Mario Kart 8 races past 1.2 million sales in debut weekend
Despite first appearing last Friday, Mario Kart 8 has already managed to attract 1.2 million sales, a figure that earns the mascot kart racer the title of "fastest selling Wii U game to date."
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime greets this news with all the excitement of an over-caffeinated puppy. "The early response to Mario Kart 8 demonstrates that the best days for Wii U are still ahead," said 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!"
If Fils-Aime's enthusiasm doesn't immediately convince you to give the game a shot, take a look at our Mario Kart 8review. Thomas awarded the racer a nearly perfect, 4.5 of 5 stars, and though he feels the game doesn't do much to introduce new ideas to the franchise, the combination of series-first high-definition graphics and classic Mario Kart gameplay make for yet another first-party Nintendo classic.
[Image: Nintendo]
Show full PR text
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., June 2, 2014 – 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:
*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.
