Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) News Articles
Friday20th Jun 2014
News Mercedes DLC Confirmed for Mario Kart 8 in the West
High-end wheels
In late May we brought you the surprise news that free Mercedes-themed DLC is coming to Mario Kart 8 in Japan, the latest title to follow that path through a licensing agreement — we saw Nintendo do this with the Callaway brand in Mario Golf: World Tour. At the time Nintendo wouldn't comment on a potential Western arrival, yet it's...
Wednesday18th Jun 2014
News Mario Kart 8 Claims Top Spot in Japanese Charts, Wii U Remains as Number One Home Console
3DS top overall, Yo-kai Watch keeps on going
Nintendo's enjoying a run of pleasing sales-related headlines right now, with the recent NPD results for May showing strong performance for Mario Kart 8 and a related bump in Wii U sales, in particular. The latest weekly Media Create charts for Japan are out, and they continue the positive trend, albeit...
News Nintendo Needs To Cut Wii U Cost To Capitalise On Mario Kart 8 Success, Says Ubisoft CEO
"Nintendo has to perform this year, otherwise they will have less games"
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has passed judgement on the Wii U's future in an interview with CVG, stating that the Japanese firm needs to get more machines into homes if it wants to remain a key player in the market. Guillemot — whose company has supported the Wii U perhaps...
Monday16th Jun 2014
News Mario Kart 8 Speeds Into Second Place In NPD May Sales, Kirby Powers Up In Ninth
Impressive results in software, Wii U hardware sales improved over May 2013
We already know that Mario Kart 8 enjoyed a terrific launch, confirmed to have sold 1.2 million copies in its opening weekend and to have boosted hardware sales in UK. It's a vital first step in driving Wii U
News Mario Kart 8 and Tomodachi Life Hold Firm in UK Charts
There's this thing called the World Cup, it apparently affects sales
The latest UK chart results are in, and they bring reasonable news for Nintendo's two main entries in the top 40, reflecting a quiet spell for game sales but also early signs of hope for the company's current plucky, yet bizarre, 3DS title. To start at the top end, Mario Kart 8,...
Friday13th Jun 2014
News Mario Kart 8 Toys Boosting Into McDonald's Happy Meals
Best. Happy Meal. Ever.
In recent times we've been marvelling at Nintendo's entries into the McDonald's Happy Meal scene, even going so far as to unbox the recent Super Mario toys in the UK. They were fairly generic franchise toys, but it's all about to get real in the U.S. with the emergence of the Mario Kart 8 toys pictured above. As you can see...
Wednesday11th Jun 2014
E3 2014 Launch Sales of Mario Kart 8 Outperform Mario Kart 7 Figures in North America
An 18% attach rate in just three days
We already know that Mario Kart 8 enjoyed an exceptional launch, selling 1.2 million copies worldwide in its opening weekend. In an analyst meeting behind closed doors, it seems that the title has seized the honour of, initially at least, outperforming its 3DS predecessor. Senior Research Analyst David Gibson...
Monday9th Jun 2014
Rumour Mario Kart 8 DLC to Feature Expanded Roster and New Battle Modes
E3 madness begins
Update: We've received some further information that suggests these images are indeed fakes, good job you kept that salt handy, right? Original Article: E3 mania is well and truly underway, with screens now emerging of a potential Mario Kart 8 DLC leak that could be confirmed during Nintendo's Digital Event. Strap yourselves in...
News Mario Kart 8 Stays Second in UK as Tomodachi Life Has Modest Début
Still on the podium
The UK chart results are in for last week's sales, with points of interest being the momentum of Wii U racer Mario Kart 8 and the launch of quirky 3DS Mii-sim Tomodachi Life; ultimately, it's a mix of good and bad news. On the happy news front, Mario Kart 8 has retained second place in the all-format chart behind Ubisoft's Watch...
Friday6th Jun 2014
Weirdness This Walmart Employee Got a Little Confused by a Mario Kart 8 Poster
So close yet so far
It's Friday, it's been a long week, so we all need a little humour to get the weekend started. Thankfully a Walmart employee has served up a clanger for us to enjoy, though it's a mistake with an undeniable logic to it, regardless. As you can see above, someone baffled by the whole anti-gravity thing in Mario Kart 8 has decided...
Thursday5th Jun 2014
News "Play Nintendo" Tour Rolling Through the U.S. this Summer
Play 2DS/3DS games! Sit in Yoshi eggs! Poke Kirby!
To "play Nintendo" was once a phrase attributed to the use of just about any electronic entertainment device. Not so much anymore, with the wider variety of choices out there, but Nintendo is bringing the term back somewhat with a 12-city summer tour. The Play Nintendo Tour, running from 6th...
Poll Should Nintendo Patch The Controversial Fire Hopping Technique In Mario Kart 8?
New trick shaves seconds off lap times
Every new Mario Kart release comes with its own little tricks, but sometimes these speed-boosting techniques are seen as largely unintentional on Nintendo's part, leading fans to decry them as "exploits" rather than recognizing them as legitimate strategies. In Mario Kart 8's case, the "Fire Hop" is dividing...
Wednesday4th Jun 2014
News Nintendo Revenue Claims on Mario Kart 8 YouTube Footage Reportedly Underway
An expected development
Just over a week ago Nintendo confirmed that it would be offering an affiliate program for YouTube, in which it would offer tiered packages to content producers that would share ad revenues between Nintendo, Google and the channels in question. After the controversy following the company's heavy-handed claims of revenue in...
News Mario Kart 8 and the Wii U Take Top Spots in Japanese Charts
Yo-kai Watch passes one million retail sales
As was the case in Western markets, Mario Kart 8 has arrived in Japan to give the Wii U a lift in performance — it's had a notable impact in the software and hardware Media Create charts. Elsewhere popular Level-5 title Yo-kai Watch has finally gone past one million physical retail sales in these...
Play The Nintendo Life Mario Kart 8 GP Is Now Open
Come join our rolling tournament
As we all know, Mario Kart 8 is now available worldwide, and many of you will already have spent countless hours navigating its various courses and taking out rivals with red shells. With the view of bringing the Nintendo Life karting community together, we've opened up a rolling tournament called Nintendo Life GP,...
Video Family Gamer TV's Mario Kart 8 Championship Plays The Motorsport Card
The search for the UK's best Mario Kart 8 family is under way
As we reported previously, the search for the UK’s top Mario Kart 8 family is now under way. The first two round results have just gone live today, with the top member of the Hunt and the Sharp family going forward to the finals. This is the first time these families have played the...
Weirdness Luigi's Mario Kart 8 'Death Stare' Is Deemed Noteworthy By Fox News
More exposure for Mario Kart 8, though
One of the more amusing memes to come out of Mario Kart 8 has to be Luigi's "Death Stare", which we're pretty sure you've seen several times in the game itself, as well as on various social networking sites. It would appear that this particular element of Nintendo's new Wii U racer has well and truly "gone...
Monday2nd Jun 2014
News Mario Kart 8 Sells More Than 1.2 Million Units in Opening Weekend
Immediately becomes one of the Wii U's top sellers
This past weekend was all about Mario Kart 8 for plenty of Wii U gamers, and Nintendo has now released figures that show a particularly impressive performance for the title in its opening weekend — the hype and excitement seems to have paid off. Nintendo has confirmed that from 29th May (the...
Video Here's a Charming Mario Kart 8 Song to Start Your Week
Goodbye Blue Shell by Ryan Craddock
A good number among the Nintendo Life community have, we suspect, emerged blinking into the daylight after Mario Kart 8's arrival last week — a full weekend of racing can be a tiring endeavour. As such we may need a pick-me-up to get through the start of another week. This song from budding YouTube artist Ryan...
News Mario Kart 8 Drives Wii U Sales In The UK, Claims Second Place Behind Watch Dogs
Hardware sales up 666 percent
To the surprise of pretty much nobody, Ubisoft's Watch Dogs has claimed the top spot in the UK multiformat chart — but Mario Kart 8 has sped into second place, causing a massive spike in Wii U console sales. According to Chart Track, the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Watch Dogs claimed the top two spots, with Mario...
Friday30th May 2014
Play Mario Kart 8 With Nintendo Life on Twitch - Live!
It is time
Earlier this week we told you about the Tournament we've launched for Mario Kart 8's opening weekend, and as promised we'll be hitting up Twitch for some fun races in Nintendo's Wii U blockbuster. This writer and Anthony Dickens will be your hosts and victims, as we'll be jumping into the Tournament to race, well, whoever shows up. If...
Video Watch Us Unbox The Mario Kart 8 Limited Edition Bundle
Be careful someone doesn't run off with your copy
Happy Mario Kart 8 launch day, everybody! To celebrate this momentous event, we've decided to do an unboxing video for the Limited Edition version of the game, which features an accursed blue shell and — of course — a copy of the game itself. It's rather good, as you'll know if you've already...
Thursday29th May 2014
Video Experience the Blue Shell Blues in Mario Kart 8 With The Brett Domino Trio
We've all been blue shelled at some point
Mario Kart 8 does a lot right, including the fact that the blue / spiny shell moves along the ground to take out others en-route to the race leader, but the mere presence of that item is enough to irritate some. It likely annoys stronger players the most, as their reward for being rather good at the game is...
Nintendo Download 29th May (North America)
Mario Kart 8, Ittle Dew, Badgers defying gravity, Mega Man and more
It's that time again, North America, as we go through the download treats on the way to the eShop stores. A certain Wii U retail game is likely to steal the headlines, but there are also some promising new download-only titles and enticing Virtual Console games, along with a few...
News Mario Kart TV Web App Goes Live
It actually works
One of the new features of Mario Kart 8 is the ability to save, edit and share video highlights through Mario Kart TV. As we reported yesterday, those that have received copies early didn't take long to start uploading highlights to YouTube and Miiverse. The game is now out in Japan — in fact, Japanese gamers have had most of...
News Mario Kart 8 DLC Confirmed for Japan With Free Mercedes Car
Tournament also planned in commercial tie-in
Update: Nintendo UK has issued the following statement to Eurogamer regarding this news: The announcement this time was made by Mercedes-Benz Japan regarding their collaboration in Japan with NCL. As for the information relating to the distribution of the GLA kart for MK8 outside Japan, we will be able...
Wednesday28th May 2014
News Miiverse Tells the Tale of a Broken Mario Kart 8 Street Date
Oh, you naughty retailers...
There have been comments bouncing around online in the past day or so regarding Mario Kart 8 being sold early by some retailers. It brings to mind the early arrival of Pokémon X & Y in October 2013, though that was far more contentious due to the desire of Nintendo and Game Freak that some surprises would remain...
Tuesday27th May 2014
News Spiffy Mario Kart 8 T-Shirts Arriving 29th May on Club Nintendo Japan
Get ready to be jealous
A special edition Mario Kart 8 T-shirt will be making its way to Club Nintendo Japan alongside the game on 29th May. The shirts will cost 600 points and, as you can see, feature nifty silhouettes of twelve playable characters on the front and a small tire graphic on the back. They come in both medium and large sizes and are...
Video These Mario Kart 8 Players Are Getting Rather Immersed in the Experience
Two fresh commercials emerge
Nintendo has released quite a variety of commercials so far for Mario Kart 8, ranging from straight-up gameplay sequences to a quirky series that recreated items and features in a fictional real-world wacky lab. Two fresh commercials go for a mix of both ideas, while also showing off the game's local multiplayer selling...
News Handle Stand Adds Steering Wheelosity to Your Wii U GamePad
Hands at 10 and 2
When Mario Kart Wii introduced motion-controlled steering, an accessory in which to slap one's Wii Remote was a natural addition. Now that Mario Kart 8 allows the same type of control with the much bulkier, rectangular GamePad, at least one company has taken it upon themselves to reinvent the wheel. The Handle Stand for Wii U,...
