Nintendo has confirmed the release date for Mario Kart Wii for the US as two weeks after us European folks will see the game.

April 27th is when American gamers will be able to send shells flying as they gun their engines in karts and (for the first time) on bikes. That's 16 days after the recently confirmed European release date of April 11th.

Call us smug, but it's nice to see a high profile title hitting Europe before it reaches our friends on the other side of the Atlantic for once. Alas, we can't extend our smugness to the Japanese release, given that Mario Kart Wii will launch on April 10th in the land of the rising sun.

"Mario Kart Wii transforms one of our most popular franchises into a race that every member of the family can join", uttered Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive VP of Sales and Marketing. "Driving with the Wii Wheel could not be more natural, and this is one place where speeding is encouraged."

You can find more details and oodles of screens over on SPOnG's dedicated game page.