110°

Mario Kart 8 Sales Top 5 Million Units Worldwide, Over 50% Attach Rate

VGChartz's William D'Angelo: "Nintendo's flagship series, Mario Kart, has continued its success on the Wii U despite the console's limited sell-through.

Mario Kart 8 is the first Wii U game to top five million units sold worldwide at retail, according to VGChartz's latest sales data. It has taken the game 57 weeks to reach the milestone and continues to top 20,000 units sold on a weekly basis."

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PhoenixUp3190d ago ShowReplies(1)
R00bot3190d ago

That's insane. Good job! Definitely the best Mario Kart game so far, and deserves the sales.

mcstorm3190d ago

I disagree about the best mario kart so far as for me the battle mode is where it gets let down and DD is still the best mario kart game for me but if Nintendo do make battle ground dlc for the game with would beat dd. That said still love the game and love the dlc we have had for it and the price is amazing too.
Great to see Nintendo IP's selling well and that Nintendo are still making money. I really hope Nintendo stay in the console market as for me their games would not be the same on a 3rd party console.

R00bot3189d ago

I agree that the battle mode sucks. Everything else about the game is near perfect though.

bouzebbal3190d ago

Insane sales.. i'm proud to be one of them.
Great game.

FallenAngel19843190d ago (Edited 3190d ago )

Mario Kart 8 is on course to outsell the previous lowest selling installment in the series, Super Circuit. That's quite the accomplishment considering the GBA had a much bigger install base than Wii U. Heck from the look at its sales legs, Mario Kart 8 has the potential to outsell Double Dash.

StormSailor3190d ago (Edited 3190d ago )

Imagine just how this game would have sold if it had been launched also on PC. PS4 and Xbone? much more than five million, three times this or more. It's just a hypothesis, it is not necessary you make a war over this...

gamingpro3190d ago

No it probably wouldn't sell anymore if it was multi platform as most Sony fans prefer to watch games rather than play them hence all these cinematic titles.

Mario kart is game where you need to get stuck in and have some skill to win. No sitting back and pressing the occasional button every so often while watching a movie.

Mario kart is about gameplay, skill and fun so it caters to a different audience than Sony who prefer cinematic easier games with minimal involvement from the gamer.

So I doubt Mario kart 8 would sell more if it was available else were.

Crimzon3190d ago

Well I can't speak for everyone but I'd definitely buy this game if it was available on PS4. I've got a feeling that many others would as well given how starved we are for a good racing game.

I'll never buy a Wii U and I really don't think I'd buy any future Nintendo consoles either because the software support is lacking in my opinion. Nintendo make great games, but they're just not making them fast enough to justify owning their hardware. If their games were available on PS4 though? They'd see a lot of money from me.

I think Nintendo would be really surprised if they ditched the hardware side of things to focus on software, but there's no way any of us can predict their success/failure of taking that route unless they actually tried it. I've got a feeling that if the next Nintendo home console performs as poorly as the Wii U that they might start considering it.

iplay1up23190d ago (Edited 3190d ago )

Uh, your right and wrong. You can have all the skill in the world, but you will NEVER out run the blue shell.

CrowbaitBob3190d ago (Edited 3190d ago )

@gamingpro

Every gamer I have ever known has been a huge fan of the Mario Kart franchise, since the days of the original. MK8 is an amazing game that appeals to people with a huge variety of tastes.

I've heard a lot of convoluted arguments against Nintendo going third-party before, but what you just spewed is utter nonsense.

Gemmol3190d ago

Wii it sold over 32 million before it got bundle, so we already know how much it can sell if more consoles sold. It's the number 1 selling game for this Gen for 1st party. I think Sony best selling 1st party game sold around 2 million

Concertoine3190d ago

Yeah, at the cost of developing for more platforms with a different architecture. It probably would've taken an extra year of development to release simultaneously on all those platforms, pushing the DLC back a year.

Also if this game was on those platforms, it would invalidate the Wii U version since it is much weaker. In reality these 5 million sales would probably only be increased slightly and spread across other platforms (since less would be buying the Wii U version).

StormSailor3190d ago

I had a great time with Mario Kart 8 before I sell my Wii U. And remember an uncle who came to visit my house, asked - "can I buy this Mario Kart for Xbox?" of course, he knew nothing about games and consoles, it's the kind of guy who plays only, FIFA, Forza, UFC on your Xbox. He fell in love with the game, remembered the time was playing older versions, but he said he would "not buy another console just to this nostalgic games".

Since then I started thinking, how much more Nintendo could sell if their games were on many platforms? they would sell more games that Rockstar and Activsion together? I'm sure they would be the most profitable Multi-platform Softhouse of all time. Course if he did it right and not the way that the Sega did.

wonderfulmonkeyman3190d ago (Edited 3190d ago )

Considering all the other racing games they have, and all the disdain the gamers on the other systems show for "rehashed Mario crap", I hold sincere doubts that it would sell enough, as a multiplat, to be worth jumping through all the hoops required to adapt it to pad-less systems with different architectures.

Then there's the production fees such moves would cost, in addition to any fees and content demands forced upon Nintendo by other console devs as a condition for allowing it to be put onto other systems.

Fun fact: Sony once tried to get rights to Nintendo games through their initial deal with Nintendo for a CD add-on for the SNES.
It was hidden in the fine print of the contract drawn up by Sony that any games made for that device would be owned in part by them.
Naturally, Nintendo backed out.
Sadly, Nintendo went to Phillips, resulting in a much more embarrassing series of CD-I blunders.

But I digress...

To be blunt, the minority who would pick Mario over the next realistic racer, let alone other third party games like The Witcher 3, isn't big enough to recoup the effort spent trying to cram the game onto systems it doesn't belong on.

Those who truly care for Mario Kart, will get a Nintendo system for it.
They'll support the series by supporting its home.

OtakuDJK1NG-Rory3190d ago

that would just prove no one cares about Sony and Microsoft exclusives if Nintendo games sold more. As a matter of fact this game sold more than any exclusives owned by Sony and Microsoft on PS4 and Xbone.

user409793190d ago

tell me, what can Wii U owners buy exept nintendo exclusives?

OtakuDJK1NG-Rory3190d ago

@nevermind777

Indies, the third parties games that are available,
buy a 3DS or Vita or PS4 or Xbone or get a great PC for third party games, buy classic third party vc games they may have missed or never beaten and etc.

3190d ago
OtakuDJK1NG-Rory3190d ago

And if all four don't then that going to be very sad considering the bigger install base.

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deafdani3190d ago

And, if any game that was console-exclusive was to be launched on all platforms, instead of just one, it also would sell more than it would in a single console. HERP DERP.

Why the hell are you singling Nintendo out here? Why don't you make some insinuations about Sony and Microsoft going multiplatform as well, while you're at it?

Jeez. >_>

StormSailor3190d ago (Edited 3190d ago )

This is not obvious? But it is simple to explain, Wii U sold poorly, perhaps the most commercially failed console from Nintendo and will soon be buried prematurely, MK8 sold well, but several other games in the Wii U will be forgotten and played by a few people, they deserved to have sold more on a platform with largest installed base and with more years of breathing to come.

marloc_x3190d ago

I think the platforms you mentioned..
.. would have a tough time rendering this much fun 😉

deafdani3190d ago

...and I can agree with that. More people should get to enjoy their games, but that doesn't mean that they should go multiplatform. Anyway, not more than Sony or Microsoft should. Nope, I'd rather see Nintendo try again, and hope they come away with a successful console next time.

Shnazzyone3189d ago

Right? I want bloodborne on PC too. Also God of war and last of us. Guess that's it, everything xbox is already coming to pc.

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80°

Looking Ahead: The Lingering Questions About the Next Mario Kart

VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "10 years. It’s been almost 10 years since the last mainline release in the Mario Kart series. Mario Kart 8 came out for the Wii U in 2014 and became the best-selling game for the system by a sizeable margin, and later pulled the same magic trick on the Nintendo Switch under the stage name Deluxe. All in all, it's sold nearly 70 million copies over the last decade and is still selling like hot cakes to this day, so it’s no wonder Nintendo has been in no rush to replace it. However, with rumors of a new system being just around the corner, and reports a few years back that a new Mario Kart is indeed under way, it seems the era of 8 might very well be drawing to a close. It’s an exciting prospect to be sure, but after two Nintendo systems with Mario Kart 8 at their heart, a lot of questions remain about how Nintendo will choose to follow it up."

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Yi-Long11d ago

I hope they just keep building on Mario Kart 8; Add a track-creation tool, and probably open it up to more Nintendo IPs with new tracks and characters, so Metroid, Punch Out, Starfox, Animal Crossing, etc etc.

gold_drake11d ago

there wont be a new one until the switch 2 comes out.

nintendo needs their bangers early on

80°

Wii U Versions of Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon's Online Play is Back

Nintendo has recently restored Wii U Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon online after five months of being offline.

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sirusgaming.com
100°

The Next Mario Kart Desperately Needs A Good Gimmick

Mario Kart 8 has been out for nine years now if you include the Wii U version. Despite the Switch port continuing to sell insane numbers since it came out in 2017, many people believed that a new installment was way past due. When the Booster Course Pass was announced instead, it was a bit controversial, with one side of people stating that it was time for a new game, and the other side believing that this was the best course of action and that there's nothing else Nintendo can do to innovate the franchise.

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dualshockers.com
Number1TailzFan309d ago

There's nothing wrong with the games, but after most of them being very samey, I got a bit bored. I liked MKDS because it added a mission mode, yeah it didn't have maybe as many as I'd like but it was decent for variety.

I really prefer the new Mario Party for the different types of games in it.

Mario Kart doesn't really feel fresh because you know what to expect for every new game pretty much. The single player mode of DKR was far more in depth a game vs Mario Kart IMO, MK is probably better for multiplayer though.

-Foxtrot309d ago

It needs a campaign mode like Crash Team Racing with open hubs, driving around the Mushroom Kingdom, selecting your races and the like. Have a system like the CTR tokens within the races that then unlock secret racing cups later on or the time relics to unlock other things.

There's nothing wrong with the games but when you've had the same set up for so many games it just gets a bit samey after a while.

They could even have something like a track creator like Modnation Racers or something.

Neonridr309d ago

I always enjoyed the single player aspect of Diddy Kong Racing myself.

Knushwood Butt309d ago

After starting with the first game on SNES, I think the last one I bought was on the DS.

Phlacky308d ago (Edited 308d ago )

I think the next gimmick should be interactive tracks with obstacles and traps such as maybe throwing a shell ahead to make something fall on another player Also have water and mud parts that effect handling more also fire parts that can cause you to over heat if you stay in it to long etc...

Yi-Long308d ago (Edited 308d ago )

I don’t think it needs ‘a gimmick’ so much, because gameplay is pretty much perfect right now, but I would like the next Mario Kart to do either a ‘track-builder’ thing, so you just get access to the tools and make your own tracks (think Modnation Racers or LBP Karting), and/or expand upon ‘Mario’ Kart and open it up to the rest of Nintendo IPs, and just do a ‘Nintendo Kart’, so we’d see more of Zelda, but also Starfox, Kirby, Metroid, Valkyria Chronicles*, etc.

* I know, technically not ‘Nintendo’.

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