160°

Did Mario Kart 8 Save the Wii U? I'm Not So Sure

Gaming Blend "Mario Kart 8 finally released last week and early signs are pointing to the game being an early success as it flew off the shelves and managed to even bolster sales of the Wii U by a sound margin. It seems like a lot of the internet is ready to herald the return of Nintendo as an actual contender in the home console market, but I’m not yet convinced."

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cinemablend.com
AWBrawler3631d ago

aaaaaaaand already the haters are here.

mikeslemonade3631d ago

Did Mario Kart 8 Save the Wii U? The answer is no.

Summons753631d ago

You're right because the wiiu never needed saving, gamers just need to stop acting like selfish entitled brats.

Chrischi19883631d ago

Exactly, right? It is like they think they have the right to be an ass to Wii U owners all the time, just because they chose a PS4 or Xbox One... What makes the console bad is the stupid gaming community, who act like little children, not the games or the horse power.

The game is not even out for a week and people start to talk about how it saved the Wii U^^ How dumb the author of the article must be, like this can happen in under a week, without any numbers out yet, other than Mario Kart having sold over 1,2 million in under a week on a install base that is barely 6 million, which is pretty good actually.

WindNinjaDW3630d ago

Been lurking for a while now, and I notice you always come in the Nintendo Wii U articles. Me thinks you're secretly hoping for good news on Nintendo.

Dudebro903631d ago

Its cinemablend. They blindly hate anything to generate clicks.

RosweeSon3631d ago

Exactly the first week hasn't even finished yet, wait for E3 then shudup

kneon3631d ago

You won't know by E3. It will take a couple months to see if MK had any lasting impact on sales or whether its just yet another short lived blip.

MeLoveRamen3631d ago

I don't understand all the doom and gloom for the wii u. It sold 6 million units in a year, which is by no means great but its decent, it doesn't have to beat the competition to be a profitable console. With a lot of its first party games selling in the millions,i think the wii u will be like the gamecube, might be last in the console race sales wise but it will have more gems on it then the other consoles.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3630d ago
Neonridr3631d ago

Name a Sony or MS game from their new consoles that moved that many games in 3 days?

While it may not be the sole reason the Wii U is successful, it definitely doesn't hurt its chances.

Baccra173631d ago

It moved what, 1.8 million copies worldwide? That's not impressive. They had to scrape together those numbers form all over the world for that figure.

Now if they sold a million here, and there, and elsewhere maybe we could give it props. But MK8 isn't going to save Nin from itself, it's not a silver bullet and it's certainly not good enough to be a miracle either.

Neonridr3631d ago

again, how long did it take Infamous or KZ to break a million? Not 3 days.

Jdoki3631d ago (Edited 3631d ago )

Not impressive?

For a dead console no one buys it sounds impressive to me!!

Considering it is rumoured that TitanFall on XB1 has only hit around 2million in almost 3 months

And inFamous took 9 days to shift 1 million.

Yeah, 1.2+million of in 3 days sucks!! /s

Glad to be one of those 1.2+million. I bought a 'dead' Wii U to play it on too.

bobacdigital3631d ago (Edited 3631d ago )

It has an install base is about 6 million or so .. meaning it attached at roughly 16%... 1 in 6 people of the current install base purchased it within 3 days of release / during pre order. 

They also started advertising for it this month .. I saw a commercial during the NBA playoffs... So a full 7 day sell through will most likely be much higher. Not to mention Nintendo titles have legs... 3D world sold 265k in 1 week and according to the last financials it is at 2.5 million WW (released in fall of 2013)... Mario kart sold 1.2 million in 3 days and that isnt impressive? 

By contrast HALO 4 sold 9 million lifetime WW on an install base of 70+ million... that is a 12 % attach rate.... in its first week it sold 3.6 million which is roughly 5% attach rate... If you take it as a percentage of sales Mario Kart 8 is outperforming HALO 4

In 9 days Infamous a Sony exclusive sold 1 million on a larger more successful install base starved for games... 

So you telling me 1.2 million on 3 days of sales isn't impressive LOL?

Figured a comment I made previously was fitting.

Chrischi19883631d ago

6 million Wii Us out there, 1,8million (your number, not mine) sold, makes almost 1/3 of all Wii U owners in 3 days... that is bad? Yeah right...

Realplaya3631d ago

you are so crazy dude. that is in 2 days. on the market. name a game that moved that much in 2 days?

MeLoveRamen3631d ago

lol baccra you do know that it took Killzone a whole months to sell a million copies worldwide, it took infamous SS a week to sale 1 million worldwide, and it took ryse and dead rising the same amount of time to sell a million as killzone worldwide and these are on brand new consoles. So yea you sound like a dumbo because mario kart 8 is on a year old console that is underpowered compared to the others and still will outsell all their games

thehobbyist3630d ago

Sold more than Watch Dogs did in that time.
It took Watch Dogs a week to get 5 million across five platforms. That's one million per platform in seven days. Mario Kart 8 managed 1.2 million in two days on one console.
So really, Watch Dogs is extremely unimpressive compared to Mario Kart.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 3630d ago
Anon19743631d ago

Those sound like some pretty damn good numbers to me. I had pretty much written off the Wii-U but I'm taking a second look now. Considering I can get a refurbished one directly from Nintendo with the standard one year warranty for $200 in Canada, it's starting to look like time to introduce my 4 year old to Super Mario. I've even said multiple times in the past I wouldn't buy one for my family because I think the one, uber pad controller is just a sibling fight waiting to happen, but I'm quickly changing my mind after seeing some of the titles they're pushing now. Super Mario World looks like a blast, Mario Kart looks great, Donkey Kong and I wouldn't mind giving Zelda Wind Waker another play through. Now that damned Wii-mote is a thing of the past, time to give Nintendo another look, methinks.

I'm going to be watching Nintendo's E3 rather closely this year and maybe a Wii-U will be joining my PS4 in the entertainment console in the near future. You know. For the kids... :)

Realplaya3631d ago

you won't be disappointed.

Knushwood Butt3630d ago

Let's not forget that Mario Kart 8 has zero competition from any other Wii U game launches (because there haven't been any).

If you own a Wii U and want a new game, what are you going to buy? Not a tough decision really.

snookiegamer3631d ago

Saved? I don't know....

But it certainly put Wii U back on the map.

JonahNL3631d ago

I played it at launch for two days straight at a buddy's place. We had so much fun. It has re-ignited my interest in the Wii U and if this E3 has plenty of announcements I will be picking up the console + Mario Kart 8 before July 31st to obtain a free game through that special offer Club Nintendo is currently running.

In the same way I was also motivated to pick up a 3DS at Christmas last year, thanks to the Super Mario 3D Land offer.

Jdoki3631d ago

Yep, this is the game that got me to buy a WiiU.

Also got Super Mario Bros as the free game (was a close decision between that and Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3 or Monster Hunter)

Also Super Mario 3D World is a very good entry in the series.

ZombiU is extremely under-rated. So far it has shown the best use of GamePad. really immersive and atmospheric.

Those three games will keep me occupied for a while. I'll then buy Wonderful 101, Pikmin 3, Super Smash Bros. Hopefully E3 will see an announcement of a new F-Zero and / or StarFox game. Plus Zelda and Mario Galaxy 3 (or an open world style of Mario) will be cherry on top the icing on the cake!

Chrischi19883631d ago

Yeah, it is soooo much fun, racing against 3 of my friends locally, being able to use the old Wii controllers for Multiplayer is a neat feature and the free game is a great deal. How can people still bitch about Wii Us price, $299 for the console and 2 awesome games worth $100, basically $199 for the console alone, that is half of the PS4 and Xbox One(kinectless).

MeLoveRamen3631d ago (Edited 3631d ago )

Zidane, I think you won't regret the wii u purchase at all my man. I just bought one for mario kart 8 and got pikman3 for free, and i also have super mario bros u which is awesome. I want to get wonderful 101, mario 3d world, scribblenaunts unlimited, zelda windwaker hd, donkey kong tf, and zombiu, so there are a lot of games to choose from. I also have a ps4 since launch and have to admit that the wii u is by far my favorite console of the 8th generation by a mile so far.

secretcode3631d ago

You can't tell this kind of stuff after three/four days, yo.

Fishermenofwar3631d ago

It's too early to say...wait 2-3 months to see if there is a significant boost in sales...

There will be a spike for sure, lets just see if it maintains that...

Hawkinst5403631d ago

http://www.computerandvideo...
Apparently it did help a fair bit in the UK but yeah it's only a short term spike. Perhaps if similar spikes happen with other releases (zelda etc) it could look very promising

Fishermenofwar3631d ago (Edited 3631d ago )

My daughter has the WiiU....What baffles me is why none of the Wii crowd jump on this little beast...

Its really fun and unique...Too many casuals purchased the Wii as a fad...The core gamers just don't want the WiiU....I don't understand consumers sometimes....Great product more than decent games...But yet Nobody buys it....

MK8 is great!!, But I agree where is Zelda?

So many franchises that could boost Wiiu to the moon....

PS: I agree with you...LOL

Digimortal3631d ago (Edited 3631d ago )

@Fishermenofwar

most of the people who bought the Wii system, moved on before last gen was even finished sadly. Ever since Social gaming and Iphone game apps hit the scenes. Those people found there fix else where. Believe it or not, the Wii would suffer the same fate if the new usher of gamers never tended the scene. The Wii would prob do just as bad if not worse then what the Wii U is doing. Don't get me wrong I'm not speaking about Nintendo directly here just speaking from a standpoint that makes the most sense. I love Nintendo to death and I always will do so. Most gamer's have given up on Nintendo giving reasons that's there own. Some reasons being complete BS but hey there entitled to there own reasons. With that said 2014/2015 will be the Year that The Wii U will show more positive feedback from the press and fans alike and push way more units. If they want to get that crowed back they lost. Nintendo will have to do something in order to pull them back. What that is has yet to be seen but in due time I think they will manage to find something to pull them back in. NOT all of them of course but quite a few that left, including past fans.

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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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vgchartz.com
Yi-Long30d 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_drake30d 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
Number1TailzFan328d 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.

-Foxtrot328d 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.

Neonridr328d ago

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

Knushwood Butt328d ago

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

Phlacky327d ago (Edited 327d 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-Long327d ago (Edited 327d 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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