May 30th, 2014 can be known as Nintendo’s Last Stand.
May 30th, 2014 can also be known as The Day That Saved the WiiU.
Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain: Nintendo has everything banking on Mario Kart 8 owning and conquering the summer.
Nintendo’s lineup of this year is extremely thin, and with its deficit against the PS4 rapidly increasing and its lead over the XBox One rapidly decreasing, they need to place all their wild cards on the few bright spots remaining. Mario Kart 8 is that humongous bright spot that Nintendo has recently been throwing everything at to make sure it remains in the spotlight.
Mario Kart 8 has now a bundle in multiple regions around the world, as it’s now packaged with WiiUs and also a few extra goodies (with the Europeans getting the nicer package since Sony and Microsoft have pretty much dominated the area in the past several years). The $330 price tag is extremely good, considering that $70 less than a PS4 you get a system and a game that just might be the best in the franchise (More on that in a second).
Not only that, but now Nintendo is practically, literally giving you a free game by just purchasing this one! Register the game online and before you know it, you can have your hands on Wind Waker or Pikmin or Wonderful 101 (Well, if you are in Europe). So at $330, you can get a new system, two video games, and more goodies? This is definitely the all-hands-on-deck deal we have been anticipating from Nintendo as we are seeing the continually dismal sales of the WiiU. According to VGCharts, even the XBox 360 has been outselling it in recent times.
Let’s discuss the game itself: the biggest online game ever released by Nintendo, as you can compete in tournaments, customize races with friends and strangers, and even upload gameplay footage directly online. This is arguably the most hardcore-accessible Mario Kart since the original SNES version. The Koopalings are all in the game to increase the marketing of the other Mario games out and about that gamers aren’t noticing (Super Mario 3D World and New Super Mario Bros. U are far off the usual whopping Super Mario sales numbers). This is the largest lineup of racers ever assembled in a Mario Kart game.
Nintendo is banking everything on Mario Kart to save the WiiU, everything.
The 2-D and the 2.5-D Mario franchises couldn’t do the trick, but Mario Kart just might be that savior. The SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, and 3DS each have their Mario Kart installments that are among the best-selling games in their generation and in the history of the system itself. Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart DS are two of among the 20 best-selling video games in history. If there is something that sells, its plumbers in go-karts. Easy game to learn, easy game to master. Kids, parents, grandparents can play it.
But Mario Kart 8 needs to win. Smash Brothers U is too far away if this game doesn’t produce the noise.
Even the release date was meticulously planned to attempt to create the wave of success it desperately needs. It was originally slated for the spring but got moved after the disappointing 2013 holiday season. Summertime, right as schools and universities ends and free time actually exists. Although game companies prefer the September-December months to release the heavy-hitters, the summer has been kind to Nintendo. The infamous price cut of 2011 for the 3DS occurred in July, and hits like Mario Galaxy 2 and Mario Kart Wii came out in summer/close to summer.
Mario Kart 8 has the marketing, the online components that we had been begging for, the extremely diverse grouping of characters, the perfect release date, the inclusion to a bundle that doesn’t suck (Nintendo Land was a mistake and a half), and the focus and care that Nintendo should place on their hardcore fans. This is the 2014 version of Ocarina of Time, minus the epic commercial. The difference is Nintendo knew Ocarina of Time was potentially going to be the biggest and best game in history. With Mario Kart 8, it could be the biggest-seller of 2014 and finally thrust Nintendo into the as-of-now two-sided Eighth Generation console war.
And just that potential is why Nintendo is rolling out all its features, specials, and attention towards this one game. Can’t discredit them on lack of effort, that’s for sure. One thing is certain:
Mario Kart 8 is huge-success-or-bust.
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