Play Mario Kart Wii in your very own inflatable kart

CTA Digital has unveiled one of its largest Wii accessories yet: a $40 inflatable kart with an attached steering wheel controller, into which you can insert the Wiimote to play Mario Kart Wii and other racing games.

Our first impulse is to make fun of this unnecessary accessory (an "unnecessory," if you will), but two things give us pause:

1. CTA is using the item's marketing to publicize Kids are Heroes, an organization that encourages community involvement among kids -- even going so far as to use Ricky Springer, who races real karts to raise money and awareness for Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorder, as a spokesman.

2. Unlike other plastic Wii accessories, there is no doubt in our minds that if our six-year-old selves had seen an inflatable car you could use as a game controller, we would have freaked out.