A rumor has started up based on some pretty flimsy evidence, but it's exciting enough to report. This magazine image was captured and shared online. It contains the insanely tantilizing information that Mario Kart for the Wii is coming soon and will have 16 player online battle mode!

Since the Super Nintendo version of Mario Kart the franchise has been one of the most beloved and fun console series in the world. The controls are spot on, you can play as your favorite character from Nintendo's history, and there is a learning curve that pushes the replay value through the roof. Battle mode has allowed direct head to head fighting between up to four players simultaneously until this point. It's unquestionably one of the greatest party games in history. The thought of being able to play Mario Kart online without having to be presentable is enough to make many gamers think they died and went to heaven.

Nintendo has repeatedly teased us with the possibility of online play for our favorite games. Smash Brawl for example was supposed to have an online aspect, and many of us were ready to quit our jobs to play 24/7. Then after a lot of Wiis had moved off the shelves they retracted that announcement, throwing a lot of us Smash fans into a trainspotting type withdrawal and denial routine. Now we have the possibility of online Mario Kart making us once again think "hey, maybe there really is a God."

I refuse to believe Nintendo is incapable of creating online capabilities for the Wii, and I seriously wonder what they are doing that Smash lost it's online play. They obviously figure Smash Brawl will sell millions, and then they can just come out with the online capable version very shortly after and sell another batch of millions of copies of virtually the same game. They actually have a disinscentive to make online work for Brawl, because it would ruin this cash cow mechanic. The other option is that Nintendo inc. doesn't grasp the internet? They can't make online work? They aren't as smart as the people who made X-box Live? It's 2007 people, they can obviously make online work for the Wii if they wanted. The only thing preventing it right now is that they make more money this way. It's like when you buy a DVD right at release and then 3 weeks later there is a "special edition" version sitting there.

We can only hope this article is true and Mario Kart launches with online battle mode. Having it not pan out to be true and just be another marketing scam would be extremely dissapointing and more than a little bit upsetting. Once there is a huge online game for Wii there will be no excuse for any great game to not have the option included.