Narrowly avoiding the obvious and overused pun, Namco Bandai has announced intentions to bring its Japanese Wii title Family Ski over to North America as We Ski. Like the Japanese version, We Ski will be fully compatible with the Wii Balance Board, allowing players to shimmy and slalom their way down the virtual mountains.

We Ski matches Nintendo's family-friendly aesthetic with cutesy customizable characters, and the option to import your Mii's and let them join in on all the snowy action. In addition to the standard ski modes, the game also includes free-style and photography modes, and allows up to four players to ski free on over a dozen courses.

With the title announced for a spring 2008 release, and the Wii Balance Board making its way to North America on May 19, We Ski will undoubtedly become the unofficial companion game to the Wii Fit package, as the first third-party software to support the peripheral.

We were wondering if Wii Fit's Balance Board peripheral would be good for anything other than yoga, and it looks like we have our answer. Famitsu reveals that Namco Bandai's Family Ski -- which originally utilized only the Wii remote and nunchuk combo for its downhill action -- will now be compatible with the Wii Balance Board, adding an extra level of realism to the adorable, super-deformed family-friendly skiing title. Obviously, the game will still be 100% playable without the peripheral.

We haven't reported much of anything on Family Ski, instead letting our buddies over at Wii Fanboy do all the legwork. Still, the game is definitely on our radars now. Family Ski is due for a Winter 2007/2008 release in Japan. Here's hoping localization is a breeze; it would be a tad odd to rock the slopes in the summertime, no?

[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]