If you need any further proof that Nintendo's evergreen classics are of incredible importance to the company, this little statistic should do very nicely indeed.
Towards the end of last month, Nintendo shared its latest financial report. Thanks to this, we were able to share lists of the all-time best-selling games across Wii, Wii U, DS, and 3DS - as well as another list for Switch - but there was one small detail which we didn't pick up on at the time.
When looking at both Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, comparing their sales totals as of March 2019 to March 2018, we can see that the former outsold the newer Wii U release by five units to one during the financial year. Mario Kart Wii jumped from 37.10m units to 37.20m (100,000 copies), while Mario Kart 8 climbed from 8.42m to 8.44m (20,000) across the same time period.
The Wii has a much larger install base than the Wii U, meaning that games for the system are likely to have sold more copies overall, but seeing an 11-year-old game still selling more units than its newer, arguably more refined successor (and one that is a cracking game in its own right), is still pretty surprising.
Whoever's out there still buying brand new Wii games, we salute you.
[source resetera.com, via nintendo.co.jp]
Comments (59)
It's not just Mario Kart...
FY2018 Wii software shipments:
> Mario Kart Wii: 100,000
> New Super Mario Bros Wii: 60,000
> Super Smash Bros Brawl: 30,000
> Wii Sports: 20,000
> Wii Sports Resort: 20,000
> Super Mario Galaxy: 20,000
> Wii Party: 10,000
FY2018 Wii U software shipments:
> Super Mario 3D World: 40,000
> Zelda Wind Waker HD: 40,000
> Mario Party 10: 30,000
> Mario Kart 8: 20,000
> New Super Mario Bros U: 20,000
> Super Smash Bros Wii U: 20,000
> Splatoon: 10,000
> New Super Luigi U: 10,000
NSMBWii sold 3X more than NSMBU.
Smash Bros Brawl sold 50% more than Smash Bros Wii U.
is this game still being manufactured or is this just remaining stock? its really incredible its still sellin. not so surprised the wii u games are not selling as much
Where can you still buy this besides eBay?
Not believing this info sorry
Mariokart wii doesn’t have a remake and is on a console with 100 million plus sales.
WiiU mariokart has an upport to Switch, is fullprice and even Nintendofans hate the WiiU hardware.
In other news: water is wet
Mk Wii is much better than mk 8, I don't like the drifting
I still see Wii games for sale in my local Wal-Mart. Not sure if they're just back stock or newly printed games?
@jockmahon drifting is in every version of MarioKart, and it's the only way to win the higher version cc's obviously you never got past 50cc
Great news story......
@USWITCH64 The full range of Nintendo Selects Wii games are sold by Amazon.
There's probably a margin of error in these numbers.
This might just be that.
We seem to be talking vanilla Mario Kart 8 and not the Switch Deluxe edition. Given that it’s not overly surprising and both were only seeing modest sales.
I mean the Wii U only sold something like 13 million units from memory, so with the game having already been sold to well over half of the console owners and given it’s not being supported, who can be surprised it only sold 20k units. I think this specific scenario says more about how poorly the Wii U did than Nintendo’s backlog importance.
I like the game and bought it only a few weeks ago for my Wii i bought a few weeks ago as well ....it does not add anything new to the concept but i love the design of most of the races.
Are they tracking eBay sales?
This game was very fun to play.
You can still play online using custom servers and the community there is very active.
I own switch and wii u (had 2 wii in the past as well) and I still buy and play wii games! Actually I have to admit that wii (and older games in general) games are great and have something in them. Now I am playing Metroid Prime Trilogy, Zelda Skyward Sword and Goldeneye 007 on my Wii U and these games rocks. My collection of Wii and Wii U games is huge and is still growing. Especially now Wii games are very cheap and are really solid and good games to play. Also I play a lot of great Virtual Console games (like whole castlevania collection, Zeldas, Paper Marios etc.). Honestly, there are some nice games on my switch but I find my Wii U still very attractive gaming system
I'm surprised that after 11 years there still is 100,000 people who wanted the game and didn't have it.
Makes sense that anyone looking to get Mario Kart 8 at this point would get it for Switch, whereas Mario Kart Wii is something you'll have to get on Wii U, as it most likely isn't in physical circulation anymore.
AND. You need Mario Kart Wii if you want to play as Birdo.
@USWITCH64 i bought Mario Kart Wii on amazon.
It's also available buy in Amazon UK (Nintendo Select and the original version)
@Moroboshi876 They might’ve just gotten the Wii recently. I didn’t get mine till 2011 (Mario Kart Wii bundle, so black and backwards compatible); my best friend didn’t have one till I decided to give her mine last summer as a birthday gift after getting the Wii U. Or maybe the disc got scratched or a little kid broke/lost it. There’s a reason I don’t let my nephew handle my discs or my Switch.
As for me, I still pick up Wii games if they look interesting and I still love Mario Kart Wii.
@Arkay I'm tempted to look into that just to drive the Wii version of Blue Falcon online one more time. While overall I prefer 8, that thing was insane.
Great games always sell well.
Wow, all the figures are exact multiples of 1000! How lucky is that?
@Erchitu and great consoles as well...tho i consider the Wii U also a great machine
Maybe they all bought it for their Wii U 🤔
Wow that just shows how screwed the wii u was.
I am not overly surprised and I'll tell you why. For one, I seem to recall an old article that said how Mario Kart Wii was on Amazon's best selling list during Black Friday maybe 2 years ago or something. So it's still selling, apparently. Second, there's Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch now, and it's selling like gangbusters.
Oh the clickbait is strong in this one...
This is shocking and not surprising at the same time.
Bigger install base = more games sales.
It doesn't matter if the Wii games are worse (which they are, the Wii U games/sequels are obviously much better).
Arguably even some Switch ports are lacking compared to the Wii U originals, but they still sell better because of the sole reason that it has a bigger install base.
With sales like that I'm surprised Nintendo aren't still selling the actual console anymore.
@Bunkerneath maybe he means in this particular version? Ever think of that? Lmao.
@Balta666 wanna explain how this is clickbait?
@Sac_instead these numbers are directly from a fiscal report. If Nintendo were to fake these reports that would be a huge lawsuit by the Japanese government. You honestly think Mario Kart is worth lying about? Lmao.
The Funky Kong+Flame Riders are at it again
I like to think Wiimmfi plays a factor in deciding to buy it
Let's also consider the fact that both consoles are hackable, and the Wii U can be cracked much more easily, so those sales figures make sense.
@XavierIser because it does not say mario kart 8 for Wii U in the title. If it said no one would click on it as that is not really news. However the title makes you thing mario kart Wii sold more than the switch one as no one refers to it as deluxe
I think Wii should be considered a timeless toy instead of a video game console. I would like to be able to buy my kid a brand new Wii if mine breaks.
There are several games there that are universal and eternal, not because they are excellent or perfect but because they hit the right chords. It's perfect for kids.
I hope Nintendo don't create a Wii mini limited edition. It should be available for everyone whenever we want
@Balta666 that's YOUR fault for thinking that. It clearly says 'Mario Kart 8'. There is only one 'Mario Kart 8'. The Switch version is 'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'. There is zero clickbait here.
How is this even news? More garbage NL clickbait.
I hope Nintendo releases more DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch. I'd even pay as long as it's maybe 2 or more cups. I don't mind if we don't get more racers but I'd like more tracks. And maybe new karts, wheels, and gliders. But honestly I love the game, I just want more of it!!!
I'm not really all that surprised, the Wii is a widely owned and used system today compared to Wii U, I don't think it's a matter of MK8 being inferior to MK Wii, the latter is still a unique experience now that we have MK8DX.
@TempOr I would've liked your comment better if you said " Can't say Nintendo games don't have legs.. because they have ARMS
The best thing about MK Wii is how wide open it is to mods (thanks in part to Brawl modding community figuring out formats and tools.) It might not be as nice graphically as MK8DX, but it holds up pretty well with hundreds of custom tracks, plenty of which are actually really good. All the retro tracks you could want, some future tracks ported back, and some really original designs.
Also, it may have been a gimmick, but the wheel was FUN. My dad doesn't play many games, but he can control MarioKart with a wheel.
@Bunkerneath they said "the drifting," as in the change in drifting from Wii to 8 was not to their liking. I also, do not like the drifting in Mario Kart 8. Much prefer Mario Kart Wii and it's drifting style.
Confession time! I've never owned Mario Kart Wii!
I mean, Ubisoft did release the latest Just Dance game for Wii. One of the local Target has it in stock and on the shelve right along the Switch version, while the Wii U version was nowhere to be found. Wii games are still selling for a plethora of reasons, same as Xbox 360 and the now dying 3DS. It's just a matter of stocking them, not unlike older DVD releases that can be found in bargain bins and people pick up from impulse and the cheap price.
@Moroboshi876 I think that’s where Nintendo rereleasing old titles comes in. It’s all about grooming the children. If Nintendo forgets their past, it would hurt their current. Especially since their new games are very much tide to the old games, in terms of gameplay. 20 years from now, there will be adults who post comments filled with nostalgia about how they discovered Mario Bros. 3 through the eShop, as they anticipate the latest Mario game. Just like we reminisce about going to Toyrus, pulling that ticket, and waiting for the store employee to come from the back with our new game.
@outsider83 That's nice and I wish Nintendo was more like you say, but I was just saying that I was surprised to still see 100,000 people in need of a Mario Kart Wii copy in 2019. 2 consoles later.
@Bunkerneath this isn't a fact though. The jump button on my ds was broken, and somehow I won more races. And I'm a pretty good drifter normally!
@Dogorilla the A.I is horribly unfair, I've been shot from 1st to the the back at least once every cup. They messed up the battle mode, and you can't play 2player gp races.
The track design was brilliant, but my love for this thing stems from nostalgia and screaming with friends how unfair it all is!
Not surprised at all but pretty cool to still see it selling. I know it's not the most popular opinion but I've played all the Mario Kart games except the arcade ones and Wii was my favorite in the series until I played MK 8 Deluxe. Really great game and easily in my top 5 favorite Wii games ever.
This isn't remotely surprising. There's the obvious difference in install base which they pointed out. But I think they missed a big reason why the Wii U Mario Kart isn't continuing to sell more copies: There were so few major titles during that system's lifetime, that virtually everyone with a Wii U already owned it. First party games on the Wii U probably have the highest attachment rates in history because they were the ultimate case of big fish in a very small pond.
I agree with some of the people here that MKWii had better kart handling. Something just feels a bit off in MK8 for me. Still a good game tho
@XavierIser I am the Japanese government. Lawsuit incoming.
Nothing but flame runners and funky kong xD
No wonder FK never made it to MK8
Mario Kart Wii is the best Mario Kart
Is this game still not out of print? I am not complaining though, its one of the best Mario karts!
Tap here to load 59 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...