This morning at its spring media summit Nintendo announced the launch of a new Mario sports game. Mario Super Sluggers is to arrive in Japan sometime in June and everywhere else "later this year."

Much like Nintendo’s arcade take on soccer with Mario Strikers Charged last year, the up-coming Mario Super Sluggers will give you a new vision of baseball.

According to Nintendo's Bill Trinen, the control is similar to that of Wii Sports for both both pitching and batting. Pitching can be done with a standard throwing motion and players can also throw curved balls by twisting the Wii remote.

"We're the only gaming company in the world with a controller you can play with a major wrist injury," recently-installed Nintendo sales & marketing executive VP Cammie Dunaway said. A supercharged attack can be used by players in order to distract or hinder opponents.

Several characters will make special appearances in the game: Princess Peach, Wario, Bowser, Shy Guy, Baby Mario, Koopa Troopa, Donkey Kong, and others, each of them carrying a different hitting device.

Last year Nintendo has showed its commitment to bring casual gaming to the masses by announcing the company’s intention to have more than 35 million Wii owners worldwide by 2012.