Codemasters® has finally announced the worldwide street dates for the long-awaited first ever official Formula 1 racing game on the Wii™. The title is due to ship in the US on November 17^th, with PAL territories having to wait two more days until November 19^th. Even worse, rabid UK petrol-heads will have to wait until November 20^th to see current British F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton appear for the first time ever in a video game, while the poor Formula 1-crazy Japanese fans won’t be getting their hands on F1 2009 until December 18^th. What makes this release particularly exciting for Wii™ owners is the fact that they get to experience an official Formula 1 racing game many months before the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions hit the streets.

F1 2009 promises to offer an authentic recreation of the current 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, including licences for all drivers, teams, cars and tracks from the 2009 season. We can’t wait to see if it actually lives up to that promise. PAL and UK territories will also get the added bonus of a limited edition F1 2009 bundle, containing the exclusive white Race Wheel which, when fitted with the Wii™ remote, should provide players with an even more authentic experience, but without all that nasty crashing business. If that hasn’t whetted your appetite enough, take a look at these trailers on the official game site. Yum.