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[DICKS AHOY]

They made a bad pie chart comparing unlike measures and then went on to predict lifetime sales that are going to be hilariously wrong (1.12M first week sales vs his predicted 1.26 LIFETIME sales).

The calling out is well justified.

I'm more curious about what people specifically calling him out on, since the pie chart stuff was dumb as all hell but he's not wrong that it's probably going to perform way worse than most of the other MK's have. I thought the original joke was how he was acting like this some sort of stunning revelation nobody else had come to a year earlier, but some of the responses here seem to suggest he's an idiot for thinking it's going to under-perform for a Mario Kart in the first place. That's what I'm asking.

Didn't know about the lifetime sales claim, though I vaguely remember Polygon thinking TLOU was going to be a bomb as well for some reason. They're not particularly good at predicting things.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

Well deserved. Hope it injects some new life into WiiU's numbers.

Perfect.

 

[DeuceGamer]

Good numbers. Should have also bumped sales for accessories (Wii Wheels, Wii Mote's, etc...). Hopefully it moved some Wii U's as well though I think they should have hit $299 at a minimum on the bunduru's.

 

[Killa Sasa]

Between now and Smash, I'll probably pick one up. Just needed a good wave of games to justify it on my end, especially just pick up and play ones. I do have the platformer itch though, so I'm excited for DKCTF and SMW Based World.

 

[Astral Dog]

He's wrong tho, It actually was that 82% of the total WiiUs sold in the UK were part of the MK8 bundles. Every 100 WiiUs sold there were 82 MK8 bundles.
There was a 666% increase in hardware sales over the previous week but we don't know how good that might be, the console was selling abysmally before.

MK8 UK's numbers should be between >58k and <110k

666%?
Did somebody already put Satan at the chalkboard?

 

[Whiskeymatt]

Awesome news for a game that more than deserves it. MK8 may finally be the game that gets the average consumer to understand that the Wii U is a brand new console, or that it actually exists at all. An upswing in sales like the 3DS got after its price drop and MK7 was released is probably the best case scenario here.

 

[mrpeabody]

Great results for Nintendo. I also really like what they're doing with Smash around E3 (the tournament, the Best Buy event). They need to be pushing these two titles hard, and that's exactly what they're doing.

Cannot wait for June hardware NPD. I feel like that will tell us what we need to know about the rest of the year.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

666%?
Did somebody already put Satan at the chalkboard?

I'm happy for the sales boost but that kind of deal can come back and haunt you.

Hopefully Iwata's fiddle playing is elite. But then he's not even in the big band of rogues so...

 

[Garcia]

Honestly, my decision to buy a Wii U falls down to this: It has to have a Mario Kart, Zelda and Metroid game. Mario Kart covers almost 40% of that, and with either one of the later getting released I'd definitely buy the console.

 

[KratosEnergyDrink]

Mario Kart 8 is a &#291;reat game that deserve great sales.

Hopefully other great overlooked Wii U games like The Wonderful 101 or Lego City will benefit from this success too.

 

[codhand]

Mario Kart 8 is a &#291;reat game that deserve great sales.

Hopefully other great overlooked Wii U games like The Wonderful 101 or Lego City will benefit from this success too.

Yeah those two games are great!

 

[zeopower6]

Is there even any commercial marketing for this game on television?

On most of the children/tween networks, yes. Nintendo seems to advertise just about all their first party stuff lately on there. I remember seeing a Tropical Freeze commercial on Cartoon Network a while back and just in the last few weeks I remember seeing Tomodachi Life/Mario Kart 8 commercials any time commercials were on. :|

I suspect the usual games will probably also have increases for Wii U hardware (Smash, Zelda) but who knows if the effects will be long lasting.

 

[random25]

Mario Kart 8 is a &#291;reat game that deserve great sales.

Hopefully other great overlooked Wii U games like The Wonderful 101 or Lego City will benefit from this success too.

Yeah, hopefully. With the free game promotion (free trial in Japan) I hope it helps expose new owners to try out other great Wii U games that are severely overlooked.

 

[GDGF]

On most of the children/tween networks, yes. Nintendo seems to advertise just about all their first party stuff lately on there. I remember seeing a Tropical Freeze commercial on Cartoon Network a while back and just in the last few weeks I remember seeing Tomodachi Life/Mario Kart 8 commercials any time commercials were on. :|

I suspect the usual games will probably also have increases for Wii U hardware (Smash, Zelda) but who knows if the effects will be long lasting.

They've been advertising it in the theaters as well, apparently

http://www.reddit.com/r/wiiu/comments/26b17k/mario_kart_8_trailer_airing_in_theaters_right/

 

[Shengar]

I don't see how that's possible given this pie chart.

Why does it taking so long for this to appeared?! Gaf, I expected this to be in the first page!
lol Kuchera lololol

 

[Neff]

The rubberbanding at 150cc is just ridiculous. I have started to slow down and stay in 4-6th for the first two laps and then push for the finish line in the last lap with sweet bounty from the boxes. Being in first has never sucked this hard before. It feels like Nintendo tried too hard to force "fun" so that the person in last doesn't feel left out..

Are you sure you didn't accidentally pick up Mario Kart Wii instead of 8?

 

[Phamit]

Lol MK8 is out of stock at amazon.de

 

[ZSaberLink]

Folks have also mentioned it's appeared before Maleficent and Godzilla in some theaters in the US. In addition, MK8 ads played during the NBA playoffs right after the third quarter of one game. Nintendo is actually advertising this game much more than they ever have in recent years.

 

[toastyToast]

I really don't need more games at the moment but the free game plus mean mugging Luigi convinced me

 

[zhao3gold]

Sold-in or sold-through? I didn't see any clarification on the first few pages.

 

[Deleted member 74300]

What this chart really means?

Pac-Man dlc. You heard it here first.

 

[bomma_man]

On most of the children/tween networks, yes. Nintendo seems to advertise just about all their first party stuff lately on there. I remember seeing a Tropical Freeze commercial on Cartoon Network a while back and just in the last few weeks I remember seeing Tomodachi Life/Mario Kart 8 commercials any time commercials were on. :|

I suspect the usual games will probably also have increases for Wii U hardware (Smash, Zelda) but who knows if the effects will be long lasting.

They're missing a trick not advertising it nostalgic adults. Show a couple of kids growing up playing mk64 then show them playing mk8 online 20 years later. No matter how much you change Mario Kart is still there to give you those childlike feels /dondraper

 

[Aostia]

good to see this reaction to the game, especially considering how good it seems to be (my copy will arrive tomorrow). especially being the second best debuting episode of the series is impressive, considering the Wii U state of decay. Let's see if it will confimr its usual legs, not to relaunch the console, but at least to imrpove its bad situation

 

[Hasney]

Why does it taking so long for this to appeared?! Gaf, I expected this to be in the first page!
lol Kuchera lololol

Because that would have involved people actually reading a Ben Kuchera article at Polygon. Many men wouldn't make that sacrifice.

Happy for MK8 though. Playing it so much that the nerve endings in my thumb are crying, but it's just so damn good.

 

[DaSorcerer7]

Well deserved, awesome game.

 

[Mistouze]

They're missing a trick not advertising it nostalgic adults. Show a couple of kids growing up playing mk64 then show them playing mk8 online 20 years later. No matter how much you change Mario Kart is still there to give you those childlike feels /dondraper

Funny you should say that, I was discussing with my GF not two days ago how thinking about previous MK installments evokes periods of my life. That's deep, maaan.

 

[TaiKH92]

Wow really good

 

[lights]

In comparison to that other kart racer:

Mario Kart 8

Wii U
1.2 million copies in 3 days

Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed

PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS Vita, PC, 3DS
1.36 million copies in 4 months

 

[Smiles and Cries]

In comparison to that other kart racer:

Mario Kart 8

Wii U
1.2 million copies in 3 days

Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed

PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS Vita, PC, 3DS
1.36 million copies in 4 months

and people say Nintendo needs to go 3rd Party

I am sure it must have taken more work to get Sonic Racing on all those platforms and still you would expect at least 4x the sales

 

[robjoh]

and people say Nintendo needs to go 3rd Party

I am sure it must have taken more work to get Sonic Racing on all those platforms and still you would expect at least 4x the sales

I tend to agree that Nintendo should not go 3rd party, but I want to point out that Mario is a much better brand than Sonic.

It would be interesting to see the split between the different platforms.

 

[MrJustinius]

Does anyone have any worldwide sales figures of other higer selling Wii U games? Like Super Mario 3D World, NSMBU, and so forth?

Would be interesting to see a comparison of how their LTDs are compared with MK8's release.

 

[biglittleps]

and people say Nintendo needs to go 3rd Party

I am sure it must have taken more work to get Sonic Racing on all those platforms and still you would expect at least 4x the sales

Mario kart is very popular IP with hype and Sonic is not much. So, how do you expect Sonic racing to sell like Mario kart? This is like comparing COD with other FPS games.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I tend to agree that Nintendo should not go 3rd party, but I want to point out that Mario is a much better brand than Sonic.

It would be interesting to see the split between the different platforms.

Nintendo would need to learn how to put games on all platforms without ending up diluting the brand until it becomes shitty

I am very happy with MK8 as it is I just want some good track DLC I feel like I must have raced them all 20 times each online

 

[cw_sasuke]

and people say Nintendo needs to go 3rd Party

I am sure it must have taken more work to get Sonic Racing on all those platforms and still you would expect at least 4x the sales

MK is one of their strongest IPs and a card they can only play once a generation - if it couldnt outsell other games in that genre Iwata would already had lost his job.

 

[Shiggy]

and people say Nintendo needs to go 3rd Party

I am sure it must have taken more work to get Sonic Racing on all those platforms and still you would expect at least 4x the sales

Well eh, great comparison. Sonic is not nearly as well known and successful as Mario.

 

[biglittleps]

Does anyone have any worldwide sales figures of other higer selling Wii U games? Like Super Mario 3D World, NSMBU, and so forth?

Would be interesting to see a comparison of how their LTDs are compared with MK8's release.

Nintendo games always sell well on their platforms so its not surprise and doesn't matter the user base, because the people who bought Wii U so far are mostly Nintendo fans for their games. Here are the recently updated numbers for Wii U:

New Super Mario Bros. U - 4.16 million pcs.
Nintendo Land - 3.09 million pcs.
Super Mario 3D World - 2.17 million pcs.
New Super Luigi U - 1.76 million pcs.
Wii Party U - 1.35 million pcs.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 1.22 million pcs.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

MK is one of their strongest IPs and a card they can only play once a generation - if it couldnt outsell other games in that genre Iwata would already had lost his job.

Well eh, great comparison. Sonic is not nearly as well known and successful as Mario.

why are you guys pretending Racing Transformed did not have "This is better than Mario Kart" hype around here?

Sonic seemed pretty well know for me because I guess Sega fans were really vocal early on. I feel bad that Sonic is not as strong as it use to be never owned anything Sega but still. Sonic Boom and all those WiiU exclusives don't even seem to matter.

So anyway would Mario Kart 8 on PS4/X1 have gotten GTA level numbers because of the popularity?

 

[Berg]

In comparison to that other kart racer:

Mario Kart 8

Wii U
1.2 million copies in 3 days

Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed

PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS Vita, PC, 3DS
1.36 million copies in 4 months

DETHRONED!

Spoiler

;P MK always had the throne

 

[MrJustinius]

Nintendo games always sell well on their platforms so its not surprise and doesn't matter the user base, because the people who bought Wii U so far are mostly Nintendo fans for their games. Here are the recently updated numbers for Wii U:

New Super Mario Bros. U - 4.16 million pcs.
Nintendo Land - 3.09 million pcs.
Super Mario 3D World - 2.17 million pcs.
New Super Luigi U - 1.76 million pcs.
Wii Party U - 1.35 million pcs.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 1.22 million pcs.

Thanks for that.

Despite what you say (which is true), 1.2 million on it's first weekend compared to these numbers makes it even more impressive. It could outpace SM3DW in a few months if it continues to have legs. I'm guessing we'd see a small bump as well once Smash releases as people will be holding out for that game to buy the console. If it even gets close to the LTD Double Dash numbers it would be a success considering the dire position the Wii U has been in, and the attach rate could be remarkable if the Wii U doesn't get close to the GCN's lifetime sales.

It makes me wonder how well Smash could launch if it didn't also have a 3DS version out before it.

 

[E-phonk]

It could outpace SM3DW in a few months if it continues to have legs.

It WILL outpace SM3DW before summer ends for sure. MK really is the stronger brand compared to the regular (certainly 3D) mario games.

 

[Pikma]

I found those numbers to be good news... for them, and really bad news for me, because the fact that they managed to get a boost (as big or as small it was) in sales with a(nother) sequel of a established franchise means they'll leave their feet deep down in that swamp, making sequels and sequels to Mario games until they get the numbers they want, instead of leaving it for a different place and you know, trying new things.

Oh and I'm not attacking the game at all, I'm really enjoying it actually.

 

[Cynn]

I'm ready for my DLC now Nintendo. I want Sonic who just runs with no kart, Link, Ganon, Kirby, Samus, Samurai Goroh and all the themed tracks to match them.

Let me dream OK?

 

[Tom_Cody]

Folks have also mentioned it's appeared before Maleficent and Godzilla in some theaters in the US. In addition, MK8 ads played during the NBA playoffs right after the third quarter of one game. Nintendo is actually advertising this game much more than they ever have in recent years.

I saw an ad in front of Days of Future Past. I have also seen TV commercials. This launch didn't happen in a vacuum.

Like everyone else, I'm really curious to see how front loaded the sales will be. I personally downloaded it at 6am on Friday morning. It's interesting that they announced the numbers after the "first weekend" and not the first week or first month. I would have to imagine that word of mouth will be good, but I guess these things are relative.

 

[Nicktendo86]

Sold-in or sold-through? I didn't see any clarification on the first few pages.

I would assume 'sold to customers' as they said on that tweet sold rather than shipped, I don't think Nintendo usually do shipped figures?

 

[KojiKnight]

I saw an ad in front of Days of Future Past. I have also seen TV commercials. This launch didn't happen in a vacuum.

Like everyone else, I'm really curious to see how front loaded the sales will be. I personally downloaded it at 6am on Friday morning. It's interesting that they announced the numbers after the "first weekend" and not the first week or first month. I would have to imagine that word of mouth will be good, but I guess these things are relative.

It's actually fairly common practice to announce day one or weekend sales if a game launches on Friday, so I wouldn't read too much into it. In fact, I also wouldn't be surprised if on Saturday they release first week sales numbers as well.

The point is, Nintendo wants to ride the momentum, and one of the ways you do that is you make your product seem desirable. If 1.2 million people bought it in a weekend, then it MUST be something worth looking into. They don't just announce these numbers to pat themselves on the back

 

[robjoh]

So anyway would Mario Kart 8 on PS4/X1 have gotten GTA level numbers because of the popularity?

I honestly do not know. That why I would like a breakdown of the Sonic Racing sales on the different platforms.

 

[NotLiquid]

I would assume 'sold to customers' as they said on that tweet sold rather than shipped, I don't think Nintendo usually do shipped figures?

It's definitely sell-through. If it were shipped they wouldn't have provided a rough estimate, they'd have an accurate number.

 

[PsihoPerihelion]

Nintendo games always sell well on their platforms so its not surprise and doesn't matter the user base, because the people who bought Wii U so far are mostly Nintendo fans for their games. Here are the recently updated numbers for Wii U:

New Super Mario Bros. U - 4.16 million pcs.
Nintendo Land - 3.09 million pcs.
Super Mario 3D World - 2.17 million pcs.
New Super Luigi U - 1.76 million pcs.
Wii Party U - 1.35 million pcs.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 1.22 million pcs.

Damn, Super Mario 3D World deserves much more love.

 

[QaaQer]

Damn, Super Mario 3D World deserves much more love.

N-land and BrosU were pak-ins. 3dWorld were all full-on retail purchases.

 

[Oersted]

Nintendo games always sell well on their platforms so its not surprise and doesn't matter the user base, because the people who bought Wii U so far are mostly Nintendo fans for their games. Here are the recently updated numbers for Wii U:

New Super Mario Bros. U - 4.16 million pcs.
Nintendo Land - 3.09 million pcs.
Super Mario 3D World - 2.17 million pcs.
New Super Luigi U - 1.76 million pcs.
Wii Party U - 1.35 million pcs.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - 1.22 million pcs.

We see sale boosts everywhere. Its not just the existing WiiU userbase.

I found those numbers to be good news... for them, and really bad news for me, because the fact that they managed to get a boost (as big or as small it was) in sales with a(nother) sequel of a established franchise means they'll leave their feet deep down in that swamp, making sequels and sequels to Mario games until they get the numbers they want, instead of leaving it for a different place and you know, trying new things.

Oh and I'm not attacking the game at all, I'm really enjoying it actually.

They did 2D, 3D and Kart. Besides Paper and some sports, there is nothing left, Mario-wise.