New Wii Game Features 40+ Characters, Raucous Baseball Action

Today Nintendo is calling on its star player to step into the batter's box and hit one out of the park with the launch of Mario Super Sluggers. The new baseball game for the Wii console lets players use the Wii Remote controller to mimic motions they might experience on a real baseball diamond. Just swing the Wii Remote like a bat or make a pitching motion to throw a pitch. This wild, Mario-styled take on baseball includes more than 40 playable characters from the Nintendo universe, and players can even use their Mii characters in some modes.

"Mario Super Sluggers has enough depth for core gamers but also offers controls that are instantly accessible to everyone," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Mario Super Sluggers takes the fun into extra innings with cool characters, baseball-themed challenges and different control options for novice and experienced gamers."

The single-player mode lets players visit Baseball Kingdom, where they encounter characters with different baseball skills. Players must defeat them in a variety of challenges to persuade the characters to join their team - and the characters that people choose are important. Team captains can perform special moves on the field. For example, Mario can pitch a wicked fireball, while Luigi can turn infield hits into a tornado. Just as in the real world, some players play better together than others: Different character combinations result in good chemistry for a team. In the world of Mario Super Sluggers, this could result in amazing catches in the outfield or the ability to interfere with fielders.

Multiplayer modes let up to four people compete at once. In Toy Field mode, for example, up to four players compete in a hitting and fielding extravaganza. Or just choose your players and play an exhibition game against friends.

To celebrate the launch of Mario Super Sluggers, Nintendo is giving the characters in the game the big-league treatment by creating a series of special baseball cards. These online cards can be found on a variety of Web sites and collected by users on a special album site. Pairing some players together creates a "Double Play" that unlocks bonuses like game videos and screensavers. Just as with real-life baseball cards, fans can collect multiple versions of the same card and trade them online for other cards they need. The more cards a person collects, the more bonuses and secrets they can unlock.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

For more information about Mario Super Sluggers, visit  www.MarioSuperSluggers.com.