undoubtedly play and probably enjoy this title, of course.

Direct from the Nintendo Press Room:

Mario™ Super Sluggers stars the ever-lovable Mario and his crew of friends. It builds on the social-gaming fun and movements people learned in Wii Sports™ and turns them into a full-fledged baseball game that can be played by every member of the household. Players make a throwing motion with the Wii Remote controller to pitch the baseball and make a swinging motion to swing at the pitch. The game boasts more than 30 playable Nintendo characters and all the madness of a Mario sports game. Just like Mario Kart® Wii, it bridges the gap between experienced players and those new to the Wii console, with fun challenges and beautiful graphics.

Check out some screenshots:

Mario Kart Wii is coming in the second quarter of 2008 (we hope sooner than later in the Spring) - and Sterling McGarvey over at Gamespy.com has provided a good preview post of what we can expect to see from this very anticipated release. Support for 12 players online, a Mario Kart Channel on the Wii, and ridiculously versatile controls are all very positive points as we see it. An excerpt from Sterling’s article over at GameSpy:

There’ll be three new power-ups as well. The POW item looks like the old POW box from the original Mario Bros., and as in that arcade classic it causes havoc on the stage. If you’re in, say, fifth place, the POW will cause every car that’s ahead of you to spin out and lose control. The Lightning Cloud is even more devastating; it’s like a mixture of the Golden Mushroom and “hot potato.” You’ll get huge boosts of speed for a limited time, but as the clock ticks, you run the risk of being hit by lightning, which shrinks your kart. Fortunately (for you, not your fellow racers), you can pass the Lightning Cloud around to other people when you bump into them and leave someone else to deal with the consequences. Finally, there’s the Giant Mushroom, which, just like in New Super Mario Bros., allows you to super-size yourself and leave a trail of turmoil in your wake.

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I’ve gotten a lot of really positive comments from coworkers about how much fun this game is, and how if you’re a Sonic and Mario fan, this is a must have game. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games for Wii is apparently a pretty big crowd pleaser, from the 59 reviews that were posted at Amazon. I have a feeling we’ll be picking this up sooner or later and giving an in-depth review.