PotionBleue
Member
I don't want to downplay MK8 performance, but to be fair the bonus game promo made this purchase a no-brainer for WiiU owners, especially since it includes major first party releases. So yeah while these sales are amazing, they probably sacrificed also money that customers maybe would have spent on other software purchases.
I'm sure Mario Kart 8 would've sold wonderfully normally, but don't forget...
This contributed a LOT toward people jumping in sooner than they would have. Mario Kart 8 was effectively 50% off if you were interested in any of these games. Not to mention other retailer discounts running at the same time. (For example, I got MK8, a free Pikmin, AND Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze for 40% off, all in the same transaction.)
They took a big future sales hit on making sure their biggest gun was successful and drew in as many people as possible to the console.
People really shouldn't be so surprised about MK8. The promise of a free game is what's doing all the magic.
EDIT: Lol, just one post above me.
Let's also not forget Japan had a shit offer yet Mario Kart 8 still sold very well there. So, I'm not sure about all this.