Poll: How Do You Feel About Wave 2 Of The Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Pack?

They are fun to play on. But I would have rather had half the amount of courses if they were as polished as the original tracks.

Extra courses are nice novelty and all, especially people who are still playing, but I’m just about done with MK8. It’s been 8 years.

More first party game news like this would be nice, there’s not much lined up for the rest of this year

The new tracks are great to be honest but i feel like now they need move on and focus and doing new mario kart game its been 8 years now.

I’m easily most excited for Mushroom Gorge, but Waluigi Pinball and Sky High Sundae look awesome as well. At this point, I have to accept the fact that this is the art style that they’re going for and I just have to appreciate the tracks for their layout, feel, and music. Fortunately, the first wave greatly impressed me in that regard so I have high hopes for the second.

I hope the time they are taking with the other tracks means that they'll keep getting more and more polished down the line.

But the strategy worked on me, I've been coming back for more MK 8 fun.

I feel if they added new characters/alternate costumes (you already got em ready on tour) or brought in more battle courses this would've turned an A rank to an S rank but never the less. Each new race track is welcome and I'll be awaiting each new wave with bated breath.

Mario Kart 9 can wait.

I'm glad there are so many Mario Kart Tour tracks in it, those ones are basically new to me as I've barely played Tour. I haven't bought the DLC yet though, I've just played some of the tracks from wave 1 by playing the game online (they can come up in online races as long as at least one person in the lobby has the DLC).

I think anyone with the Expansion Pack should have nothing really to complain about, it's more Mario Kart 8 included with their NSO. I for one have enjoyed the first wave tracks and look forward to the second wave

@Captain_Toad
I agree with the characters, costumes and karts from Tour need to come on over, even if it was it's own DLC called the Tour Upgrade Package or something, included with NSO/Expansion Pack and $20 for everyone else

I wouldn't even mind if they other 7 tracks were trash, as long as Waluigi Pinball is there I'm happy

Most excited for Waluigi's pinball. Only missing Peach's garden and Delfino square and all my favorite DS tracks are here.

I will welcome any new courses (as they are new) and Tour courses, as its nice to have them in a proper Mario kart game.
As for old courses, I mainly want gamecube courses at this point.

Definitely looks better than last wave in nearly every way; the track selection is better, the graphics generally look nicer (Kalimari Desert in particular would look like a basegame course if they'd just change the mesas to look more textured), the changes made to the courses included look to be improvements instead of making the courses lamer, and it seems like there's more polish overall. I really appreciate that they're rectifying changes made in Tour, given its limitations (reverting the rotating bumpers in Waluigi Pinball to their original faster speed, overhauling the mushroom placements in Mushroom Gorge so they have elevation again), and while I have a few concerns (please tell me optional auto-accelerate won't render Kalimari Desert's train an inexplicably trickable object instead of an obstacle), I'm really excited overall. Only downgrade from last wave is the music; with 1 track reusing a base game remix and 2 others having only slight changes, it's not as strong of a lineup, but Sydney Sprint, Snow Land, and Sky-High Sundae sound outstanding.

This series looks better than the last ones. Hope this is indicative of the time they are willing to spend on this DLC. Still, the overall quality still seems to pale in comparison to the proper MK8 tracks

very solid DLC. with the price and the mobile game quality ive set lower expectations, but it doesnt take away from the fact that getting 45 courses to play in mk8 is a sweet deal

I love how half the people who called the NSO Expansion Pack a bad deal has gotten it by now.

With the exception of Tour tracks, based on pure gold. It's just pure gold that's been processed and recycled through a Tour trash compactor.

I absolutely love Mario Kart 8. I absolutely love all Mario Kart games before 8 (some more than others of course, but still) ...I don't love this. It's nasty. Others can love it, but to me, it's just lazy nostalgia baiting with zero effort or heart behind it. They certainly made some major improvements in these from what I've seen, but they're still just spruced up Tour tracks.

I'm not about complaining or whining either and I hate doing it, I'm just disappointed and expect so much better from such a prestigious IP. For what it is, cool, it's cheap, even free with NSO, has plenty of content and value ...I suppose, for some or even most people. But you really should be allowed to expect better than this.

1/2

Sorry if this offends anybody, but I hope Nintendo just keeps supporting this title for years to come instead of making a Mario Kart 9 anytime soon. This is all I've wanted since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was first announced. I was miffed about having to buy a port of the same Mario Kart game when we were due the next one, but since the core gameplay and track selection from 8 were so good, I thought it would be a great opportunity to use it as a platform with consistent updates that added new content. It's frustrating it took FIVE freakin' years to get to that point, but at least it's finally happening.

I love Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It's a love letter to fans of the series with 100 stages lovingly remastered from the ground-up (despite already having upscaled versions of many of them in the Wii U game) and every returning character from the series' history, on top of highly-requested new ones. The fanservice for that game was off the charts. That's all I've ever wanted got Mario Kart: a compilation of everything the series has done up to that point, with gorgeous HD visuals.

If every single track currently in Tour gets added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it would actually exceed the 32 tracks remaining in the Booster Course Pass after Wave 2 by quite a bit. Just like how Sakurai announced a "Fighters Pass 2" for Smash Ultimate shortly after Terry's reveal, I'm hopeful we get something similar for Mario Kart.

There's just TOO many good Mario Kart tracks that I would love to see conveniently wrapped into one game: Maple Treeway, Luigi's Mansion, Airship Fortress, Desert Hills, Dry Dry Ruins, Koopa Cape, Moonview Highway, Mushroom City, Banshee Boardwalk, Wuhu Loop, Rainbow Road 3DS, Bowser's Castle 64, Shy Guy Bazaar, Sherbert Land 64...I could go on and on and on.

Honestly, Nintendo's more recent multiplayer games haven't been very great. Mario Strikers: Battle League is severely lacking in content, and in addition to this problem, Mario Golf Super Rush was often more frustrating than fun. Let's face it: if Nintendo makes a new Mario Kart from scratch, we'd probably be paying 60 bucks for only 4 cups' worth of courses that aren't as fun as the ones from previous games. For some reason, this is exactly what people want for Smash--a hard reset that takes us back down to a roster of like 20 characters that does something experimental. That thought absolutely terrifies me.

I would love for Sakurai to come back in a few years after his next project and say, "Hey guys...guess what? We're making a third Fighter's Pass!" Maybe I would finally get to see my dream come true of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Rayman fighting alongside Mario, Link, and Pac-Man. But if Nintendo starts from scratch, we'll be begging them to just add Bowser in a free content update 6 months after launch.

2/2

I know the gaming industry is in a place right now where remakes and remasters are becoming more prevalent than new experiences, and I understand that people may think releases nowadays are uninspired and just cashing in on nostalgia. But I'll take the familiarity of buying enhanced versions of old stuff I already know I love over something original that has a high chance of mediocrity. Because that's what a lot of Nintendo's original new multiplayer games are: mediocre.

They've become way better at making compilations than actual new experiences. Mario Party Superstars is better than Super Mario Party. WarioWare Gold is better than WarioWare: Get It Together. Mario Golf: World Tour is better than Mario Golf: Super Rush. I really hope they keep Mario Party Superstars alive for years to come as well; Mario Party used to be a yearly release, but if they started releasing yearly board packs with content from the GameCube, Wii, and DS games, that would be amazing.

While Mario Kart 8 is continuing to sell so well, charge us for new characters and Battle Maps while you're at it. I'll happily pay to get all the characters from Tour. Battle Maps were also datamined from Tour, so maybe this could actually happen.

My fingers are crossed. Go big or go home!

Sorry I always make such long posts, guys, lol. I hope people don't find it spammy/annoying. I'm just really passionate about games and don't have the IRL friends to talk about this stuff with. I need to stop being afraid and just pursue my dream of running a YouTube channel, so I can get my thoughts out there to a large audience. I think I could give Arlo a run for his money when it comes to going on long-winded speeches about Nintendo, haha.

Edit: I guess I never really answered the questions posed by the article. So, I'll say that I'm obviously very excited for Wave 2 and think the visuals are much more acceptable than in the first wave. Kalamari Desert and Snow Land look good enough that I think they could have passed as base-game tracks. We're ACTUALLY getting proper textures this time--hooray!!

I'm most excited to revisit Mushroom Gorge and Waluigi Pinball, but I'm excited to try them all. I think this is a much stronger track selection than the first wave. Coconut Mall is my favorite Mario Kart track of all time--though Ninja Hideaway may have dethroned it--but those two pretty much carried the first wave. Choco Mountain and Shroom Ridge were really fun, but the other half was pretty forgettable to me.

Sidney Sprint is the only track in this wave that I'm not sure if I'll love or not, but the rest are all solid. Even Mario Circuit 3 has me excited, as someone who grew up with the SNES original and is a sucker for that nostalgic yellow sky with pointy, green mountains in the background. New York Minute might also fill the Moonview-Highway-shaped hole in my heart. Good stuff all around.

I feel like since the original version hit in 2014, Nintendo should count to 9

@RubyCarbuncle - Yeah, I’ll eventually be buying the DLC. Just so I don’t have to worry about losing access in the future to NSO, or if I don’t have wifi and my switch wants to randomly validate my access to the course.

I am buying when all of them get released.

Feel New York Minute is a little unfairly maligned.

As far as I recall it's the only Mario Kart track to have referenced the original Donkey Kong arcade game.

I prefer the SNES courses...slopes with 90 degree turns...narrower lanes...more challenge.

We have too much EASY tracks. We need more CHALLENGE tracks.

And we need MORE BATTLE MODE ARENAS: 8 more! I play more battle mode than racing mode.

@itslukec Entirely agree. I think the out of place/low quality art is the biggest turn off for me here.

@Rykdrew
Yes every game should be intensely challenging, nothing can be a fun breeze anymore, everything must be the "Dark Souls" of its respective genre. People who want to play games for fun with their families can kick rocks.

I want every rainbow road.

@steventonysmith I don´t agree with you.

If a game is easy.....the DLC can be more challenge. Because everyone is skilled in this game (100+ hours playing...)

I like Mario Kart 8 multiplayer so much, but single player i prefer Crash Team Racing, cause the tracks are better than MK8 ones.

The most tracks in MK8 i feel i´m playing a "on-rail" game, making exactly the same layout, without any difficulty in completing a curve.. that is, with the experience gained in the game, a little more challenge on the tracks seems necessary to me.

There is already plenty of easy content in this game. He is not Dark Souls. And MK8 children can play with assistance-on...so...

But I understand the sarcasm!

Even so, can I ask, in 48 new tracks for..at least 5 or 6 challenging tracks? Will this ruin your family's fun?

@Rykdrew
Then play Crash Bandicoot, I don't agree with you on the courses. I think there are plenty of them that have a difficulty spike especially at the higher CCs.

Ultimately happy for more courses. I feel like this should have been the strategy for the last 5 years, we didn’t need a full new Mario Kart with 8 ported over but yearly seasons of new content added to the game would have been perfect- content as premium feeling as the base game, though. As it is this is a nice enough stop gap to what I imagine will be Mario Kart 9 on the next Switch as they clearly don’t have their A team working on these. The tracks are cheap looking and
not as creative as the main games tracks, but they’re priced as such so it’s hard to grumble really.

@itslukec

100% agreed.

@steventonysmith So..your family (that need easy tracks) play on 200cc? I don´t understand.

Ok..I see your point, but 5 or 6 challenge tracks in 48 new tracks...i feel fair!

Surprised Mushroom Gorge isn't getting more love. One of the best Wii tracks for sure, I really like it, and definitely looking forward to that the most in this "wave".

The other Wii track I'd love to see is the river one, the moving stream, Koopa Cape I think.

Want more SNES tracks but can't see it happening. I played 1st wave when released but not touched it since.... maybe this wave will engage me more

VERY excited. I've never played tour or Wii Mario Kart and can't remember Snowland on the GBA game so 5 of the 8 will basically feel like new tracks for me (well one of them is!) Plus I have strong nostalgia for the SNES Mario Circuit tracks and THAT music so delighted about the Mario Circuit 3 inclusion.

❗️I WISH they did something like this for 'Miitopia' as its my favourite 3DS Game so of course I bought it for Switch.

I'd love DLC for the Switch version.

@Rykdrew
I'm saying the option is already baked in, I personally enjoy 150cc. I just don't understand the want, or need for every game to be hyper challenging. I enjoy a game just being fun every once in a while and leaving the extreme challenge to games like Dark Souls.

Seeing a brand new course actually caught me off guard. I thought this DLC was going to be solely for racetracks from other games, but wow...

However, I still need to actually buy the game.

@Raffles
I think the inclusion of an entirely new track kind of threw people, but I personally welcome Mushroom Gorge to the mix it's a great track.

Well I still do have my issues with MK8 just in general and would be far more into it if we just got a new entry already which hopefully remedies some of my issues with this title but besides that:

Kalimari Desert is super nostalgic, Mushroom Gorge is a personal favorite and Waluigi Pinball is fun.

Sweets theme for the new stage I do not like, those generally make me feel a bit queasy but it's nowhere near as bad as Sweet Sweet Canyon which just looks repulsive.

Snes Mario Circuit 3 & Snow Land are just kind of fillery, kind of interested to hear what kind of remixes they get, I actually kind of forgot that there wasn't a single one of the SNES Mario Circuits in MK8 already.

Tour Stages are all all new to me and after the last batch I was left mostly impressed by those so sure, the more the merrier.

@ModdedInkling
Any reason you haven't? It's $48.99 right now at Target FYI

@steventonysmith I also prefer 150cc me and my wife.

More dificult is important. Because you start playing a game on easy/normal...like Mario + Rabbids....and when you finish it...and go play again..the game feel EASY. Because you are just experient in the game. So...to continue having fun, you need a hard mode.... Unfortunatly Mario + Rabbids you don´t have a hard mode. This affects the replay value. But, XCOM 2 you have harder modes. Into the Breach? Harder modes....and so on...

Super Mario Kart SNES is a sucess, and the tracks are harder than MK8. It did not affect the fun.

I think a game can have a little bit of content for all kinds of audiences. It doesn't have to be Dark Souls. I don't like Dark Souls.

I'm a little surprised we had gotten a new course and all of the additions are great.

@Not_Soos
I think the next Mario Kart game should be called Mario Kart Ultimate and it should launch with everything Deluxe ends with, 32 new tracks and a handful of new characters and kart pieces. Then it should have launch window free dlc for a few months and start to introduce new characters that are either Nintendo or 3rd party game characters and tracks. Then have a huge DLC pass or two where it adds in a ton of tracks, items, kart pieces and characters much like Smash.

@Rykdrew
Mario and Rabbids is Nintendo's fun take on the XCom formula but by no means needs to be as hard as it. I don't want Permadeath for Mario and Friends. That's like comparing Splatoon with Arma. Nintendo games do not need to be harder, or have harder modes. Some games are fun to play through, play the DLC and move on and play something else.

@steventonysmith But Mario + Rabbids can have both normal mode + hard mode.

Have a hard mode hurt what? The game can have both!

If you prefer play always in normal mode, ok! Nice!
And people that prefer play the first time in normal mode and the second time in a hard mode, nice too!

It´s not FUN to play a easy game like Mario + Rabbids a second time. But it´s fun for many people play first time normal mode and second time a hard mode!

FUN is the magic word here.

What is fun for one person may not be fun for another.

But if a game have content for everyone, it´s better!

@Rykdrew
It can but I don't get mad if Nintendo chooses not to include a hard mode

@steventonysmith I don´t get mad if Nintendo chooses not to include a hard mode, i get sad. Because the game has less replay value this way..for many people.

@Not_Soos

No need to worry, this site is made for us to write about games. And there is no shame in being passionate about games.

I am curious how hard the new time trials are. So far I think the tracks are pretty good. Since I did not play Tour the tracks are almost new to me. Only watched a few Youtube videos.

@Expa0 "Sweets theme for the new stage I do not like, those generally make me feel a bit queasy but it's nowhere near as bad as Sweet Sweet Canyon which just looks repulsive"

You must not like the Sweet Sweet Galaxy level is Mario Galaxy then!

@Rykdrew
I don't think many people re-play campaigns in modern games like you think there is. Many never complete them sadly

@LUIGITORNADO I still regularly play Super Mario Kart. It's been 40 years. The new tracks in MK8 extend the life of what is one of this generation's greatest titles.

Not everything needs to be a new title all the time. But if you're done with it then stop playing. Simples.

why do people want fewer Tour tracks?
they have played the Paris and Tokyo ones right? where the tracks change
and those who don't play Tour are given the chance to still play them

As cool as new characters would be, it’s a fantasy. Seems like tracks is all we’re getting. Characters would be nice, but im still enjoying the new tracks.

@Not_Soos I like your passion, man, and I’m happy to read any long posts that come from such a place of care and thoughtful consideration. Good for you.

And go for your dreams. Chase them, even. No one else will chase them for you, that’s for sure. You’d have at least one subscriber right here, my friend. Take care my dude!

I've said this before, but I wish they withheld the Tour tracks for the next installment Mario Kart 10 (yes, Mario Kart Tour is 9, like it or not) so that more of the courses prior to MK8 could be better focused on being remade.. Tour tracks are still being developed for that entry so instead of a handful or two making it into MK8, it would have been so much better if they had released all Tour tracks into MK10, IMHO.

Such a good lineup. Mushroom Gorge, Waluigi Pinball and Kalmari Desert are some memorable MK tracks. Also, it's nice to see content from Tour come over, and not be stuck to that game.

Good picks though it's disappointing we've gone 2 waves with no Double Dash tracks. Swapping Kalimari Desert with something like Daisy Cruiser would've been best.

@Grumblevolcano
Nintendo does not like to remember the Gamecube, it was a huge commercial failure for them. Second only to the Wii U.

I just wish they would add new characters too. I love a lot of the characters currently present but there is still SO much potential and it's largely wasted by having a bunch of babies and character duplicates in different forms for no reason whatsoever except easier roster padding.

@Yosher Our DLC for Wave 3 is Baby Pink Gold Peach!

@steventonysmith
I think that in a world in recession, people buy fewer games, so they play the same games more. Do you play on Steam? You can see the playtime, and so many info about the players. My online friend list (people that i don´t know about)...they play their 10-15 main games 500...1000...3000 hours... In my account you see i replay the games so much. Today i´m replaying Shank 2 (hard mode...cause the normal mode is easy to me, cause i had replaying so many time the survival mode to get a achievement...this game is so fun).

Here in this website i always read the people "What´s playing this weekend" and the people write about play "again" zelda...or "play again" sonic...or "play again" DK....It is very frequent.

Anyway, in a game, it's always, always better to have more reasons to replay than not. The more the better. The less, the worse.

Just for a friendly reminder here is the list of Nintendo Home Consoles and how well they sold (Numbers are in the millions and account for Worldwide sales):
Nintendo Entertainment System - 61.9
SNES - 49.1
N64 - 32.9
Gamecube - 21.7
Wii - 101
Wii U - 13.5
Switch - 107.6

So it wasn't until the Wii that Nintendo rebounded from their downward slide, and the Wii U quickly reminded them they weren't out of the woods yet and thankfully they made the wonderful Nintendo Switch and as long as they continue to come up with great ideas like that and distinguish themselves from the competition they will be around for many years to come. However Nintendo is not a fan of celebrating their failures so everyone expecting a mini N64 or NSO Gamecube should stop holding their breath

@Rykdrew
I think sadly due to eSports and streaming many gamers have stopped wanting to expand their horizons and simply play 10-15 games (mostly online centric games) for a crazy amount of hours. Which I think hurts gaming as a whole. There are thousands of games worth playing even just in this current generation of games, and many are not full $60 games.

So that's fine if people want to replay their games and save money but I would like it if people took more chances and bought a $15 indie game that had loved poured into by its creator then for them to save their money for the next souless $60 AAA title

They could take a page out of crash team racing and add some new skins and characters and maybe some more battles arenas too. I played the first wave once then lost interest.

@HollowSpectre
Maybe some microtransactions like Crash Team Racing too?

@steventonysmith Yeah let's go full hog! Then how's aboot 8 years worth of seasonal content for more of the cash money! We'll get mario kart 9 eventually!😂

I like them. I have them through NSO expansion pack. It's a nice wait up until MK9 which looks like it won't arrive for switch but for the successor.

I have played this tracks on MK Tour but is cool to have them in a big screen.

i missed the option for "i'm waiting til they are actually released!"

Wave 2 has a really good lineup. I'm most excited for Sky-High Sundae because it's a brand new track, and the first track with anti-gravity in the DLC, but I'm also excited to race on Waluigi Pinball again, one of my all time favorites.

Great to get all these new courses, but I really don't like the real city themed ones from Mario Kart Tour. They just seem off somehow, and I get the impression they didn't put a lot of effort into designing them.

Went with pinball. Minute was 2nd. Everything else is meh

Not that this affects me, but I’m curious: with NSO, you only get to play the new course as long as you’re subscribed, right? Meaning that the moment you are no longer subscribed, you can’t access them?

@Mattock1987 What? I thought people were crazy expecting a Nintendo Direct. Just look at that line up: Switch Sports came out, then Famicom Detective Club, theb Nintendo dropped Mario Strikers early June.
July comes Live-A-Live. Then August
is basically Xenoblade Chronicles 3. A week later, expanded content to Switch Sports, and new DLC to Mario Kart 8. Also more N64 and Genesis titles. September comes Splatoon 3. October we get Nier Automata and then middle of the same month Mario Sparks of Hope. The. Bayonetta 3 releases still in October. Then November comes Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. And if Nintendo wants they could still drop Advanced Wars Reboot in December. What else do you want? What other company has a release schedule like that?

Well, because I'm never one to argue with the majority, I'm gonna have to say I'm most excited for Waluigi Pinball. Though, to be honest, NONE of these courses are going to top "Disney Speedstorm".

@thinkhector what other company has a release schedule like that? Try Sony and Microsoft. They are leaving Nintendo in the dust in terms of the quality of their subscription services and the amount of games released. Given the supply issues all companies have had, Nintendo needs to double their efforts regarding the NSO expansion and their upcoming digital game releases

@BakedPotato64 there’s a difference between playing an old game because you’re sentimental and an old game because it’s all you can play.

MK8 needs a sequel yesterday

@steventonysmith

That’s really unfair to the GameCube. It wasn’t an abject failure like the Wii U was.

1. It made money. Nintendo never lost money on the GameCube. It was a profitable console, unlike the Wii U where Nintendo lost money on both the hardware and the software side.

2. It competed very well with the Xbox, only losing by about 2.7 million. And they were fairly neck and neck until 2004 when everyone (including myself) went out and bought an Xbox for Halo 2, which put it firmly in second place and the GameCube in third. Neither console was going to push huge numbers because of the juggernaut called the PS2. The PS2 had that generation won before it even released. It was riding the success of the PS1 (the first console to sell 100 million units), had full BC with that beloved predecessor (which was still getting wide spread support in 2000-2002, so as a PS2 owner you were getting brand new games twice as often as other platforms) and was a cheap DVD player in an era where DVD players either costed the same or about 100 bucks more. That battle was over before it even started.

3. It had one of the highest software attachment rates of its era. GameCube owners bought games frequently. Especially first party games. And unlike the N64 and the Wii that followed it, it actually got great third party support for its entire lifespan. Unlike the N64 where we suffered long droughts, there was always something new to play on the GameCube.

Nintendo really needs to leverage the strong output of games the GameCube had. Many of them have aged gracefully. It’s my third favorite classic Nintendo system. Only the SNES and GBA rank higher for me.

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that they’re complaining about Mario Kart Tour tracks, even though the Mario Kart Tour one was the most popular track in Wave 1?

@Rykdrew
My most played games on the Switch are:
Dead Cells (90+)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (75+)
Moonlighter (50+)

However as much as I do enjoy the occasional time sink, I enjoy games as art, not a simple distraction. I enjoy a great story, an amazing vision and something that sits with me long after I put down the controller. One of my favorite games from the past decade is Katana Zero, I enjoyed every second I played through it's brief but amazing campaign. I was in shock by the end but felt accomplished too, there were parts that were far more difficult than I tend to like but I wanted to see what happened next and how the story ended.

So in short I have a few games that I can sink a chunk of hours into but I am also always on the hunt for the next game that will blow me away just like Katana Zero did.

@OrtadragoonX
The Gamecube was on the market from 2001-2007
In 2000 they had net sells of 530,665 (in millions of yen)
But in 2001 they had net sales of 462,502
in 2002 : 554,886
in 2003: 504,135
in 2004: 514,805
in 2005: 515,292
in 2006: 509,249

Then the Wii helped them out of basically failing stagnant numbers with 2007 they had net sales of 966,534.

So yes the Gamecube was a failure in the eyes of Nintendo.

Sony (their only real rival they considered at the time) sold 155 million PS2s

Playstation had still an attachment rate of 6.2 which when given its nearly 100 million console lead means they embarrassed Nintendo.

Just because you enjoyed a system doesn't mean that Nintendo enjoyed the experience of coming in third place

6 years from now, Nintendo will be like, here’s all the stuff from Animal Crossing New Leaf that you wanted but we left out of New Horizons. Here, it can be yours for only $34.99! (Adjusted for inflation).

I love Mario Kart 8 but I've literally played it to death at this point so I'll pass. Maybe after all the courses come out I'll pick them up but I'm in no hurry.

I’ll never understand the people that want MK9 on Switch. I’d rather they save that for the successor. I’m glad they’re just adding to this one since it looks as good as a game could already on Switch.

Where's the option for 'I'm enjoying the courses backported to Wii U'?

Overall happy, at least we got one of the tracks everyone was asking for

Looking forward to Kalimari Desert! The N64 courses are always my favourites.

@Mattock1987 I'm talking about the new games coming out. Sony and Microsoft are not releasing first party titles every month for the rest of the year. And Sony's service is expensive with disappearing games. And Microsoft's "steaming" for Game Pass is unusable. It's only good you have an Xbox to download the games. And games disappear from that service too. People complain about physical releases. You want a future where you can't even own digital copies??

@Mattock1987 There are several first party games lined up: Splatoon 3, Kirby, Bayonetta 3, Pokemon.. There might be something else unannounced. Nintendo likes to release a Zelda game every year but they haven’t announced anything yet. So there could be something

Retro courses make better for TT
Good selection thus far super circuit has loads playing that on my 280v
I try to think off stages that were rubbish throughout the series as there are less send the message to avoid

Of typo my bad what id like to see is no item modes or all ? Mushrooms stuff like that but myself i do love Snes i hope more and a DKjr

Another Link track would be welcome

If these are already made and ported over why are we waiting for months for them to come...... They where already made in your... I'd understand if they changed things visually to look like the base mk8 but it's not even that

@bonjong23 because mk8 was a wiiu game.....this games been playable for two generations.... It's old and upon release had nothing new besides a slightly better battle mode yet was still half baked .... Barely had new characters and no new tracks.

@Captain_Toad Oh God don't even joke about that XD

@Not_Soos,

I would still like to think this is Nintendo's way of keeping Mario Kart 8 relevant, and giving something back to fans in lieu of a new Mario Kart game.

Obviously for such a massive seller Nintendo were never going to satisfied by the Wii U games sales, so it was a given they were going to release an upgraded version on the Switch, but I bet even they have been surprised by it's current sales of 45 million or so, which of course made releasing Mario Kart 9 on the Switch impossible.

Also the more modest power jump from Wii U to the Switch made releasing a newer Mario Kart title tough technically, as it's a series where the hardware advances have been pretty noticeable. Pretty sure we will get the next installment on the Switch 2, and that it's development is already underway.

Have you bought and/or played the Booster Course Pack? (2,791 votes)

I get it through the NSO subscription, but I haven't played it.
4%

I get it through the NSO subscription, but I don't own Mario Kart 8.
1%

I get it through the NSO subscription, and I've played it.
37%

I've bought it.
40%

I haven't bought it, but now I might.
4%

I haven't bought it, I'm waiting until all the courses are out.
7%

I haven't bought it, and I don't intend to.
6%

I got/intend to get an NSO subscription just for this.
1%

My take from this is that 80% of the vote is split between subscription expansion and outright purchase, which surprises me due to the core membership on here, and the pretty vocal resentment to not only the online service in general. but the added price of the expansion pack.

Glad that it’s coming Tbh the first wave I didn’t play for very long, guess the core game is just a bit ‘done’. Can’t wait for a really new game that feels fresh and different.

But considering that they were never going to release MK9 in this console cycle the DLC is the next best thing!

Seeing how much MK9 Tour tracks make it in every single wave instead of focusing more on MK8 prior installment courses kinda saddens me. There's no way we will be getting every Tour originated track, so why not save them all for MK10 so that more retro tracks can get a new surge of life, ones not ever been remade moreso??

@OrtadragoonX I am pretty sure that ultimately the WiiU ended up being profitable or at least breaking even. . If not, how much do you have to sell to become profitable? 103 million software sales. At least as far as components, I thought the WiiU was not sold at a loss like other consoles. If it was selling at a loss during the launch, certainly by mid lifecycle the cost of components came down at least some to make it break even or become profitable per unit basis. I wonder how much they put into developing the console.

@Not_Soos You should join, only w/ your own mascot getup

@The_Pixel_King Thank you very much for the kind words! Your support is incredibly appreciated! 😀 I think the thing that holds me back the most isn't fear of embarrassment, but anxiety about getting doxxed and harassed or something. I'm petrified of the idea that I'll make one slip-up and get canceled--especially since my political opinions don't necessarily line up with a lot of popular internet personalities out there.

I'm trying to gather the resolve to put myself out there and accept the fact that not everyone is gonna like me, and that the randos who threaten people in the limelight are usually all talk, but it doesn't come easy. I guess it just depends on the internet circles you stay on--Twitter can get super toxic when it comes to mob mentality, but hopefully I would be able to conjure support from positive communities like here on Nintendo Life. I think a lot of the people here are generally quite kind and accepting. You seem to be no exception, so thanks again for the positive reinforcement! Wish me luck in overcoming this mental block.

IMO Mario Kart 8 was the best game on the Wii U and it's one of the best games on the Switch. I would be excited if Nintendo announced that 9 is coming, but I've still been playing 8 before the track expansion, and I'm really enjoying the track wave 1.

I like that the Mobile game tracks are included too. So far, the variety of the tracks released is really good. I hope they keep up with this trend with a mix of new, old, mobile, handheld tracks.

It's not going to happen, but I would love for a new wave of Amiibo costumes to be released on Kart.

@steventonysmith
I live in Canada

Why is the subtitle karts content and not karts kontent?

I was sort of excited, but watching some you tube videos on the really want me to try the new options in kalamari, and the city tracks... In a way the fact that the city tracks are tour made me explore them a bit and imagine how they would be remixed in in 8dx... if you look at the remixed Amsterdam you see driving through the canals etc.. that will certainly make me proud as an amsterdammer when it get to 8dx (probably next year)...

To the people asking about stopping to subscribe / losing the tracks... I imagine that the nso sub will just run to switch 2 and beyond, so will probably be subscribing to big N for the rest of my live...

@steventonysmith Yes that's true, as I recall, weren't there supposed to be no new tracks, and it was only retro tracks and MK Tour tracks? In which case yes this brand new one is a surprise.

I dislike the fact they have some Tour Tracks. I don't mind a few (Tokyo was cool) but i'd rather have older tracks..