Mario Kart 8 Boosts Sales of Wii U by 666% But Pushed into Second Place by Watch Dogs

Ubisoft take their second All Formats No1 of the year, and smash the week 1 sales record for new IP in the process as event title ‘Watch Dogs’ takes the crown.

‘Mario Kart 8’ like ‘Watch Dogs’ also launches an official hardware bundle this week boosting the sales of Wii U hardware by a whopping 666%, of which 82% are the Mario Kart 8 Bundle.

[Geobros]

Nice news for Mario Kart 8 and Wii U!!

[ritsuka666]

But Pushed into Second Place''

People should remember Mario Kart 8 is only in 1 console ,Watch Dogs in 6....

[higgswaz]

if you took the time to read it you would see watch dogs on ps4 was first, xbox1 was second and mario kart was third.

[Mr_Writer85]

If you look at the chart you would see that they have divided the platforms up.

So Mario Kart came in 3rd.

[ritsuka666]

Keep in mind that this is in the UK territory, the most hostile place for Nintendo empire...

[Utalkin2me]

What does being on 6 have to do with anything considering the chart is not combined sales, only individual sales on each console.

[GamingSinceThe80s]

Plus MK8 will have longer legs.Nintendo will be selling this game for $60 for years.I bet in 5 year MK8 will have sold millions of more copy's than the first WD.

[bobacdigital]

Hasnt watchdogs been out a few days longer and has a larger install base in the UK?

[AliTheSnake1]

Luigi https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[darthv72]

Wait...3 games for XB1 in the top 10 and only 2 for PS4. How did that work out?

It's impressive that Watch Dogs dominates the top 5 with Mario fitting right in the middle at #3. One game on 1 platform taking on one game on 4 platforms and still able to hold its own.

[mrbojingles]

And it released 3 days later.

[Chrischi1988]

Mario Kart is out 3 days, Watch Dogs 6 days.

[BullyMangler]

bam! another wiiU exclusive that proves just 1 game can sell many systems!

[SilentNegotiator]

Except no they shouldn't. Both the PS4 version of Watch Dogs and Xbone version of Watch Dogs outsold Mario Kart 8.

[mikeslemonade]

No suprise here. WiiU needs more of this. It's still going to be dead in one year.

[DaGamingKing]

Correct and correct.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

@darthv72

There's no numbers in there, just positions, so the fact there's one more XB1 game on the top 10 means nothing... Also this is a top 40, not a top 10, and both PS4 and XB1 have 5 games each in the list... Lets not grasp at straws.

In fact, this very chart shows that probably nothing major changed in the PS4:XB1 UK ratio, look at how each and every game available in both PS4 and XB1 that made into the top 40, the PS4 version sold more.
WD PS4 #1, XB1 #2
Wolfenstein PS4 #8, XB1 #10
FIFA 14 PS4 #14, XB1 #27
COD Ghosts PS4 #25, XB1 n/a
(as by the value chart, PS4 version of BF4 ranked in the top 40, while not the XB1 version).

It seens PS4 is still ahead, although Titanfall is distorting the chart a little (maybe its raising XB1 attach ratio, but with no numbers I can't really back that up).

[solidjun5]

"Wait...3 games for XB1 in the top 10 and only 2 for PS4. How did that work out? "

Grasping straws, I see. Not surprising coming from you.

[XiSasukeUchiha]

Mario Kart 8 domination!

[LOL_WUT]

I wouldn't call MK8 being in 3rd place domination... I'm quite surprised it didn't make it into the top spot. Either way this is a nice little boost hopefully US is even better ;)

[Chrischi1988]

3rd Spot and only half as long released, in a country, were the Wii U struggles most and where Wii Us install base is smaller than PS4s, that is still pretty good.

[Kleptic]

^wait, hold on...

where does the Wii U not struggle?...serious question...

[Chrischi1988]

It struggles almost everywhere, but in the UK of all important markets, it struggles the most.

[Magicite]

Damn that number, devilish Nintendo :D

[3-4-5]

So does Mario Kart 8 Qualify as a System Seller then ?

[MeLoveRamen]

nintendo using satan juice to sell wii u's confirmed.

[Metallox]

http://i.minus.com/ieWvNy6m...

[Themba76]

wow thats a scary percentage and i do mean scary.

[ritsuka666]

Hmm, i really love this numbers. hehe

[nope111]

Isn't it obvious? Satan bought out Nintendo.
Expect future mario games to include satanic subliminal messages and head twisting.

[thehobbyist]

I don't about satanic messages but that Rainbow Road remake sure was hellish.

[ion53]

Remember if you saw the actual numbers it wouldn't look as good.

E.g. If they sold 100 consoles a day before MK8, and 666 after MK8, it's an amazing persentage increase, but poor numbers. (Not to hate)

Still, well done to Ubisoft for their success in Watch_Dogs, amd well done to Nintendo. Just need better marketing

[nunley33]

Smash bros. & Bayonetta 2 next to bring in the scary numbers.

[Rainstorm81]

LMAO

I agree with SSB but Bayonetta will flop almost certainly

[nunley33]

Bayonetta 2 flopping is a good possiblilty but it hasnt got high expectations on it anyways. If it sells 500,000 it'll be deemed a success. It may be a timed exclusive to later appear on other systems. It's a game that non-nintendo fans wanna play and gets their attention, so it's more than sales ninty was looking for with it. They certainly hope many will buy a WiiU for it though.

[bicfitness]

666% of what? Meaningless without a baseline figure.

[Blank]

I see the reality you see but still man be a little more optomisitic its a large percentage. Now go in a parallel universe where mario kart 8 did not do these sales, yeah this is an epic wii u push. So just congratulate nintendo on releasing a beautiful mario kart entry in the series and in HD! The fact they done an epic work on this mario kart they deserve the push no matter the baseline they jumping from im happy to see over 500% jump.

[caseh]

'I see the reality you see but still man be a little more optomisitic its a large percentage.'

A large percentage of what number though?

[aLucidMind]

A percentage increase can be a PR spin. If you only sell one console per day for ten days, and MK8 suddenly caused you to sell seven consoles per day over the next ten days then which will sound better? "700% increase in sales" or "We sold 60 more than usual!"?

Using a percentage could be a way of tricking stockholders into not dropping support. Companies usually only use percentages when the percentage makes the numbers look better than they actually are.

[DeadlyFire]

666% = doomsday to other consoles. Watch out.

Its obvious they are hyping WiiU sales either way. Even if they made up a doomsday number.

[NatureOfLogic_]

666% of nothing is still nothing.

[BoneBone]

Taking stock of your brain cells again? Don't torture yourself like that, son.

[king_george]

Lmao! +Bubbles

[punctualdork]

@ArgumentumAdPopulum

Unfunny comment is unfunny.

[Tedakin]

Mario Kart even made me perk up and kinda want one... :) Looks fun as hell.

[Old McGroin]

It is fun as hell! Multiplayer is excellent, both online and off and the 32 tracks are a masterclass in design and extreme polish, brilliant game, just a little p!Ssed Nintendo messed up Battle Mode, for the first time ever I'm hoping for DLC to fix it!

[Nevers0ft]

Well said. I haven't even tried Battle Mode yet but the online racing is sublime (seriously, I have to remind myself to breathe during races!). Nintendo really pulled out all the stops with MK8.

[Tedakin]

Yeah really with this, and the new DK and Mario games that just came out, Wii U is looking better. I find myself kinda itching for one. I just wish they'd make a new StarFox and F-Zero. Not sure why Nintendo seems to have abandoned those 2 awesome franchises :( StarFox would look incredible now.

[Old McGroin]

Yeah Nevers0ft, the online races are tough at first but once you get to know the tracks and start to compete properly they get pretty intense! On a side note, when playing 2 player splitscreen the split is down the middle which I don't like, anyone know if you can change the split to across the screen?

[Nevers0ft]

No, it's limited to vertical split-screen. Hopefully they'll patch horizontal split-screen in at some point.

[WeAreLegion]

I skipped it altogether due to the botched battle mode. That's my favorite part of the game. I don't even care about racing. So, Mario Kart 8 is completely useless to me. Reviewers completely ignored it.

[slivery]

That is what Nintendo games do best my friend.. "FUN"

Their games have always brought a real smile to my face because of that.

[AJBACK2FRAG]

It's sooo addictive! GOTY easy!!!!!

[LOL_WUT]

A racing game GOTY? Now your full of it ;)

[DoctorJones]

Why wouldn't it be able to get a GOTY LOW_WIT? There are categories for GOTY, racing is one of those. Explain why it couldn't get it?

We all know you just like to troll Nintendo articles though and don't have any capacity to actually argue any of the crap you spill out of your keyboard in any meaningful way, so I'm not expecting an answer.

[randomass171]

@DoctorJones Watch out! He may ridicule you for not having money!

[Chrisgamerguy]

Obviously watch dogs sold more it was on 5 consoles, mario kart is on 1 lol

[Ol_G]

i think it's great that it was still a competition as mk8 is only out on Wii u with a userbase of 6mil+ and watch dogs is out on every console except wii u atm so it's quite an achievement

[DualWielding]

However, if they chart is accurate the PS4 and Xbone versions of Watchdogs sold more than Mario Kart individually... Having one of your biggest IP beaten by a new IP riding out on bad press due to graphical downgrade in consoles that launched one year after you its hardly something for Nintendo to be proud

[No_Limit]

but you gotta remember that Watch Dogs was released on the 27th while Mario KArt was released on the 30th. The UK chart ending date is the 31st. So 2 highly anticipated games and one enjoys a full 5 days of sale vs 2 days. I bet you Mario Kart will probably be number one next week.

[deafdani]

Don't be surprised if Mario Kart 8 ends up selling way more copies than Watch Dogs in the long run. Nintendo's games have loooong legs. They keep selling consistently at full price for years after release.

[iplay1up2]

Watchdogs is okay, I picked it up for PS4, but since I picked up MK8 I have not even thought about playing WD. MK8 is just down right FUN, and addictive.

As far as "bad press" goes, uh all that "gamers" do is bash Nintendo article after article, and the press pretty much ignores them. So I really don't see your point.

[WitWolfy]

4 consoles.. Has been delayed on Wii U until further notice..

[AJBACK2FRAG]

Sweet! In my opinion WD never seemed overtly interesting. I thoght the 666 was for the guys that developed MK8's track design's decause some of them are down right devilish lol! Absolutely a joy to play! (>'o')> Yeah! E3 in eight days!!!! Zelda U is gonna' ROCK!!!!

[Utalkin2me]

@Chrisgamerguy, Ol_G

What does 5 consoles have to do with anything? If you would stop reading title and read the article. You would see it is split into individual sales of each console and not as a whole, LOL!

[animegamingnerd]

(insert now overused joke about iwata making a deal with the devil to get Wii U sells up here) but for real seeing how Mario Kart 8 has the second highest opening for the series in the UK and the increase in Wii U sells is making me excited to see japans and US numbers since nintendo does better in those countries then in the UK

[AnEwGuY]

The Number of The Beast. It's official...Miyamoto is Satan.

[AJBACK2FRAG]

Source?

[ozstar]

Wii Music

[DC777]

err..where is this info from already?

[DoctorJones]

It's from the official UK charts.

[Realplaya]

The Title should also state the most important fact, It should say that with only 2 days worth of sales Mario Kart 8 takes second place. to me that is more impressive a game selling that high of a percentage from Nintendo with only 2 days on the Market.

[OmegaShen]

Numbers mean nothing if thats all is given, Mario Kart 8 looks to be fun. But no plans on rebuying a Wii U until I have money to waste.

[Realplaya]

So you sold your Wii U before the most important game in it's short lifespan dropped? Also clarify if that's all is given.

[WeAreLegion]

Most important? Super Mario 3D World is the game to get, in my opinion.

[OmegaShen]

I have to agree on the SM3DW an seven disagree? Come on children.

[from the beach]

Nice one, loving this game and I'm glad to see so many others are too.

[DoggyBiscuit]

This game is so awesome

[Deceiver_Of_The_Gods]

Satan...:P

[Activemessiah]

Satanic boost!

[g4n]

Does it really matter, when mindcraft is the #3?

[PrinceOfAllSaiyans]

1-Watch Dogs PS4
2-Watch Dogs Xbox One
3-MK8

For those of you who don't want to read and use the excuse of WD releasing on multiple platforms. The PS4 and XB1 versions alone outsold it.

[Realplaya]

Out sold 5 days compared to 2 don't forget that important tidbit.

[LOL_WUT]

Let's not sidestep face it man it still got outsold but you got to hand it to Nintendo ;)

[N4g_null]

If that is the case then I'm sure it will out sell wd in a short time.

[ozstar]

@LOL_WUT, Front loaded VS Long tail. Generally speaking Nintendos games do the latter.

[darkstar18]

5 days of sales vs 2...makes sense right? -_-

[DJustinUNCHAIND]

Titanfall still holding steady in the top 10.

[Ocsta]

Congrats to Ninty! Great company, great console, great game! :)

[Dubaman]

It was also released 3 days prior to MK8 which had 1 day on sale before these results were distributed. Its also in the UK which has had waning support for Nintendo in recent years, though this may be a sign of Nintendo establishing a foothold.

[unknownbystander]

Well, great accomplishment to both Nintendo and Ubisoft. However, considering that Watch_Dogs not only realeased in multiple consoles and had more time than Mario Kart 8, I have to give Nintendo more credit.

Then there's longevity. I can see Mario Kart 8 keeping its $60 price for a couple of years longer than Watch_Dogs. Also, the memory matters. Which will be remembered by the gaming community longer, Mario Kart 8 or Watch_Dogs?

Anyhow, I'm sure Ubisoft will be franchising Watch_Dogs and turn it into another Assassin's Creed. Hopefully,they will make improvements to the sequel.

On a side note, Mario Karts in Nintendo platforms only release once in their lifetime just in case you don't know.

[BattleN]

@unknownbystander On a side note, Mario Karts in Nintendo platforms only release once in their lifetime just in case you don't know.

I wouldn't be surprised if they actually released another Mario Kart on WiiU, kinda like Galaxy 1 and 2. A Double Dash Dos would be welcome and I'd buy it!

[The 10th Rider]

I'm thinking a possible downloadable expansion, featuring maybe 4 cups, a few racers and karts, full blown battle mode, and some new asymmetrical multiplayer modes. Something like that around the holiday season would give the Wii U another big sales boost.

[BattleN]

UK sales and I thought it was world sales, more good news incoming soon! WiiU is slowly in revival mode?

[Solid_Penguin-64]

Looks like Nintendo are getting back on track...

Pun intended (I regret nothing).

[BattleN]

High five to the short legless avatar's haha!

[jcnba28]

Funny +1

[modesign]

nice job with 666%.lol see you in 6months for their next exclusive release.

[HollywoodLA]

666 -- The number of the Beast!

[eworthington0]

It seems like this is the "end times" for nintendo hate.

[thehobbyist]

End times for justifiable hate. Now we get the tidal wave of baseless hate come E3.

[eworthington0]

Itll never end dude. Lol_wut among others will always see something wrong with something good for some reason.

[goldwyncq]

Nintendo made a deal with the devil, obviously.

[windblowsagain]

It's a boost, but it's not enough for ninty.

As for games in general.

They should be £34.99 - £39.99.

On all consoles.

[quantae06]

Nintendo means "leave luck to heaven". They made a deal with God! :) Don't be alarmed by the triple six digits there lol.

[spektical]

i bought the mario kart wii u edition.

I am disappointed by the lack of a mini map on screen. I hope Nintendo listens to the mario kart community as many have voiced this issue.

[N4g_null]

It's on the touch screen man.... you can even change it on the fly.

[spektical]

yea im not going to glance at the mini map. I need to study it. thats how i play my mario kart. Shifting your head up and down is not an answer for me. I'm glad there is a huge community who wants this back in the game.

and what about everyone else who isnt using a gamepad.

[N4g_null]

You could just set it in front of you you know. While you use the other controller?

I'm sure a gui mod as dlc can be done. I mean a battle mode arena would be cool also.

I think the cradle is the whole point of the gamepad. It is a second display for things. You should go to the mariokart 8 community on mii verse and ask for this.

[higgins78]

This 'news' means what exactly, that brute force advertising via lies and smokescreens translates into high sales? Good message. I would say Mario Kart 8 is the people's champ (no 1) in this sordid affair engineered by Ubisoft.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Disregard this message.

[higgins78]

I concur. Instead lets champion Ubisoft for promising so much yet delivering so little and at the same time curse Nintendo for not getting involved in some serious propaganda and false promises. Oh, by the way, I own both Watch Dogs (PS4) AND Mario Kart 8 (Wii U), so unlike some others here - which shall go unnamed - I know a little something of what I'm talking.

[SliceOfTruth888]

Mario Kart 8 is AMAZING i have owned Wii U since launch and i can honestly say the Wii U is garbage and i wish nintendo would just go 3rd party. The Wii U system does absolutely NOTHING for Mario Kart. NOTHING none of the features on the touchpad are worth anything in fact playing with it stinks compared to using the pro or wiimotes with nunchuck. The simple fact that the person using the touch pad does not get their own full screen while a second player then gets his own on the tv just shows how under powered this garbage is. If Mario Kart 8 came out for PS4, xbone, ps3, 360 using their online services we would be talking MILLIONS of copies being sold at an insane rate. Sorry Nintendo, but even the Kinect has proven more usefull than the touchpad you anchored the wii U on.

[marloc_x]

♤Kario Kart over coffee in my kitchen seamlessly? ♤

[syne49]

As said in the past it's a marathon not a race. MK8 will sell more in it's lifetime than Watch Dogs will. That being said both games are great and I found myself enjoying WD a lot more than I thought I would.

[Psychotica]

What makes MK so much fun? I am watching adult men play this on Twitch but the game looks like it's for little kids. Seems like I must be missing something..

[thehobbyist]

I don't know, why don't you try PLAYING THE GAME?!

[Psychotica]

Because I don't just buy games blindly?

[ybadr]

666 ? Nintendo is calling the devil on this !

[larrysdirtydrawss]

nintend0=we now celebrate 2nd place

[Soldierone]

Yay, congrats to the 66 new WiiU owners! (I'm joking, calm down) :P

[Father__Merrin]

666 is the mark of...

well done Ubisoft & Nintendo

[DivineAssault]

I have to give nintendo credit where credit is due.. However, if you own a wii u & dont buy mario kart, theres no point in having one.. That is a must have game for wii u owners.. It will also have a steady set of sales for a very long time.. Watchdogs is a 3rd party game that will sell alot in the beginning & phase out in a short while.. I bought both games but i might return watchdogs as im not too fond of the reviews & i might rent it instead.. Mario Kart i will own & keep for as long as i have a wii u

[DoggyBiscuit]

Maybe MK8 is the savior

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

Watch when the Smash Bros. and then the Zelda Bundle Drops.

There will be more fine sales numbers, good sirs!