On the Nintendo Wii website there is an extremely large article explaining the history behind Mario Kart Wii. Most of the information is just little silly facts, like that the Gamecube version nearly had BMX bikes and how Mario Kart Wii was almost Mario Kart X (for extreme, of course). Most interesting is the bevy of redesigns the Wii wheel went through before deciding on the final version.

All of the designs were basically the same, with the intent to house the remote so it felt more like holding an actual wheel. Different colors, sizes, and styles were tried in order to get the best feel. Eventually they left it white to match the Wii, made it light to enable long play sessions, and made it small to match a normal go kart wheel. The full article is worth a read if you are looking forward to the game, and above are some images of the wheel prototypes. I figure I will just end up using the remote sideways, like I did with the fantastic Excite Truck, but who knows.

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