Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Enjoys Second Week At The Top Of The UK Charts

Given how well Switch games seem to be charting (don't think I've ever seen so many Nintendo titles in the chart at the same time...!) is it safe to say that Switch has outsold Wii U sales in the UK?

This is quite surprising, given the userbase of Switch in comparison to PS4 and Xbone. I think it says more about Prey than MK8, though.

It's about blooming time you guys decided to post the top ten!

I did not expect this. I would have thought (even with big numbers last week) it would fall significantly down the charts.

The Switch seems to be doing incredibly well. I popped out to town over the weekend to investigate stock levels and it seems to be sold out where I am.

@8itmap_k1d It says a lot about Bethesda and their practise of not giving out review copies of games. People are rightly holding off until they see review scores. Same thing happened with Dishonored 2 last year. It underperformed largely due to no reviews on day 1

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Week 2 sales being higher than Prey's launch sales is pretty surprising, especially in such a weak market for Nintendo. Either Mario Kart 8 had great legs, Prey had an underwhelming launch, or a combination of both.

Also, despite just 3 days of sales, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe topped the UK sales charts for Apirl 2017. It will likely be among the Top 2-3 best selling games of May 2017, if it outselling Prey's launch during its second week is any indication.

@Damo I meant seeing a top ten altogether.

I genuinely think that this is the first time I have seen you guys actually post a top ten on your weekly UK charts articles.

I don't know why you refuse to do this every week, regardless of whether a Nintendo game sits in the top ten or not!

That's crazy !
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe rules !
Btw, I still hate to see most UK gamers adore that **** NSFW games (number 2 - 4)
I mean, Come On !
Is that really Hard to adore something Really Fun and Appropriate (Safe For Watch) ?
I feel ashamed & disgraced to be a NSFW gamer.
Sorry for my harsh comments.

I think the sheer amount of good games released this year across all consoles has diluted the sales for each. For example, I am still playing Nioh, although if that hadn't released when it did, I may have picked up Horizon or Persona 5. I fully expect both of these games to be charting long into the year, albeit in lower positions as people catch up with the backlog. The Switch situation is different, with big games being few and far between.

@Anti-Matter don't feel ashamed. What's fun for others might not be fun for you.

Wow just Wow.

As someone landing fast in the market for Prey, I'm impressed MK8D beat even this one in UK. Yes, there haven't been many reviews yet (not that I personally read or heed many), but the consoles got a demo which floored and hooked me as another gem of Bioshock caliber - or perhaps that's the whole issue and its creators have just saturated the market with their own Dishonored 2 for the time being? There can never be too many first-person action games like this IMHO, but others may beg to differ. XD

But Nintendo is really on the roll lately. Way to switch gears!

Nintendo is WINNING!

So last week was the first No. 1 spot in 6 years.

When was the last time THIS happened? That same 6 years ago?

Now this has my attention that its not a fluke.

@Peek-a-boo Chart-Track asked websites not to post lists. I thought this was common knowledge by now? Besides, what was ever so hard about reading and article and clicking a source link?

I don't know what's changed and why they are now posting lists. Maybe Chart-Track gave permission or maybe journalists just don't care anymore.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in first for 2nd week in a row and Forza Horizon 3 being in the top 10 with the upcoming Hot Wheels expansion coming tomorrow. What a fantastic time for crazy racing!

I'm impressed. These are the exact type of headlines that Nintendo needs right now. I don't think it's a runaway success in the UK yet, by any means, but the adverts are certainly helping.

Hmm, interesting - Horizon may have kept Zelda off of the top slot at launch but Breath of the Wild certainly seems to be having the last laugh by consistently charting higher.. wonder how lifetime sales (so far) compare?

It's weeks like this that reminds people that (many of) Nintendo's own games are often AAA in their own right & can outsell many of the other companies big guns.

@Mogster recent years been lucky see any nintendo games chart at all.

But how much is it selling? It wouldn't take a lot to top the charts especially with the beautiful weather we're having lately. It's a quiet time of the year. Sure look at Japan last week. The number 3 game in their chart I think sold less than 25,000. It's good to see but we need a little perspective.

It's nice to see Nintendo hardware and software doing really well across all territories for the first time in quite some time. I just hope Switch can keep up this kind of momentum after the first year or so when most of the loyal Nintendo fans have already gotten one.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Really, perspective? Last week was the first time a Nintendo title hit number one in 6 plus years and now 2 weeks in a row??? I don't know what perspective means to you but that's sure telling to me no matter what time of year it is.

@Damo I think they mean posting a UK Top 10 at all, Chart Track request websites don't actually list it when writing an article about the current chart, and though you guys always respect that, someone inevitably asks why lol.

Nintendo bags its first UK Number 1 in SEVEN DAYS!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE It's still managed to beat a big new release from Bethesda that was released on 2 platforms with a combined userbase that dwarves the Switch's.That suggest it's sold fairly well.Especially considering it's the games 2nd week on sale.

It would be interesting to see actual sales numbers but still excellent news none the less.

I got it last Friday on Launch day and other than when I go to work and when I sleep I've hardly been able to put it down.

Lets just say I've over a weeks worth of Corrie & Emmerdale to catch up on

@Spoony_Tech He obviously thinks only Nintendo gamers buy games when it's sunny.

@Spoony_Tech Sure they're doing better. That it's been 6 years shows how poorly Nintendo in general do in the UK. It hasn't really had any major competition for top spot.

@FredBiletnikoff Didn't say that but Switch gamers can play their games in the sun.

And that's a major victory.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Less we forget that Mario Kart is basically a reskin of a Wii U game placing first 2 weeks in a row on a system which user base is most likely less then a million users. PERSPECTIVE!!

@Marios-love-child Corrie and Emmerdale, maybe you should go speak to a Doctor, I'm sure your better than that!

@Spoony_Tech Mario Kart 8 Wii U had to debut the same week as Watch Dogs. It was never going to get top spot. But it did come 3rd after both versions of Watch Dogs on PS4 and XB1.

@617Sqn

Unfortunately not lol......... they're one of my guilty pleasures i'm afraid

@Anti-Matter That's like saying there shouldn't be R rated movies... But I agree people need to stop buying GTA and COD all the time

UK games market - DEAD (we need another wiivelution)

All the Nintendo games are getting high numbers!

Nice for the UK. Seems an impressive indicator.

Here's the best part for Nintendo now. People start seeing groups play Mario Kart 8 in public (at lunch break, college, work, etc.). My own observations are telling me this may become a thing. Just listened to a podcaster who is a non-gamer (for 15 years or so) raving about playing with his work buddies during lunch break. I've seen segments of my friends/family buy it and/or take much more interest than they did in my Wii U. (And let's face it, we'll be bringing the Switch to get togethers all year long where the Wii U stayed at home).

It's so important that Nintendo keep that stock coming in, though. It's not a stretch to imagine someone seeing it, asking "hey, is that the Switch", observing and then stopping by a store on the way home. Stock determines whether that turns into an impulse buy or not, obviously.

Also... there is only a decision of time frame before we get a second one for our household. We can't be the only ones.

One more thing:
It's still early yet, to make any definitive statements about how big Switch is going to get. I'm just listing positives. Certainly performance will become a notable issue as demand for some franchises on the go pick up and I've got to believe Sony is a believer now and is working on something smart to compete.

But, I think the games being spread out over this year the way they are is a good, good plan. Mario Kart is going to get people interested in other competitive local play and Arms and Splatoon are next.

Arms is a new IP from Nintendo which let's the newbies and the dedicated Nintendo fans get excited about the same thing, and Splatoon buzz has reached beyond Wii U owners already. Splatoon could very well be the next thing for many, many Mario Kart 8 on-the-go players.

There's also no denying that Mario at the end of the year is going to put a cap (hah!) on the 2017 software lineup for Switch that makes the whole library irresistible to many.

Switch is not personally my preferred form factor for a Nintendo console, and though I thought it might be good for many and reach a broad audience (my college students were openly impressed when we watched that first 2016 Nintendo Switch reveal in class on the day of its debut) concerns about performance began to surface.

After the live presentation I was encouraged by the motion controls (believe it or not, for my own tastes) but the overall event was ??? for general audiences I think. So, here we are, and it's still a hot item and I'm not seeing it slowing down.

Its future library has incredible potential, too. Smash Bros. seems to have incredible cache among even the younger set (again my college students), which surprised me and I think it's arrival could wrangle many into grabbing a Switch.

Then, there's Pokémon, Monster Hunter, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing; all these games have tremendous potential crossing over (or back over) to a home console.

Xenoblade Chronicles has a good reputation as well, with the sequel coming maybe this year.

Mario Kart 9 will be coming in a couple years, as well, I'm guessing. Nintendo is not going to ignore the new Zelda interest so a spin off or related game will probably come sooner than later this time.

Dare I whisper Metroid or Kid Icarus Uprising 2? So many good franchises Nintendo has a hold of that can be leveraged once a big user base is in place.

I just don't know how important 3rd party support for large games will even be.

( Though, seeing Rocket League on that list... that belongs on Switch, no doubt. )

@Marios-love-child According to PushSquare, Prey only sold 20k copies and MK8 was down 71% from previous week.

@impurekind Yes the true test !!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE you have a valid point that absolute number of sales isn't going to be that high because of the season (although we don't actually know) but given the time of year that's maybe not the most appropriate metric to measure success. 2 weeks at number 1 seeing off a Bethesda release in the second week on a much smaller install base is pretty incredible and is perhaps a better metric to measure success. It shows a real appetite for MK even in this so called off season. This is fantastic news for us Ninty gamers. All of us. Even you.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE didn't realize Ireland and the UK had the same beautiful weather in all areas for two weeks solid. I live in the US, so I'm used to there being a storm, tornado, flood, forest fire, blizzard, drought, or hurricane somewhere if its not on top of me. Glad I have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe during such times!

Good to see the Switch staying strong.

Good to see the Switch staying strong.

UK finally coming to its senses lol

@Switch81tch
I understand your feeling.
Peoples in my country Indonesia have Almost Exact Same Pathethic gaming taste like those titles you mentioned about, especially from the Mid-Low economy (So Ghetto , So UGH...! )
They said, ONLY those titles can make feel they like a gamer. No playing lame fifa or **** cod or f***in' gta = NOT A GAMER. BLAH !!!
Any better games than those lame games ever ?

This should be a lesson to Prey and every other developer out there... if you want your game to sell well, release it on Switch.

@SuperWeird
Release on Switch + Physical form as possible.
Would like to see Overcooked, Portal Knights in Switch box.

I don't have a Switch yet, so I haven't played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe yet, nor have I played Prey because I also don't have a PS4/XBONE/gaming PC, but from what I've seen of Prey, it doesn't look very intense. I do love me some shooters, though. I have CoD Ghosts & Mass Effect 3 for Wii U and Quake 3 Arena & Unreal Tournament on my Dreamcast.

I would like to hear more about some fighting games coming to Switch. Wasn't there supposed to be a Blazeblue game coming to it?

@Alikan Personally we had a storm here the other night and the power went out... I happily played MK8 until it came back on!

Hi everybody!
Ive just 3 days ago bought myself a switch , and coming from someone who has gamed on ps4/xbone/pc for the last couple years (i did have a Wii U for smash bros and mk8 but its collected dust for a long time) , i cant describe the fun i am having gaming again on the switch.
The UK gaming market is dominated by imo trash yearly rehashes, but if Nintendo doesnt have success with the switch i'll be shocked. It fits into the modern working life so well. They do need to keep the advertising strong as this recent success does come during two very well known IP's launching alongside the system itself - If they can build on the momentum with strong marketing for Arms and Splatoon 2 , and follow with announcements like Smash bros switch , then its on like donkey kong.

P.s im sure it'll sell plenty, but Skyrim feels like the family pet that really should be put down , its had its time , can it please leave us graciously.

Jim Sterling has a cheeky dig at NLife lol.

That is a very good image. The more you look at it, the more it fits the story. Poor Prey.

@Switch81tch Yes I was amused with this one. (Sorry Alex)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold anywhere from 80,000 to 90,000 copies by now.

The current Switch install base is roughly 2% of the total PS4/XOne install base in the UK, which would put it's total install base at around 140,000 to 150,000 units.

By comparison, it took the Wii U over a year to shift 160,000 units, so the Switch is clearly nowhere even remotely close to being a "Wii U 2.0" in the UK.