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Mario Kart 8 off to a great start

Fastest selling Wii U game ever with 1.2m sales at launch.

Wii U racing game Mario Kart 8 is off to a great start with 1.2m sales at launch worldwide.

Nintendo said it's the fastest selling Wii U game ever, taking sales from Thursday 29th May to Sunday 1st June across Japan, Europe and the Americas.

Nintendo of Europe boss Satoru Shibata called Mario Kart 8's sales success a "great milestone" ahead of next week's E3 video game show, where Nintendo is expected to showcase its future releases.

While Mario Kart 8 is quick off the blocks, it has some way to go before it overtakes the previously lowest selling game in the series, Mario Kart: Super Circuit on the Game Boy Advance, which shifted 5.91m units. And given the poor performance of the Wii U itself, it may struggle to do so.

Here's the breakdown of the 100m selling Mario Kart series:

  • Super Mario Kart, Super Nintendo - 8.76m
  • Mario Kart 64, Nintendo 64 - 9.87m
  • Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Game Boy Advance - 5.91m
  • Mario Kart: Double Dash, Nintendo GameCube - 6.88m
  • Mario Kart DS, Nintendo DS - 23.56m
  • Mario Kart Wii, Wii - 35.53m
  • Mario Kart 7, Nintendo 3DS - 9.62m

Yesterday Eurogamer reported that Mario Kart 8 earned Nintendo its biggest Wii U game launch in the UK to date, and the second best launch for a Mario Kart title ever in the UK.

Wii U console sales skyrocketed by 666 per cent last week, of which 82 per cent were the Wii U Mario Kart 8 bundle.

Guess Luigi's happy!

Cover image for YouTube videoLuigi Ridin' Dirty - Death Stare in Mario Kart 8