A clipping from the Official Nintendo Magazine that has found its way onto the Internet looked to have confirmed that Mario Kart Wii will include online play for up to 16 players as well as the chance to perform midair stunts. However, ONM has spoken out to detract their statement and make sure it is only taken as speculation

The snippets of information appear to be given away in a summary of the upcoming racer:

Question: which game gas been the most successful DS Wi-Fi Connection game to date? If you answered Mario Kart DS, then pat yourself on the back. It’s the game that launched the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection into the stratosphere and now Nintendo is looking to do exactly the same thing for Wii.

Mario Kart Wii is set to be the first game in the series to offer the addictive Battle Mode as an online option. Add to that the fact that you can now pull off stunts while you’re in the air and you’ve got a sure fire corker on your hands.

Did we mention online battles cater for up to 16 players? And the fact that the classic DS tracks will be re-created with Wii graphics? And the fact that, naturally, there will be a whole bunch of Wii-exclusive tracks too? Enough said

Stunts in the air and up to 16 players online then, eh? Nice! The magazine only mentions 16 players for the Battle Mode, so we’re not sure that will also apply to online grand prixs.

Still, exciting news in the run-up to Mario Kart Wii’s Spring 2008 release.

UPDATE:

“The details printed in Official Nintendo Magazine 21 regarding Mario Kart Wii were healthy speculation on our part and are in no way an official announcement from Nintendo. We are sorry if we have mislead anyone. We do not set out to mislead our readers. ONM apologises profusely for any misunderstandings that this has caused.”