Mario Kart 8 has had a lot of excellent features that have earned it plaudits, such as anti-gravity mechanics, amiibo support and paid-DLC. A much trumpeted feature when it launched, also, was Mario Kart TV, which allows you to upload highlight reels directly to YouTube.
Though you can access much of this within the game, Nintendo also launched an accompanying website that connects with your Nintendo Network ID to share the videos, track times and details of those on your friend list. It's a neat resource, though we never got a sense that the Nintendo Life community was overly enthused by the website itself.
Well, Nintendo has now confirmed that the website is closing down on 5th April, with the closure kicking in from 2am Eastern / 7am UK / 8am CET on that date. It's only the website that's going offline, though, and all of the game's Mario Kart TV features will continue unaffected.
It's a pity to see the website close down, but after two years it had evidently not proven worthwhile for Nintendo to keep live.
Thanks to all that sent this in.
[source mariokart.tv]
Comments 45
Never even knew there was a website
Not surprised, bought it at launch and I've never even used this feature. That and more evidence that they are wining down Wii U for NX.
After they copyright claimed the youtube video i uploaded through the very game I am hardly surprised. Seriously one of those worst services ever. The highlight reel is a very small cut so there is no real gain in it for content creators (who would just be able to use a HDMI capture card). And for casual youtubers there is no gain in it, that is to say, "why bother" type.
That's a shame. Oh well, at least the overall Mario Kart TV service is unaffected.
I think one big issue was many people didn't even know the site existed. I used it some, but...well my work computer blocks it so my time was limited tonmy limited data plan on my phone with it.
Anyway, glad MKTV itself isn't being shut down.
I don't remember there being one. oh well no loss from me
Just like everyone else, I had never even heard of this website. Oh well I didn't even use this in game anyway, never interested me, so I don't really care that much.
Don't worry. There's another great website that lets you watch Mario Kart 8 replays.
It's called YouTube. Maybe you've heard of it?
Well that was marketed well Nintendo, a site very few seemed to know about including me.
I really hope they learn to properly market the NX like they did with the Wii and DS.
I didn't know this had a website either
@favna- I upload most of my replays w/o music, no copyright claim on those
There was a website?
Reckon I'm not alone in this, but I'd gladly pay for more dlc for this game. Guess they need to save it for Mario Kart 9 though. Always wanted to see Double Dash mechanics added as an optional extra for this, but realistically I know that would have been a lot of work for little reward.
I wish we got more DLC for MK8...
You know, like actual battle courses.
@tux_peng yeah that's true, that works. Still seems retarded to be a "requirement" imo :
I never knew there was a website either. Was it ever announced?
@firstnesfan Per the article it's just the website, that I've never visited myself. Frankly I never knew it existed or that you could track your friends times and videos there. You will still be able to post and view content within the game and Youtube though.
I know it's unlikely as the MK team is likely onto the NX, but I'd love to still see one last DLC pack or a few free actual battle arenas for Mario Kart 8.
aha. I remember reading this article : https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/05/mario_kart_tv_web_app_goes_live
I guess I just wasn't impressed and it just slipped clean out of my mind. oh well..
What, why? Not that I used it regularly, but I always saw it as a crucial feature of MK8. I always wanted the same for Splatoon, a site where you can watch a specific player (like a friend of yours) while they play online.
@Favna there is an option to replay your whole race, I've done it.
I always knew it existed, but after literally an hour or two of looking at it, you've seen it all. How many times do you need to watch replays of the same type of crashes, people flying over the edge, or people just gliding past another player? The only thing that surprises me is how soon this is going away but if it's not being used then oh. MK8 is dying so fast, it's almost impossible to play with people who have 16k points like me online too, everyone's cheating or something by then and you just start to lose.
@firstnesfan "That and more evidence that they are wining down Wii U for NX."
Come on!
Is anyone going to miss this?
@Bunkerneath Yeah, Nintendo doing a great job of promoting things once again.
More proof that Nintendo is winding down Wii U for an NX launch later this year.
Never even heard of it! Lol
I only used it a few times. Luigi's death stare. This is o.k..
That exists!
Ok.
Can't say I'll miss it since I never used it.
It will still let you upload to YouTube tho, anybody know?
@Dankykong That "cheating" consists mainly in slides and firehopping. They are exploits of the 50cc/100cc/150cc/Mirror physics engine (in 200cc they are no longer effective) that allows to increase speed during a boost (firehopping) and to lose speed more slowly after a boost (slides).
Was this even mentioned in-game?
There's a website? lol XD
Sad to see this feature go, but at least it still works inside the game; at least I can still watch my awesome racing moments!
I wish Splatoon had to option of being able to save and re-watch matches like MKTV... re-watching those epic matches would be awesome! No website needed, though.
I checked it out when I first got the game and never looked at it again.MKTV on 8 felt like a backwards step compared to MK Wii's seperate app. I used that a lot for time trials.
Seem really antiquated to have dedicated websites for trivial features like this in this day and age.
Ha Nintendo just continuing to shut down stuff down. I also didnt know about this site. Crazy ~
I've put over a 100 hours on this game, I never used this once, I do think its a good idea though, not for me, I just wanna to race lol
@FragRed "I really hope they learn to properly market the NX like they did with the Wii and DS."
Preach it, bro!
At least the one thing this had was the Luigi angry face meme. I think there was another lesser meme as well at some point.
I only used this service to check details on some tournaments. I will not miss MKTV, altough I'm glad they kept the functionality in the game!
There was a Mario Kart TV website?
Online functionality that doesn't even last an entire console generation. Just more proof they have no grasp on online capable systems and probably never
@MrDanger88 Hey, they actual online multiplayer of MK8 is still perfectly kicking.
aaaand now I've found out there's an MKTV website...
As long as the in game feature is still in tact I can see why they did this. Its no different than a teaser site that has extended functionality. It is designed to raise awareness of the game but if everyone is already on youtube...no point keeping the site around for minimal traffic.
The NXocalypse begins. Kappa
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