Ladies and gentlemen, Mario Kart 8 is here! After months and months of waiting, wishing, hoping and praying, it is finally here. Saying this game was highly anticipated is an understatement. Nintendo has been dropping gameplay and new stuff that has been having us begging and begging for this game to be released and in our hands. Anti-gravity, Koopalings, new updates of retro tracks, the new Mario Kart TV feature that let's you edit, mix, remix, and share your races with your friends, and let's not forget a new horn item that get's rid of the dreaded Blue Shell, what more could you want? Nintendo has been responsive to the fan feedback, making sure that the game delivers and gives everything a person could want from having an Mario Kart 8 app on your iPhone to you being able to race across the Mushroom Kingdom in a Mercedes Benz as DLC to ensure that it be a hit and get consoles to sell like hot cakes, but the question is will it?
Mario Kart 8 will do good, but it might not do well enough to help Nintendo raise to its former glory. One of the main problems that has plagued the Wii U since its launch was its lack of games that would guarantee people to buy the system. They have had the horrible idea to let its consumers wait in-between months to have something worth playing for it. The games that were considered to be its console grabbers haven't done what they were suppose to do. It's top 3 highest selling games for the Wii U: New Super Mario Bros U (4.16 million), NintendoLand (3.09 million), and the most hyped of the bunch Super Mario 3D (2.17) while good, but fails in comparison to other titles. And without any good games to play along with it, sales are effected. It's no secret that the Wii U is doing poorly, even before the release of the other consoles of this generation, the PS4 and XBox One. The sales for the Wii U have been approximately over 70k for the month of March which is short compared to its console rivals XBox One (311,000) and the PS4. The Wii U did however did better this year than last with its sales in February with an 25% increase, but they're not out of the clear yet. The combined sales of Wii U so far has been 6.17 million which is not only dwarfed by the success of PS4 and XBox One, but its predecessor the Wii.
Again, I'm not saying that Mario Kart 8 will be a total dud in sales. The reviews from both critics and gamers have been well received. A game this anticipated will do nicely, but at this moment, Nintendo has no need for anything to do nicely. They need an absolute hit. In order for Nintendo to catch up, they need in order to catch up with Microsoft and Sony they need a sure game that will have its system flying off the shelves. Hopefully Super Smash Bros. will be it.
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