Mario Kart 8 Speeds Past The Two Million Copies Sold Barrier In Less Than A Month

Even 48,000 to 60,000 is a "rise" in hardware sales too. If the effect is anything bigger, why wouldn't they share exact numbers?

Meanwhile, Mario Kart 8 is selling as well as it can on the Gamepad console. It's a good game with minimal Gamepad implementation.

Hopefully the momentum keeps up! I smell a Nintendo Direct coming up...

After getting my MK8 Wii U bundle, I also bought, CODBlops2, Deus Ex, and ZombiU, brand new, and cheap, downloaded Sonic Racing and Star Wars Pinball. The time to buy a Wii U is definitely now, not just for the new games, but again, since a lot of the great 1st gen ones are cheap now.

No real surprises there, lets hope it continues to do well . Some more advertising would help as there is still no in store presence for Nintendo products in England.

I've been in GAME 4 times this month (didn't buy anything), but each time someone left with an MK8/Wii U bundle.

This seems to show that it is the games and not the controller that gets folks to purchase a Wii u.

Forget the gamepad reduce the Wii u price and release more good affordable Nintendo games and third party developers will start to climb aboard. Nintendo will be back in profit and we will all be happy bunnies.

And funnily enough, ive probably spent more time playing mk8 on the gamepad than on the tv, go figure

1.2 million in 2 days, then 2 million in a month. Sounds like they're keeping the momentum pretty well after release.

The Wii U shall win!

@Morph Same here. Mario Kart is a great fit for off-TV play, and I only use the TV either when A: the GamePad is charging and I'm using a Pro Controller, or B: when I want to especially appreciate the graphics, 'cause man, does it look sharp on a nice HDTV.

@Morph Why? you must like tiny screens then

I really hope hardware numbers are significantly up in the NPD. We've already seen rises in Japan and the UK that ultimately turn out to be pretty poor. There's a lot of stories about bundles selling out in the US, but it concerns me a little that Nintendo choose to just say they went up, instead of giving figures.

@KodyWB-98 It's still quite possible. At 2 million sales, it's still about 3.5 million behind Super Circuit. Mario Kart 8 is likely to post decent numbers for the entire generation, but the first month of sales is crucial. It will never see this volume of sales again.

Good news. I love my wii u and my mario kart 8

I bought a copy on amazon and don't even own a wii u yet.

@CaviarMeths Do you have the first month sales for the previous Mario Karts for comparison?

I wonder how Amiibo support will tie into all of this.

Bit sad that the first game that has supposedly helped increase by a good amount (how much is the real question) doesn't really do anything memorable with the gamepad but Mario Kart 8 is such a great game that I'm happy it is selling well.

@Alucard83 I do the same on the gamepad because I am used to playing handheld consoles. Wii U and PS3/4+Vita is what I want, PS3/Vita will be next (hopefully). We handheld players were laughed at for too long (exaggerating over here), now everyone wants our portability. XD

YAY!!

Excellent news! I too often use the gamepad when my sister watches something on tv or dvd/bluray and thoroughly enjoy it. I did play it on tv last night and again gawped at the lovely graphics- i'm not a graphic fanatic but it looks beautiful <3 I really like the gamepad and it's served me very well, especially when i came out of hospital back in April. Rayman legends was a joy to play and kept me thoroughly entertained but i do need to finish it
Christmas for the Wii U is looking brilliant- with MK8, 3D land, Wii Sports club physical release, Bayonetta 2 and Smash Bros, i can imagine this year the slogan will be something like "a console for everyone and anyone who loves games." MK8 will probably pick up again for the summer holidays then just before Christmas. It looks like things are finally moving for the Wii U and i for one am pleased about that

Still no exact numbers for Wii U.......?

I've been having so much fun on MK8 that I plain forgot to study the sales figures and consider the implementation of the primary controller. I seem to remember, about 30 years ago sitting around playgrounds or parks, just discussing how good the latest game was with friends who had similar interests. I must be getting too old.

I love my Wii U play it every day I got mine day one and have never regreted it in fact we have two in our household one for the livingroom one for the bedroom , AWESOME CONSOLE..!

Good good.

Now keep that momentum going...

Dlc, amiibo, more Dlc, more amiibo, Even more Dlc and Even more amiibo - coming up I hope

@Alucard83 sometimes the tv is unavailable, sometimes i just can't be bothered putting it on. It's the same game on the pad just the graphics aren't quite as sharp and as vibrant

Mario Kart will have legs for sure. This version is without a doubt their best. But I am still waiting on that account system. I just cannot fully commit to the WiiU until I have it. I feel now that it just isn't going to happen. I think digital sales are high enough so that Nintendo feels no need to apply one. Cross buy and an account system, it was all I wanted from Nintendo this year.

@Alucard83 When you hold this "tiny screen" close to your eyes, it takes up a lot of your vision, just like sitting across the room from your TV, and only at the loss of some of the picture quality, and with my bad eyesight, I don't notice the difference.
If I'm using the TV, the gamepad is set to map, and I hold the gamepad up so I can look at the map without taking my eyes off the road.

Smartest move Nintendo could pull this coming winter holiday season? Smash and MK8 in one hardware bundle, at, say, 379.99$ (US).
I could imagine that kind of bundle flying off the shelves.

Naturally, at that price, there would be extras. I'd say ditch the wheel and give two Wiimote Plus controllers.

@8bitforever Famitsu published digital sales figures and Nintendo's are pretty low. You have titles like Pokemon that have sold a lot digitally, but the percentage of overall sales is still small, while most titles have very small digital figures. For example MK8 has sold 470,000 physical copies in Japan, and 13,000 digitally.

Nintendo do their usual thing of telling us digital revenue doubled/tripled since they started selling full retail games as downloads, but considering how much higher the prices are for retail downloads, it doesn't sound like they're selling many at all. I just hope there's someone inside the company that can see how low their digital sales are and try and push for the proper account systems. I'd be buying everything digitally if I knew I could download them again easily, and that means a LOT more profit for Nintendo than us all buying physical.

Great sales numbers for a great game and sum still find a way to complain about it…that's quite amusing. Infact it's so funny im going to play some MK8 online races and curse out that group of kids from Japan that keep beating me…man i feel old but i did beat them once so that must count for something right?

My only hope is that this trend of great sales numbers for great games continues with Bayonetta 2 and maybe the W101 will find the bigger audience that it truly deserves.

@Peach64 sounds like the same old song and dance with u my friend…"if the Wii U had better sales figures i would buy, 3 party sales are horrible people need to support even though i wont cuz i do t have a Wii U but u should, this game got a mediocre from edge or eurogamer so its obviously meh (few months later) this game is great too bad it bombed i wouldve supported it if i had a WiiU, if digital games would count for both the wiiu & 3ds i would buy them all even though i dont own a wiiu and might not even have a 3ds but if i did nintendo wouldve made so much money…"

Do u actually play any games? There are so many great games across all consoles past and present…u should try playing them it's much more fun than singing that old song of yours…dont be ashamed be honest with yourself and just have sum fun

This video game is truly amazing. Cannot stop playing it and I got it day one. And with Mr Iwata safely back on the board of Nintendo, things can only get better.

Wiiiiiiii!
http://m.ign.com/articles/2014/06/27/satoru-iwata-re-elected-as-nintendo-president-at-annual-shareholders-meeting

@CaviarMeths Ahahahaha!

@DaemonSword Don't forget to redeem your free game by registering MK8 with Club Nintendo!

@WanderingPB I think I made a perfectly valid point. I'm far from the only one put off by the way Nintendo handles digital games.

For the record I have never said people should support 3rd parties more. I point out the reason 3rd parties so often skip the Wii U is because of the sales and not some conspiracy, but I'd never buy a game to support a developer and would never recommend anyone so that either. If 3rd party games don't interest you, don't but them, but also don't turn around and say it's a conspiracy when they stop coming.

... It's been a month? I still havent't gotten my free digital copy of the four games yet. Problem is I already own them all physically.

Just got Mario Kart 8 last night and played with my daughter (4 years old) and we loved it... Keep it up Nintendo!

I'm really impressed Nintendo managed to sell 2 million copies of ANY game with only 7mil Wii U (maybe it's finally 8m now, been 7mil since the holidays).

And seeing as how big MK is, I think there will be more sold over the holidays as more people buy Wii U. Should be a good gift this holiday w/ SSB and the amiibo getting onto the consumers radar.

@Peach64 Interesting, I always thought their digital sales were huge. Well, I agree that those sales won't be bigger without an account system. I would love to go all digital for 3DS since memory is cheap enough.

Funny that Polygon predicted it wouldn't hit 2 million until March 2015

@Peach64 my friend your objective logic is sound no disagreements from me but its when u dabble in the subjective arena that u begin to sound like a broken record.

As for third parties i see both arguments: i wouldnt buy a gimped or cheap port of a game and i also wouldnt complain about not having any 3rd party support because with those low sales numbers business-wise it makes sense not to port the game over but what does that say to the fans that are expecting the game? Long gone are the days when u could get most games on just one console besides why complain when u can just save up and buy another console the games will still be there and usually cheaper. So to complain when u have the choice is kinda silly to me or to complain about games when u don't own the console is just ridiculous

As for digital im all for digital sales and lower prices but im a retail guy but if im not mistaken Indie developers set their prices and discounts so yeah. And as for Nintendo they're starting to do more digital discounts as well so slowly we're getting there and if its not enough well at least we dont have the Playstation Now Beta prices so whoopee for that. Cross buy VC games i can understand but games like Shovel Knight have different features unique to each version plus they're developing more features again unique to each version so i think that's reasonable. But to expect discounts or request cheaper prices when u dont even support/own the console is just ignorance. You wish the games sell well but you yourself dont support them??? So its better for others to support and buy games while u just talk about it? Sounds hypocritical to me but hey what do i know im just a gamer that supports games i like and play games to have fun

Sounds good. I'm helping every little bit of the way to get Nintendo to bounce back they just keep producing great games!

The lack of sales numbers for the Wii U console is disappointing. They can't be all that good given that. The game is awesome though. We love it!

@DiscoGentleman I hear you there's always room improvement but ive seen more frequent sales on the eshop lately so hopefully this is a sign of things to come or even having Digital versions of games released early like WindWaker HD would be awesome! Or one day having crossbuy for all the VC games buying both versions for a cheaper price than paying for them full price separately is even an incentive for me.

I personally think when Peach64 is objective its like dropping bombs on sum fanboys and i cant help but laugh and agree but when it comes to the subjective…well i guess u can say we agree to disagree LOL!

My sister bought my first Wii U from me after I got the Zelda one. Now we play MK8 online every now and then, and it's really fun. Us, and mostly everyone else I know that got a Wii U (which are quite some people), we really enjoy it.

@Alucard83 Given that I have two living rooms close to one another, one without tv and with more daylight, I like to play off-screen as much as I like gaming in full HD on the big screen. Also, holding a tv over your head while holding a controller if you want to play lying down on your back, just isn't that comfortable. It's also nice to be able to continue playing when getting a drink.

Very impressive news for Nintendo. Mario Kart 8 is a beast no doubt.

Imagine when smash bros comes out hardware sales are going to skyrocket.

We kept saying that the next big game will turn the Wii U around. We finally got that game. And after E3, a lot of my video gamer friends who previously weren't planning on getting a Wii U are now either planning on buying one by Smash Bros.'s release or seriously considering it. Plus, the Wii U looks set to outpace the Xbox One for at least a few more weeks.

Good to hear! I play Mario Kart 8 on and off still. Off TV play is great for doing family multiplayer since we have multiple Wii Us and can just gather in 1 room with our gamepads. (I know there is splitscreen but this works well for us)

@Alucard83 Gamepad held within 18 inches of your eyes is probably equivalent to sitting across the room from a 50 inch screen. So it's not really that small.

@8bitforever As long as Nintendo has to develop 3DS and Wii U games separately, we have no right to complain about paying separately. Now, when 9th gen comes and they can develop the game once for both platforms, then we can rightfully ask to pay once.

Account system ain't happening. Not this generation anyways. My condolences for the games you'll miss out on. Pushmo and Shovel Knight are SO good.

See what I'm doing, personally, is buying everything I want and just playing it and enjoying it. If my console breaks, I'll call Nintendo and have em unlock my NNID so I can sign in on my new console. But they won't break. They never do. Then I'm gonna take full advantage of Nintendo's cross gen transfer system, and all these games will be installed on the new console when it releases. Which WILL have net based accounts. That's what I'm doing anyways

@JaxonH True dat brotha. My only Nintendo Console that broke were my SNES and the original game boy. I was playing my SNES during a thuderstorm (I was 4 what do you expect?) and my little cousin smashed my Game Boy on the table repeatedly because she couldn't complete a stage in Mario Land.

The rest of my Nintendo system is still functional today!

What music is that in the video?

I've played MK8 for 3 out of 4 weeks I've had it, only to stop to reduce my current backlog a bit. I'm nowhere near done with MK8 yet, it's given me a renewed love for my Wii U.

@JaxonH Problem is I had a 3DS break from a child, no fault of the system. I called Nintendo and they would not restore my purchases. This was prior to NNID. Are you saying that Nintendo has changed their position now that they have the NNID? If so I might consider it but since I lost so much the first time I am less willing to spend again.

@Hero-of-WiiU Sell the one of highest value and redownload it for free ;D

cut off one head, another takes it's place....
Amazing how when people speak the truth they get silenced, yet whiners posts remain. Hypocrisy is alive and well at nintendolife!

I am loving MK8 and so are over two million more, good for Nintendo and good for gamers everywhere! Hopefully this is the start of the resurgence.
Hoping to have DLC someday, don't want to wait a few more years for another Mario Kart game. I wish they would just release an ultimate edition with all previous tracks from all Mario kart games. Granted it would be expensive but I and many others would buy that in a heartbeat

@DaemonSword Absolutely! I bought the wii u a few months back, and there are a ton of awesome games I haven't even gotten too yet! Super Mario 3d world is amazing! I hope more people jump on board !!!

That's crazy! Way to go, Ninety! Great success!

@8bitforever

Yes, they have changed things since the implementation of the NNID. It's not really advertised by them, but we've got multiple confirmations now that the NNID lockin to the hardware can be remotely deactivated. No, it's not as convenient as net-based accounts and yes, it sucks to have to jump through hoops of any kind, but the safety net is there.

What you'll need is your serial number from your old Wii U (the one that breaks) and possibly the serial number from the new replacement system. Call up Nintendo support and ask for your NNID account to be unlinked from your old system, and tied to your new console. Because your purchases are now stored as data in your NNID account, you don't need Club Nintendo to prove your purchases. Once you log in to the new system, your purchases should be under the "Downloads" section of the eShop. Just re-download them. Granted, having a Club Nintendo account linked to your system probably isn't a bad idea, just in case.

@Hy8ogen

Ooooh that sucks lol...

@JaxonH Which one? The thunderstorm or the maniac cousin?

@Hy8ogen

All of it. Idk which one's worse- they're both unlucky situations, that's for sure!

@JaxonH Thanks! I appreciate the info and that does change my mind a lot in favor making digital purchases.

@Morph I know right, i actually have to force myself to sit down in front of my HD tv. the off screen is just so perfect though.

Thats good news! I wonder if it had anything to do with the free game offer though?

I'm glad it's selling well, it's one of the better entries in the series despite the decidedly lame name. That's literally my only gripe with the game, battle mode doesn't matter to me too much at this point in my life.

Now start promoting your next big release, WiiU Sports. You know, the improved sequel to the main software that sold 100 million Wii's

If Nintendo gave out another free game with the purchase of a new game again, i will definitely buy more Nintendo games.

@8bitforever

Dude the same thing happened to me when my launch wii u died about 4 or 5 years later. Well it didn't die it just stopped reading disk. The silver lining is I was able to transfer everything over to a wii u when it launched. The guys at Nintendo wouldn't transfer my games from one wii to another though, kinda stupid if you ask me.

Impressive achievement.