In the lead up to the E3 convention this week,Japan's Nikkei newspaper, a usually reliable source for anything Nintendo related, has confirmed the inevitable news that Wii Fit Plus is currently in development.

Due for release this year, probably in the run up to the busy Christmas period, Wii Fit Plus will take advantage of Wii Motion Plus, so it should feature better sensitivity than its predecessor. Nikkei also confirms an online component that will allow friends and family to compete and compare stats.

The newspaper also reports that a new Mario game is in development, which will also be released this year. No details have been given, but its expected that Nintendo will reveal the new title at the E3 convention which begins on June 2.