Mario to swing his way to Wii baseball game

Redmond (WA) - Nintendo announced this week that it is working on a new Mario game for the Wii, this time pitting him in a baseball diamond with a whole slate of other Nintendo characters.

Mario Super Sluggers will be the latest in Mario’s growing library of sports games, which includes Mario Kart, Mario Strikers and Mario Golf.

Baseball is included in the Wii pack-in game Wii Sports. Using the Wii Remote as a virtual bat has proven to be one of the most intuitive sports game controls for the console’s motion sensing technology.

That same kind of control scheme will appear in Mario Super Sluggers. The game will feature "interactive baseball action with eccentric characters and elements from across the popular Mario universe," according to a Nintendo statement.

Mario appeared in his first full-fledged baseball title in 2005 with the Gamecube’s Mario Superstar Baseball.

Mario Super Sluggers will be available later this year.