Nintendo is reporting that Mario Kart 8 has sold over 1.2 million units in its first weekend alone, across the US, Europe and Japan. I'd have to imagine that a good chunk of those were in the Wii U console bundle. In any case this is some desperately needed good news for Nintendo, as the investors have been breathing down their necks for over a year now.
COO Reggie Fils-Aime said that Mario Kart 8 is a great way for them to lead into E3, which will be "all about the future games for Nintendo platforms." It's nice to know Nintendo has remembered that a game console is, first and foremost, all about the games, something that appears to have eluded them with the Wii U. If they can hammer the console with monthly hits the way they did to save the 3DS after its lukewarm launch, they might just be able to save the Wii U from an early, Dreamcast-shaped grave.
I don't know. After the past two lackluster years I'm still highly skeptical going into this E3. That said, with Mario Kart 8 here it's nice to have a reason to boot up my Wii U again.
Mario Kart 8 is on a Roll: Sells More Than 1.2 Million Units Worldwide Over First Weekend
Latest Entry in Venerable Franchise is Now the Fastest-Selling Wii U Game Ever
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Momentum is spelled M-A-R-I-O K-A-R-T.
The Mario Kart 8 game for the Wii U console just launched around the world to global acclaim, earning some of the strongest review scores in franchise history, including becoming the 14th Wii U game to launch in the U.S. with a Metacritic score of 85 or higher. Nintendo reported today that the game sold more than 1.2 million* total units across Japan, Europe and the Americas during its first weekend on the market.**
“The early response to Mario Kart 8 demonstrates that the best days for Wii U are still ahead,” said Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “This year’s E3 is just days away, and it will be all about the future games for Nintendo platforms. This milestone is a great place to start!”
Prior to Mario Kart 8, the seven games that have launched previously in the series have combined to sell more than 100 million total units worldwide. This includes two of the best-selling video games of all time: Mario Kart Wii for Wii and Mario Kart DS for the Nintendo DS family of systems. The full list includes:
Title System Global Sales (as of 3/31/14)
Super Mario Kart Super Nintendo 8.76 million
Mario Kart 64 Nintendo 64 9.87 million
Mario Kart Advance Game Boy Advance 5.91 million
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Nintendo GameCube 6.88 million
Mario Kart DS Nintendo DS 23.56 million
Mario Kart Wii Wii 35.53 million
Mario Kart 7 Nintendo 3DS 9.62 million
Total: 100.13 million
*Based on Nintendo’s internal sales figures.
**Mario Kart 8 launched on Thursday, May 29, in Japan and Friday, May 30, across Europe and the Americas.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.2 billion video games and more than 670 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.
