Mario Kart 7 on Nintendo 3DS will get a steering wheel peripheral

Oct. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- We’ve already seen the right analog stick cradle that is being released to support Monster Hunter 3G. At least that has a genuinely useful purpose and (hopefully) fits unobtrusively around your 3DS. But now the release of Mario Kart 7 will see a steering wheel peripheral made available too. That’s right, a steering wheel for your portable gaming unit to sit inside.
http://www.r4is.co.uk/
When Mario Kart Wii was released, a steering wheel made sense as you were holding a motion controller anyway, so why not make it into a steering wheel. On the 3DS though, it just sounds like it will be adding bulk and not much purpose.

Although not made by Nintendo, it has been officially licensed by them for Hori to manufacture and distribute. I assume your 3DS will sit inside it and Hori is placing larger L and R buttons on the wheel to allow for more comfortable control. You then tilt your 3DS to steer your kart.

I think I’m going to give this peripheral a miss. I like to keep my portable devices portable, and intend on losing many hours to Mario Kart 7 while out and about. Having to carry a wheel peripheral in my bag just doesn’t sound appealing to me.