Mario Kart 8 Update & DLC Scheduled for 27th August

Thanks for the news in a more digestible format. Ohh and please add the FREE tag before DLC before people freak out!

Viewing the highlights is never a mistake!
Well, maybe after 300 races. But it's still an impressive feature.

On screen map and customization memory are AWESOME

Now I am oozing excitement out of all of my body cavities.
O_O That sounds gross.
More vehicles, and some minor(major) fixes!!! YES!
I am gonna definitely be driving the roadster.

EDIT: I cannot help but watch that video a ton of times. JUST GIMME IT!
I was a little meh at first, but this is just too amazing!

EDIT2: WATCHED TRAILER COUNTER: 7 so far and more to come...
I have never been excited about DLC in my life. NEVER. I never played any games with DLC though... If you count Monster Hunter(I don't really it's just adjusted parameters that you get from the internet)
Spoiled huh? Playing complete games all of my life.

Awesome update. Dat Mercedes Formula racing car DLC.

I like the look of the silver arrow, though I would prefer it in bright green! Excellent news on the update, glad Nintendo has been listening and I'm looking forward to that map being back in the screen!

There's my two biggest gripes with the game sorted XD now if they could do some track dlc

@Tsurii897 YES! I am looking forward to this too for the exact same reason. I feel like I should have got that darn glider a long time ago.

@antdickens
Will he give MK8 a 10/10 now?

Oh boy, can't wait to see how many losses did I net in this game as I already can tell I lose more often in MK8 than MK7.

Nice! Finally, people will stop complaining at me for the map

Yay! Next battle mode dlc!
Those cars are a tad funny and boring to me, but I guess someone likes them so I'm not bothered at all. Some more original vehicle dlc would be cool though!

1) Mappack of some kind, for battlemode arenas
2) Voice chat, at least with friends, if not optionally with everyone, during races
3) just an idea, but why can't i have the rearview on my gamepad, at least the 2nd screen would have some use then

4) Update for WWHD plz, it is still missing dat Y-Inversion, should be a matter of minutes really ...

Nice fixes! finally!

This is DLC done right... Free and improvements to an already excellent game. Not charging you £4.99 for a skin like some third party companies do
Thank you nintendo

Great, thank you Tom and thank you Nintendo!

One thing I don't get is: "Improving the stability of communication during online races" ..what communication is there during the online races? I only know the speech bubbles in the course selection/globe view ..?

@Ralek85
Yep, rearview on Gamepad would rock! ..why haven't I thought of that O-o

@antdickens
23 seconds - for an answer here, wow thx! Oh that, yeah that happend 2-3 times to me already. Good thing how Nintendo is working on their "online-skills".

@mch @antdickens @Ralek85
I guess rear view on the gamepad could affect frame rate though. The map on gamepad and the Horn button doesn't affect that much. It's also unfair for the 2nd-4th player. Unless it's for single player only.

Would be great to be able to play with a friend without having the split screen on the Gamepad. I guess I'll have to wait a bit more. sigh

@PinkSpider This is a patch fixing a broken game and it looks like it is bundled together with the advertising DLC.

@outburst

That is certainly a possibility, yes. Would be great to know, if Nintendo actually had this idea, and concluded, after testing it, that the drop in performance, if there was any, was not worth it.

'Changed default choice to "Next Race" instead of "View highlight" in the menu that appears after the race of the Grand Prix.'
_yes

@unrandomsam In what regard, would you say, that MK8 is in fact a broken game?

This has now been confirmed on the nintendo UK facebook page and youtube channel so i guess its safe to say its coming everywhere at the same date and not just japan
http://ow.ly/A0sv0

@unrandomsam It's still free though

@unrandomsam
If you feel so - my game is not broken in any sort - you might be worse of than having issues with a video game. I hope that is not the case!

Personally I don't mind Mercedes paying for our free DLC.
I am stable enough not having to buy a car now, nor pressuring my daddy to get one (I'm way too old, wouldn't work .

@Ralek85 That frame doubling thing is definitely a bug.

@unrandomsam Yes, sure thing, but how does this break the game? Most games would be happy to have such a high frame-rate and so little issue maintaining it. It is not perfect, but to me it is basically imperceptible 95% of the time.
But I'm not one to go about actively trying to spot these things, I learned long ago, that, when it comes to little taints like these, ignorance is indeed bliss. The game is perfectly playable, even with 59fps, though admittely, the display you use, might make somewhat of a difference here, I doubt it though.

Strange and not very Nintendo-like to add a brand to their series. Not specifically looking forward to that, i don't care about mercedes or car brands in general. The only DLC I'll be interested in is new tracks. Love the hightlight/next race change, that's definitly an upgrade as is the memory for your car setup. Scoreboard adding is also a nice touch.

One thing I just noticed in the video is that all the Mercedes cars are using the same type of wheel. Does that mean these DLC cars won't be customizable?

Some new tracks I hope they are coming at some point. I would be ready to pay 20 eur for 16 new tracks for example.

The TV map display and changing 'next race' to the default option post-race are two fantastic upgrades, as is the ability to monitor your coin count. I just wish they'd also add an option to map the accelerator button to the ZR trigger — then I'd be super happy.

Oh and one last thing, I'd happily pay top dollar for some new tracks and character DLC. Cranky Kong, Prof E Gadd, Samus, Kid Icarus and the Star Fox crew would be *smash*ing

I think everything besides the gameplay isn't finished,

@Ralek85 Can you not tell straight away ? Just one race single player and then another multiplayer ? (I notice it - Not sure I would know exactly what it was but I think I would know there was a difference between the two).

Looks to be an excellent update.
Mostly I was disappointed that the map is not able to be shown on tv, especially for local multiplayer races, but now they will fix that.

Awesome.

@unrandomsam I've been playing MK8 nonstop since release, I have never once considered it 'broken'. Things can always be improved upon, especially over time, nothing is perfect, but broken?! Come on! You will never be happy my friend, if you only look for what's wrong

@unrandomsam On a few occasions, I think I might have noticed it. Honestly, I can't be really sure about it though, it might have just been my imagination. Tellingly, I never even thought I saw something, before I stumpled upon that damn Digital Foundry article. Like I said, I don't go looking for little problems like that, since once seen, they are hard to unsee.
Much like a stuck pixel, but at least, if you check for those right away, you can exchange the device for a perfect one, which doesn't work here.
I have never noticed it online, I guess things are just too frantic there for me to even begin paying that much attention to the details of the framerate. I'm also used to quite some ups and downs in frame-rates and even tearing, from games like Titanfall on X1.

I hope nintendo provide track DLC for this game so it keeps intrest alive, it has the potential to be a busy online multiplayer for a very long time but they need to keep adding tracks so people dont get bored

@unrandomsam ever heard of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon? Basically, it's when you hear/read about something, and all of a sudden you start seeing it often. I think that's what happened with you, you heard about the double 64th frame-bug and convinced yourself you noticed it. Then, being the half-troll you are, blew it up as the game being 'broken' in your conquest for responses on unreasonable complaints you have about Mario Kart 8.

If Nintendo is going to start releasing DLC for their games, then I'm going to be forced to no longer buy retail games until they release a complete edition. This sucks!

@prefer2refer Nintendo has done some DLC before, Fire Emblem Awakening has some DLC exclusive stages, Mario Golf World Tour has some DLC characters and courses and Hyrule Warriors is going to have some DLC costumes.

Just be lucky that they are giving this DLC for free.

@NintenAliff Oh, I didn't realize. I skipped over the Wii and just got a Wii U, so am I trying to catch back up with what Nintendo's been up to. I just hope they don't start releasing GOTY editions because I would like to have a complete hard copy of the game.

@prefer2refer Nintendo has been pretty conservative with their DLC pricing compared to other game companies, it's either cheap or free.

Y'all realize what Mercedes karts means in-universe, right?
[youtube:1ohYsK5Y8Dc]

Its free so im not going to moan at the look of the GLA in MK8 but at least the silver arrow fits in.

Can I put my cyber slicks or hot monsters on these Mercedes vehicles?

@HarryK I just want to be able to race with a Wii Mote - but switch the gamepad to viewing the race map - while the TV shows me racing. So I can look down and see where everyone is. That would be so nice!! Right now, if you use the wiimote, you can't hit buttons on the gamepad. I just want to be able to use both screens like in Pikmin 3.

@PleaseUnderstan Yes, the kart customizing system allows for that!

Nice for the fixes but the disgusting blatant product placement is poor form esp from nintendo really thought they were better than that, guess they have to keep investors happy. Cars look really out of place too and dont fit with the aesthetic of the game at all.

Great fixes all-around! I especially like "Remember the vehicle parts to be used later / next boot" for convenience sake. I just hope a North American release date for DLC is confirmed soon.

Now that's an update

Thank goodness the map is an option, my wife constantly complains about it. Myself, I'd like to see more tracks added, but everything else they're updating is of no consequence to me.

Oh man this is a great well needed update hopefully for the next update they fix battle mode

People who are complaining about product placement don't seem to remember Pikmin 2 did it 10 years ago:
http://tcrf.net/Pikmin_2/Version_Differences

I sure hope they fix the fact that when you use an item on someone the person keeps right on going; this happens too often. I'll have star and hit the person three or for times and the person is alongside me. Or if you hit person with a shell or boomerang and they still keep going. Love the idea of the bringing the map back on the screen.

A map is good but a sat nav would be better. In all seriousness the game dues need an update and that's the real good news.

My three gripes silenced (YES!!), map, lag and statistics.

@BarryDunne Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed already does that. And it's the most pointless feature in a racing game, imo.

Ok, I will be the one to point at the elephant in the room. I read Japan and I read Europe. Where is North America? Is NOA left behind as usual?

Awesome!! It's as if Nintendo actually read what I complained about in my post-play Club Nintendo survey and then went and fixed it!!

am I the only one that does not care about the map not on the tv screen

@sinalefa This... I can safely think that NA is going to get it as well as it is an update for the game. Why would they fix it in other regions and then say Screw you to another. The DLC... not sure but I am thinking it comes with the update. They want to get their advertising money as well.

Now everyone who comes over can stop crying about no map on screen.

Wow, they did really listen to us via club nintendo. Great job everyone! Looks like a pretty solid update.

Nice updates!

Seems awesome! I hope all of those come to the Americas soon.

Now all that's left is actual arena tracks for Battle Mode.

Happy most of all that we can now see our total coin count.

Happy to see most people complaining about the DLC as a big "sell out" have shut up now that they know that some of the little issues in the game will be resolved.

Awesome! I look forward to trying out the cars & the update is great too! Hope we get more karts & characters later too. Thanks Nintendo!

Accidental "view highlights" fixed. MK8 is now Game of the Year.

YESSS

Will get this, more interestingly though - The title screen music is still ace, whole thing spells F-U-N. With a nice throwback as well. Ah, whish I could be the guy doing the drumming.

These are some great updates. All I want now is some proper battle maps.

Wonder where the on-screen map will go that won't be in the way... Kind of feel it would take away from the big picture of the course.

Also I've always wondered why in multiplayer the person playing on the GamePad has to have all four players screens on the pad, why can't that just be a full screen of whoever is using the GamePad?

Not buying a German car, not even a virtual, so I'll skip that.

Great update and it's a start in the right direction to improve the game ever further! . As far as what else I'd like to see added at the end of the day? Here it goes:

8 new race courses
8 retro race courses
8 new battle arenas
8 retro battle arenas

If they don't want to have to go through the route of having to make "New" race courses then I'd be fine with 16 updated retro race courses, since the original maps already exist in their vault.

Characters:

Paratroopa
Petey Piranha
Diddy Kong
Bowser Jr.
Birdo
King Boo (Luigi's Mansion appearance)
Funky Kong
Dry Bones
Dry Bowser
Wiggler
Honey Queen
Dixie Kong
Cranky Kong
Kamek
Hammer Bro.
E. Gadd
Nabbit
Pauline
Plessie
Sprixie Princess
Music:

Option to play the original versions of the retro courses instead of the mandatory remixes made specifically for this installment of Mario Kart.

I honestly cannot stand what they have done to N64 Toad's Turnpike, N64 Rainbow Road and 3DS Music Park... All three lost their charm, IMO. Sound effects having been lowered, flattened and missing WAY too much of it's original amazing bass.

Sound Test:

Can play the entire soundtrack to the game at anytime.

Optional "Item Spy" on the TV screen (on the left side, similar to Mario Kart 64)

That's pretty much all I would want to see at the end of the day. I don't really have anything else at the moment...

Battle arenas. Please.

Instead of making money and helping out their financial problems by giving its fans things to buy like say i dont know N64 games on the virtual console. cross buy options. GBA on the 3DS virtual console. HD remakes. Gamecube games on the Virtual console and stuff we want nope Iwata decided nope it better to totally sell out and put advertising in it games and totally cheapen the whole Nintendo experience. Nintendo is no worse than EA and has totally ruined the mario name. Sad for Nintendo their CEO is useless

Seems like a great update! So happy they have been listening.

Remaining gripes for me:

• no manual switch between cameras or players in MKTV replay mode
• should be easier to play with friends than waiting for spaces in a room. ie. start room with friends and then wait for random people to fill it
• an option to say you are happy to wait to join a friend ASAP, rather than it just saying "you are unable to join" and you have to keep trying manually when you think their race has finished
• no way to see which time trials you have beaten without going into each one
• no expert ghosts

game/rebalancing:

• address item distribution
• remove fire hopping
• allow jump/tricks whilst drifting (this was in MKWii)
• green shells should make more noise
• limited character/vehicle combos compared to MK7 (hopefully the Mercedes cars are not just reskins of existing cars)

Nice update

Not buying a German car, not even a virtual, so I'll skip that.

I'm thinking you will have to download it to be able to race online since others will be using it. Also, what do you have against the Germans?

I was hopping for an option to mute the music during races..

So this is a free update?

I hope they change the microphone feature on online with friends so you can talk into the microphone while racing.

''◾Fixed some (other) problems''

I hope they fix the fire hopping abuse.

Very much needed updates.

I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally watched the highlights when I meant to just go to the next race.

good to see the fixes, even better to see free dlc.

now only if they give back real battle mode.

Finally, able to view map on tv screen. THIS FEAUTRE is the most important update.

AWESOME, I hope the US gets it the same day too? Also, who else feels like the W25 Silver Arrow is a natural since it was basically the Yoshi kart in Mario Kart DS already:
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120901210237/mario/images/2/23/Cucumber_with_Yoshi_-_Mario_Kart_DS.png

Alright Nintendo, this is nice and all. Now give us proper battle mode tracks and add-on Cups!

I've always thought of MK8 as incomplete. It seems like they got the basics ready such as all the tracks and most multiplayer options but couldn't waste anymore time and had to release the game. Hence why battle mode is ruined because they didn't want to waste time making actual arenas. Maybe in a future update but one can only hope.

@gingerbeardman
lol, seriously, what is wrong with fire hopping? It really only ever helps for time trials. The only real reason why people hate it is because some guy complained and called it "cheating". I for one don't do it though I see others do it and yet, I see no difference or trouble getting ahead at times when racing and that is me using Toadette, one of the slower characters.

I really wanted an 'automatic' driving mode (like in the Wii version) for more casual players (like my wife.)

@ikki5 fire hopping is an exploit that leaves karts with an advantage over bikes. when you're racing people with 7/8/9000+ points, there's no way of catching those hoppers unless you resort to hopping too.

Still waiting for Diddy Kong.

What's new section confirms Mario Kart 8 updates and DLC for August 27th as well. Also, finally Super Mario Kart 8 will hit WiiU VC!!! (was about time, Nintendo!) http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/R5PtZz1nCb8rF4I0jtvCw38NlWOKE6ud

Nintendo is actually fixing two problems I have with this game! Now add some ACTUAL battle arenas!

Was hoping for more editing options in the highlight reels - like trim and crop tools, upload in slo-mo and save to the SD card slot - just so we can create our own 'Luigi Death Stare' moments!

finally can track my stats!

The Youtube video for the NoA announcement is already flooded with Nintendoids complaining for idiotic reasons about something that's hilarious and FREE.

@gingerbeardman You are making it sound like fire hopping with make you go 100 times faster when there difference is very small. Even still, Fire hopping doesn't protect you from shells, fireballs, bomb-ombs and other hazards. Like I said, it is not that hard to beat someone when they are fire hopping. If someone manages to get super far ahead, it was probably not a result of them fire hopping but a result in them getting ahead of the cluster of players spamming items or possibly poor driving which lead one into obstacles or off the track. This whole fire hopping thing to me sounds like an excuse for people losing and trying to justify why they maybe did poorly. Also, the people who are the 7-9k VR are not the only ones that can hop., I've gone against people who are in the 5-6k range who do it no problem and I still don't have trouble beating them from time to time. Yeah they can be difficult but I also think that is how well they can play considering how long it takes to get to those VR levels. So again, I higher doubt the hopping is really making that much of a difference. Yeah they hope in higher VR's, but at the same time, they are probably pretty darn good at the game to make it to those higher teirs.

Great update and let's see what happens with online with this. Crossing fingers for no more disconnecting or errors on my screen.

@gingerbeardman Is not impossible to catch up to those people who have 7/8/9000+ points, not every person who has those points are some amazing player.And you don't even need fire hopping to catch up, is called skill to beat them.

So, this update is just making this game what it should have been when it was first released? I'm honestly surprised that some of these things (like the default option after a race being Mario Kart TV) got past the beta testing. It's not at all game breaking, but these are small minor things that I'm shocked Nintendo didn't fix BEFORE the game came out.

Maybe now they can add payed DLC to fix the game's other problems, like the horrible Battle Mode and Character Roster. If they fix those, I'll say this is one of the better Mario Karts.

I heard about "DLC" on GameFAQs and I was disappointed it would be more new karts instead of new courses. :b Still a nice update, though like @GhotiH said some of the stuff here seems like it should have been in from the start.

_{And let's not forget how unbalanced the weight class stats are; so much that you can get a heavy character with a great 4 accel and higher speed than a lightweight can ever achieve, even with max speed investment.}

This is awesome! I've been wanting to check my stats for awhile now, and see a freaking map when I'm playing!
I just hope they add more courses and bikes. I love the bikes.

Can't wait to get SMK loaded onto my Wii U home menu!!

Finally, map on the TV screen though that is not the best part of the update, stability is!

WOO!

I finally get to see HOW MANY COINS I HAVE!

Now instead of guessing how far away I am from getting the gold glider, I can now be disappointed with how far away I am from the gold glider!

Also, map on the TV screen is a great feature. I've felt bad about using the map on the gamepad in multiplayer games because the other players don't have that luxury. And I'm really glad online communications are more stable. Lost count of how many times I got disconnected from a game.

I have one question for the update. Will it delete our data based on the free update you'll give us on August 27th. Will we loose our VR/BR, characters and etc.?

Sweet! Now all we need are some new tracks!

@gingerbeardman "remove fire hopping"

...why? Bikes with inside-drifting have a HUGE advantage over karts, and now that fire hopping exists, they are nearly on-par with inside-drifting bikes. Why would you want that remove? If they remove fire hopping, they should remove inside-drifting. Because inside-drifting is more broken than fire hopping.

Here's a comment I found on YouTube:

"Nooooo!!! Nintendo why u do this? I play this because its a silly racing game that doesnt have real cars!!'"

There's a kart in MK8, I forget what it's called, but it's a yellow sports car that looks just as out of place as the Mercedes cars. Why do people always forget about that kart?

@SockoMario But it's only realistic looking if you choose one of the realistic wheel options, Put the Sports Coupe with Cushion Wheels and it looks kind of silly. I'd assume these cars aren't mix and match parts but actual set options, don't know how it would work but still only full sets would provide full advertisement.

I guess this'll make @rjejer very happy.

Now they just have to fix the ridiculously unbalanced item sorting system, specially between 2nd and 4th positions, it's pretty hard to get anything better than bananas and coins. Maybe a nerf on coin % chance would be welcome, since you can pretty much max your coins by the 2nd lap (and they're limited to 10 per race).

I'm perfectly fine with blue shells now, they did a great job with those...

Changed default choice to "Next Race"....

THANK GOD!!!

Great! Some much needed updates!

This looks really amazing! Great gameplay updates, I just miss the race tracks at the end of each race, so you can compare your time with your competitors times, this is great when you´re in first place, but second place is really close.
Great karts too! I hope there are some new characters, karts and tracks on the way.

I like the updates planned. Though if they wanted to make a grown man cry, they would add DLC levels as well (for purchase is fine).

@gingerbeardman That makes no sense.

where is the update to play 5 multiplayer (like Sonic Racing)??

@Jmaster hahaha.... Lol.... That comment had me rollin' man

That's neat that they are updating the game functionality, and the features look pretty useful.

If they do future updates, I'm hoping the number of vids you can save are increased (I filled mine up pretty fast), and it'd be cool if you could save the slow-mo to the actual video.

Either way, kudos to Nintendo for updating the experience. Their first entries into DLC / feature updating are looking pretty positive.

While the game obviously already has a lot of tracks at 32, I have raced all of them online countless times now. I would love see some 'track packs.' I would gladly pay for them. With games like CoD on other consoles, they always get a bunch of new DLC map packs. We should get the same. Create season passes and give us the goods Nintendo!

Another addition I would love to see with an update is the ability for one player to play on the gamepad while the other uses the TV. But maybe that's not possible for technical reasons. I know the game pushes the Wii U hardware, but surely they could drop the framerate to make it possible or something. I'll take 30fps if that's the only way to do it.

I’m a bit disappointed by the highlights feature. I always feel the scenes that are shown are too short

@DarkEdi I doubt that would ever come and even if it did it would put Nintendo at risk with being sued for saying offline 1-4 players on the box (Sony's being sued for Killzone: Shadow Fall graphics as it's not native 1080p so if something that stupid is happening then given Nintendo's recent battles against patent trolls it'll likely happen to them too).

Yay this update is on my Birthday!

So cool. Once again I'm I'm very glad bought a wiiU and Mario Kart 8.

Good work Nintendo! Nice to see you guys are starting to look into what your customers are complaining about. All we need is this and the games complete!
http://www.change.org/petitions/nintendo-fix-battle-mode-in-mario-kart-8