Nintendo Confirms The Mario Kart 8 Premium Pack – Special Edition Wii U Hardware Bundle

Sweet

It's a nice bundle! Hopefully it sells more Wii U's.

NoA don't you dare fail us

YOSHI WIIMOTE!!!!!!
I'm keen, not the kind of design I was expecting though =(

Awesome... I'm new here and I'm wondering, is it possible to submit an article on here and if so, how???

yohi's remote is a bit fugly. Those colors dont work together. A lime green one with white D-Pad maybe

"Nintendo of America has yet to announce-" may as well have that saved on Notepad so that it can be copy and pasted every time NoA sits around with their thumbs up their butts.

heck yeah

I don't really see a big deal, it's just the game with the Wii U. Not a skin or anything. Also, that price? Ha, no.

And in other news the sky has been revealed to be blue

Im glad they're putting in the disc copy of MK8. I read on another Wiiu site that the wiiu has sold half as many units as the gamecube during this amount of time. This bundle is vital for Nitty.

saw that bundle coming. hopefully the motion-control driving will handle better than in MKWii, even though i probably won't use it and will stick to buttons.

It is a Wii U bundle. It is a special edition bundle. But it is not a special edition Wii U!

I already have a wii u, but I want noa to announce pre-order bonuses.
I think this is a good decision, but it would have been nice if they put some MK design on it.

http://store.nintendo.co.uk/wii-u-hardware/mario-kart-8-red-mario-bundle/10947202.html

I will buy a second WiiU if the bundle is the same for NoA.

I'd be seriously tempted at £199.99, so hopefully someone will offer it at that price. Can't really justify the £250 when you can buy the Black Wii U for £180 pretty easily and the game for £40.

Well, duh.

Totally want that Yoshi Wiimote! Have a Luigi one and kinda want the Mario one too.

@Peach64 I expect it will be available for that much pretty soon. Nowhere except the official Nintendo site ever sells things at full RRP.

In fact the original Nintendo Land bundle is still at £299.99 on Ninty's site, presumably as that was its original price and they couldn't be bothered to change it....

The Yoshi remote is basic and ugly. I may buy it if it gets a Lime green body, a white + and - buttons, and the rest orange.

@antonvaltaz Sure enough, Amazon have put it up for £220

I wish Nintendo would do a trade in system for old style Wiimotes because I have 4 remotes with motion plus attachments that could do with being traded in for Wii U remotes.

@Frapp Raymond Bryce remote is a must but I might hold out for a Star Fox one instead!

http://www.game.co.uk/en/games/mario-kart-8/?cm_sp=home--chart--mostwantedPos10

It's good to see that the Mario Kart 8 Wii U BUNDLE upgrades from being a rumor to a reality now in the UK. Although I can live without the YOSHI Wii Remote Plus tbh. I'd rather get the PEACH one instead of this one, but that's just me. Now, if NOA can produce the same news as with the UK about this going on, then everything will be rolling smoothly. If not, then there will be nothing but doom on North America's side of the ball.

Of course this is announced mere hours after I've purchased a Wii U lol
Ah well Ive got that sweet Mario Kart 8 special edition pre-ordered anyway!

Japan will probably show off the MK8 bundle for their region in the next Nintendo Direct. I just hope NOA does the bundle as well.

If I did not own a Wii U already, and if I lived in Europe, I would pre-order this bundle today. It's a great deal, and an excellent jumping-in point for new Wii U owners.

Also, I'm a huge fan of the special controllers. We own the Mario one and I've been tempted on multiple occasions to pick up the Luigi one. Now I'm really tempted if the US gets the Peach and Yoshi ones as well.....although I need a Pro before Smash comes out.

I'd guess NOA will announce the bundle for North America later today. I'd still like a MK8 Direct to appear within the next couple of weeks as there's still huge amounts we don't know like anything about Battle or MKTV.

WOW! $429.95 just for this as a whole bundle. I'm not trying to point any fingers at UK or Australia or any region AT ALL. But isn't a price like that a bit too pricey? I mean, even if the Wii U is in a desperate need to see more sales, isn't this kind of overdoing things a bit? :/

A nice bundle! More cash is needed with the new Wii-motes, they look good.

I don't really see what the big deal is with this bundle, it's just a Wii U that comes with Mario Kart, saving you from making one extra purchase. If it was like the WWHD bundle, then yes I would see the interest in it.

@3DSLUIGI Welcome to Australia, the land of overpriced everything. Unlike other regions, Nintendo never dropped the Wii U price here, so that $430 is what I paid in 2012, only with Nintendo Land instead.

@wario007 Now THAT'S a nice bundle. Has the MK8 GamePad protector finally been localised for a western release? Must buy!

@3DSLUIGI It sure is. The price hasn't dropped here in Australia at all. Its still selling at launch price, Nintendo Australia are hopeless.

@3DSLUIGI UK prices are almost always much more expensive than America (for everything, not just Nintendo). Chances are this bundle will be $300 in NA.

I only need one remote more but I'd surely get that Yoshi remote as well.

@wario007 - Nice bundle. Though I do think it funny the Gamepad in the red cover is white while the Gamepad it comes w/ is black.

It just turned 9AM in New York, Reggie is probably still sleeping as it's 6AM his time, so this news will probably be released in the next 3 hours or so. I'm more interested in seeing the US price.

I already have a Wii U, not really in the market for a 2nd, but it's still good to see Nintendo do this, just b/c if they didn't the Wii U would be doomed.

I certainly don't need another Wii remote (I forget how many I've got now. 5? 6?) but damn I need that Yoshi remote! Would have preferred it if it wasn't white, but I understand that they don't want it to be too similar to the Luigi remote (which I have already.)

Dat Yoshi remote......mmmmmmmmmmmm.

I think we all saw this hardware bundle coming. Doesn't it usually come with some kind of stand for the GamePad? If this one isn't going to have everything, I may just end up going with the Mario U/Luigi U bundle.

does not matter because it is still priced way too high

"Nintendo of America is yet to announced"

should be "...has yet to announce" (I'm sure about removing the 'd.' Using 'has' as the helping verb also seems correct to me but maybe that is different in UK English.)

@Peach64 Amazon.uk has it for £220

I need some Wiimotes, I like the Yoshi one.

NA should be getting this bundle, Nintendo. Just forget about UK. I'm so tired of us getting jipped out on everything because we buy doggeyoopsiepoop, and the UK doesn't.

_{Profanity is not necessary here -Lz}

@Peach64 Gotta justify dat first-party support...

GamePad needs to be racing flag checkered!

@LUIGITORNADO You also forget that Nintendo of America is usually slower when announcing these things, but their track record with bundles is very positive. This will be announced soon...but keep in mind it's coming out on May 30th so it doesn't have to be announced ASAP

Cool! I want mario kart 8 NOW!

Glad it's official! It only makes sense! I have the Mario and Luigi wii motes... among several others (Zelda gold one, black, pink, two white ones)... but I want that Yoshi one. Haha

I hope NoA announces that Yoshi wiimote soon.

Does anybody know if they confirmed the special edition of MK8 for North America yet? I've yet to preorder.

@Takerkaneanite6 welcome..=) as far as I know users cannot post on here just the people who run the site. However they all seem a nice bunch when it comes to taking tip offs and ideas on article and news pieces. ie, they won't put it up without mentioning the people that helped them gather the info. Hope this helps =)

@3DSLUIGI Yeah, it's kinda expensive. Nintendo won't lose the opportunity to earn some dollars from MARIO KART 8.

@Pod nice idea, they won't do it, but they should!

I'd like to get a WiiU. At $329.95 I would, but no chance at $429.95.
Will get back into Mario Kart Wii and try to get mirror mode cleared instead.

I love the artwork on the box. If i didn't own a Wii U i would pre order this right now! I hope NoA will announce this soon. Plus i want that Yoshi wii mote!

Its going to be a system seller for certain. But one or 2 major first party titles may not be enough to completely turn the fortunes of the wii U.

@ShanaUnite This is where if Nintendo act cleverly, there'll be a good number of big Wii U games shown at E3.

What an awful bundle, i don't want that extra crap. I expected more from Nintendo, seriously! Why is there still not a 64gb version launched?!? And people wonder why they don't sell enough consoles. Hmm i wonder why...

Prepare yourself to witness Mario Kart 8 not selling more then Mario Kart Wii.

@Marre35 Wii Us aren't selling due to small memory that can easily be expanded with hard drive/ SD Cards? May I point you to the Wii, which had half a gigabyte of memory and sold a hundred million units?

I skipped out on the Mario and Luigi Wiimotes, but I would snap up that Yoshi one.

I respect Nintendo a lot for not putting real ads on Mario Kart circuits, but recreating the aesthetic of ads by doing their own in-universe logos and brand names.

I NEED that Yoshi Wiimote! <3 I'm gonna get two, just to keep one in Mint condition. Yes I'm THAT crazy about Yoshi. >->

@Grumblevolcano - "a good number of big Wii U games shown at E3."

Yeah, Super Smash Bros, Bayonetta 2, X, Yarn Yoshi and maybe Hyrule Warriors.

Thats what happens when all your big reveals at 1 E3 aren't released before the next E3. This is why Wii U aren't selling, Nintendo has announced a lot of good Wii U games but after Mario Kart 8 none of them have release dates yet, which is the wrong way to promote a system. (I don't count "Winter 2014" as a release date)

So any word on a NA bundle? It's almost noon, hasn't Reggie woken up yet?

@rjejr I don't consider Winter 2014 as a release date either espcially after the discussion in another thread about the several meanings of that (one of which includes Jan/Feb 2015).

Eh, I'd like to say this will help Wii U, but knowing Nintendo the marketing will be weak, and the Wii U will still be doomed.

I'm good with my Launch Wii U and Mario Remote thank you...

But that Yoshi one is sooooooooo tempting...

@SecondServing Probably.

@GamerOZO I've just come to terms with reality, nothing can save the Wii U at this point.

Simply isn’t worth it once you realise that Nintendo revealed the entire future library of this console during last year's January Direct. No price above £120 (maybe a bit higher for this bundle) would justify the investment for such a paltry number of releases.

@Marre35 Be smart about it dude. Would you rather pay an extra $50 to $60 dollars for the Wii U because an extra measly 32GB, or would you rather pay that same amount for a 320GB to 500GB (or even bigger depending on store specials) USB HDD from a store?

Nice new yoshi and peach pads i will pick them up when listed. It's such a pity the wii u does not have a 500gb or 250gb Hdd inside or you can;t use sd cards to store games on . The 32gb inside is filling up fast now with all the new GBA games from eshop.

@Dark-Link73 True words my friend. I would consider buying a Wii U if they would just bend over & make a new revision console with 250Gb HDD inside.
People have already shown (by voting with wallets) that they don't care for a Wii U without a HDD (among other flaws).

I don't feel there is anything special about this bundle. Sure the box art is nice, but at the end the Wii U is a plain Wii U. Bundles like this should have design printed on like tee Wind Waker HD bundle. Now THAT was a bundle. Awesome box art design, Gamepad art, and Hyrule Historia (as well as game).

@Marre35 I'd say the game library is a much bigger aspect than the small HDD, especially that you can use external hard drives which I don't think there's a limit. XB1 and PS4 on the other hand do not support external hard drives at all and many people are quickly running out of memory on those consoles.

@Marre35 Again, you're not seeing the situation past the size of your hard drive. In order to have flash memory that size, the Wii U would see a price increase of at least $100 because Nintendo doesn't have fall back divisions like Sony and M$ do because Nintendo only makes video games. They can't afford to sell Wii U at a big loss like Sony and M$ did last Gen and as they're probably doing now.

The other alternative would be a complete redesign of the Wii U to accommodate a sizeable HDD, but that also would mean a price increase of at least $100 to $150. Then you'd be complaining that the Wii U is too expensive compared to the competition because of the specs.

Nobody forced you to buy a Wii U. Learn to cope with what you've been given and make the best of it. You're acting as if the U wad just like the Wii where we couldn't expand the memory. We can expand the U storage up to 4TB!!! What else do you want?

Hoping for a North American release. Also, the Yoshi controller is a neat surprise (was expecting a Toad themed controller, but this is cool too).

@ULTRA-64 Thanks for the warm welcome:D, How exactly do I give ideas and imformation here???

Is this one not more like it?

http://store.nintendo.co.uk/wii-u-hardware/mario-kart-8-red-mario-bundle/10947202.html

FINALLY! something that's gonna shift some WIIU's

Really excited about the U's future. Between Tickle the Squirrel 2, Bop It, and Zippity Games' announcement that Sandwich Maker 3d will allow motion control support to both slice the meat and cut the crust off the sandwiches, I'm really happy to be receiving new experiences.

I feel bad for PS4 owners who are excited for the same old experiences like Metal Gear 5 and The Division. It's all just rehashed and recycled ideas.

I have a really good feeling we'll get the chance to experience a new 2d platformer by the end of 2014. They'll probably announce it in a direct and then save a big announcement about it for e3 like a playable character or the background color of the character selection screen.

Once that 2d platformer is announced I'll be hotly anticipating the next first bor second party game which luckily shouldn't be any longer than 18 to 24 months from then, which will probably fly by cuzbi'll be busy playing any of the 2-4 third party games that release in that time.

It's a good time to be a U'er!

Yes , yes , yes , yes , this is brilliant news, hope to see Wii U fly of the selves when Mario kart 8 come's after it's slow start.

@LetsGoRetro can you put me in touch with your dealer? he must have some strong s*"t!

I was waiting for a good moment to buy a WiiU... this is it! this pack will be mine!

One word: Good.
Now bring this to Japan (esp. Japan, the hype for this game is crazy there) and North America and the Wii U will be flying off shelves. If I didn't already own a Wii U, I would've jumped at this bundle. I must have Mario Kart. Mario Kart is my system seller.

@Dark-Link73 They could have the foresight to put an expansion port for people who want an hdd (Sell it as just a case). Wouldn't be limited by usb 2.0 then either.

(Closer to the cartridge experience would be an SSD but over usb 2.0 one is wasted).

Even some type of a caddy that just took any old drive and clipped on to the Wii U somehow would be much better than a loose usb drive. (E-Sata or Firewire would certainly be better so obviously Nintendo went for the cheap inferior option).

I seriously doubt NoA will follow suit. It doesn't really matter to me since I already have a Wii U, but I doubt it'll happen here.

@Yoshis_VGM Yeah but it is just a normal Wii U without Nintendo Land for about the same price as the Nintendo Land one and the Game (Which is a physical copy in both cases).

Damnit Nintendo I still need to get those Mario and Luigi motes and now you come with Yoshi and Peach? How in the world am I supposed to spend 160 euros on wiimotes for just myself
gulp I guess I need to choose...Yoshi it is. I love that little egg decal.

If I didn't already have a Wii U this would be the bundle I would buy.

I'll take the yoshi remote. Dont care for the bundle since I already have a wiiu. Wish they would come out with an all red one. Or a 3rd party to make a new replacement case.

I guess its time to get a wii U once for all.
Just need to see how much it will be in NA and were set :3

@LetsGoRetro
Whoa, whoa, whoa! When did they announce a sequel to Tickle the Squirrel?! I'm like 30 hours deep and I've just uncovered the evil Owl's secret plan! As far as innovation and originality goes, you really can't beat that game; I just hope the sequel isn't a simple rehash like so many P4 and XBone games are guilty of (Metal Division 5? Never heard of it, but it sounds weeeeaaak!). Man, a great time for the U indeed!

@Dark-Link73 : great post! Some people can never stop complaining. More is never enough.

@hortencio Oh dude I was gonna be so mad if u typed out the owl's secret plan without even a spoiler reference. I believe the sequel was initially announced at Comicon after the infamous 6th toe reveal (When they announced the rhino in the background had a 6th toe)

Ps4 fans "oh look, the world is so big and lifelike with awesome effects and graphics and I can do literally anything I want including get all my frienda to play with me in a giant online incredible world" LOL NO THANKS!

@Marre35

Wait...you saying that MK8 will sell less than the 30 million copies that MK Wii did??

Bold prediction!

I'd prefer a Donkey Kong Wii Mote, but I guess selling something brown in that relative shape might be...problematic.

As for the bundle: Well, it's a bundle...as advertised on the box...it gives people everything they need to play Mario Kart 8 in one package. It is what it is.

I'm sure if there were no bundle, the people complaining about it now would be telling us how utterly moronic Nintendo is for NOT offering a Mario Kart bundle.

Yoshi Wii Remote! I want!

@unrandomsam You to need understand Nintendo's past to understand where Nintendo was trying to go (and achieve) with the Wii U. The Wii was such a success because of several factors. It was affordable, it was user friendly, it innovated by having motion controls, and it broke the stereotype that games are only for the young. It brought families together even though alienated the self-proclaim "hardcore gamer" population (I have a social theory in regard as to why buy that is discussion for another day).

Now, from a business perspective, if you had all the success on a product the way Nintendo succeeded with the Wii; would you change it radically in order to appeal the small percent of the population that you inadvertently alienated in the process? Of course not! After all, "if it isn't broken, why fix it?" Right?

So Nintendo created the Wii U trying to reproduce the Wii's succeed. It was affordable (compared to the $600 PS360's of 7 years ago, you can't tell me it wasn't), user friendly, and kept innovation going by incorporating the Gamepad. Nintendo even tried to lure the "hardcore gamer" (I hate that term) back with the addition of the controller Pro, the button configuration of the Gamepad, HD graphics, expanded online gaming, voice chat, massive external HDD capability, and promise of third party support. Nintendo attempted to correct all the shortcomings of the Wii. However, if Nintendo if guilty of lacking any forsight, is for not understanding the nature of the casual gamer and the arrogance of the "hardcore gamer".

Nintendo failed to foresee that the casual gamer, whom I'm guessing it was at least 75% of the Wii's population, is not interested in buying console after console, flashy specs, and big budget titles. The casual gamer only cares about fun and accessible games. Otherwise Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds, Farmville, and many games like those wouldn't be successful. So when the Wii U came out, the casual gamer either didn't understand that the U was a new console, or simply they weren't interested because they were happy with what they had. As for the arrogance of the "hardcore gamer", Nintendo failed to see that such gamers don't care about innovation and affordable gaming experience. The hardcore gamer only cares about the next console being bigger, faster, and more powerful than the competition. So when the "hardcore gamer" realized that the Wii U is not as powerful and flashy on paper as the competition, they shunned (and still continue to do so) three Wii U as inferior regardless of how gorgeous the games are.

Statistically speaking, the Wii's success was an abnormality; an extreme deviation from the mean. The Wii U, is the regression to the mean.

@Cyberbotv2 Thanks. Read my dissertation above.

They keep rolling out these wiimotes!! Would like to buy them all haha

AU$429.95 for a region lock console with no account system... you can get a PS4 for just 100 more and region freedom is going to save you lots of money if you are in Australia

Got my Wii U last week, so I'm all set for May 30.

Good work, Nintendo. You're starting to understand the world around you!

@Dr_Corndog Welcome to the club, mate

TF? A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE NEED TO STOP BEING IMMATURE ABOUT SAMUS WEARING A JUMPSUIT AND HEELS!

Honestly? How old are you guys? If Sakurai wants Samus to wear it then Gob bless let her wear it!

Teens are going to clubs at 16 and see girls wearing half as much and don't say nothing, but will blast a videogame character for looking sexy in a tightsuit like it's a bad thing? Where's the maturity?

@Dark-Link73 I know why they are trying to do this. Nintendo's new definition of everybody seems to mean everybody who is not buying anything from NIntendo (Only applies to people who have never played a single game before in their lives). The people who bought a Wii and only played Wii Sports made them much less money than people who bought loads and loads of games and VC.

Plus there is no ideal TV to connect the Wii U to. Digital Signage monitor is the only option for a decent size and a max 32ms latency. If there was an optical out as well that might have been an option along with component.

The mean doesn't mean what you seem to imply it does. (No longer a useful average due to the fact that the Wii figures massively inflate it). Looking at sensibly it is doing about 50% of what the Gamecube was in the same timescale so it is the worst in recent memory by a long way. (That is nowhere near any reasonable average).

@theARTIST0017 Maturity I think is something you lack if you think a video game character is "sexy" that is just weird.

Totally different thing to what young people do.

@Action51 Brown and yellow, problem sloved. That or Banana yellow with Banana chuck please!

@LetsGoRetro I hope those games are a Joke (the names you listed, not the game rehashes)

@HugoSmits lolwhat a developer doesn't own a Wii U yet? ...

@jasonbra they already have an all red one, Japan at least has it, plus Wii play motion in the NON us regions came with a Red Wiimote

@RawkHawk013 lol, can't even get the Yoshi one in the US so my collection will be #foreverincomplete, plus the Peach remote isn't out yet, and 2 or 3 retailers I talked to in store had no clue or said they didn't have on yet.

@ferthepoet NTY nawt buying a Cappy PS4 that requires me to pay for online, plus I could import games if I lived in the AUS from EU and they'd still work on my Wii U and give me CN points!

@Uberchu Theres a red wiiu in japan? I cant seem to find any images of it. Talking about the entire wiiu, gamepad, everything. Not just the wiimote.

I want something like this: http://sickr.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/wii_u_models_red_white_blue.jpg

@unrandomsam - Come on man...do you really think an artist or author can't create a character that uses sexuality to appeal to the viewer or reader?

My god, there goes half the appeal and audience for comic books! I assure you, teenage boys aren't sitting there confused and wondering why Starfire, Wonder Woman, and every female member of the X-Men have the same general body type and skin tight costumes.

Same goes the other way for women. Do you think those broad chested pirates with great hair and no scurvy on the covers of those cheesy romance novels are there by coincidence?

Ugh...I don't wanna pick on you, but it's hard to have discussions with people who go to such lengths to discredit someone else. Art can evoke powerful emotions, and it can also be used for cheap titillation.

Good god, I remember the whole Lara Croft polygon chest and butt controversy in the 90s...

@Uberchu I actually have no consoles at all (no PS3/Xbox) only a 3DS and Vita at home...