Mario Party 8 details

By Tom Bramwell Published 6 November, 2006

Due out next year.

With the game having been quietly unveiled on Nintendo's website in September, Mario Party 8 has now been seen in the wild during the Nintendo World event in Japan.

According to reports, it's due out sometime in 2007, with six playable demos shown off in Nagoya - and it sounds like it's sticking to the series tradition of a board game starring Mario characters with mini-games scattered throughout.

Except in this case obviously the mini-games make use of the Wii remote, with lassoing, shaking, tilting, steering, rotating and shooting among the activities mentioned.

There's also talk of some elements of the cast, with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi and Toad unsurprisingly name-checked in IGN's report, with hidden characters also included for players to find.

Look out for more on Mario Party sometime after the console's launch, which takes place on 8th December in Europe.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (22) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Steroyd #1 5 years ago

    OMG!!!

    I thought there was only 6!!! o_O

    When did the 7th come out?

  • Talha #2 5 years ago

    EA are evil SOBs, draining a franchise till the last drop. Yes indeedy they are!

  • rudedudejude #3 5 years ago

    SWEEEET

    Mario Party Games Rock for Drunken Times!

  • JediMasterMalik #4 5 years ago

    lol Talha

  • playgen #5 5 years ago

    I hope the Wii doesnt get flooded with these fun for 5 minutes "party" games

  • Tomo #6 5 years ago

    I think Mario Party is pretty great. So there.

  • alexg #7 5 years ago

    Christ, not another clone of a Gamecube game...

    STOP MAKING THE SAME GAMES OVER AND OVER AGAIN FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Talha #8 5 years ago

    You are asking Nintendo to shut down? Not on your life, mate! ;-)

  • Steroyd #9 5 years ago

    I only got Mario Party 4 and 5, stopped getting them when they started that Microphone nonesense, but in all seriousness when in gods name did Mario Party 7 get released? o_O

    lol at Tahla who's on a roll. :D
    Edited by 1 at 06/11/06 @ 12:43

  • dudefella #10 5 years ago

    Finally a game that will benefit from Wii controls! gimmicky game, gimmicky controls. I can't for the life of me see why people would want to play something like Zelda with a Wiimote though...

  • Talha #11 5 years ago

    @Dude: For the same reason my boss has to send an email to me in the next cubicle asking to see him immediately.

  • jimbob101 #12 5 years ago

    The boardgame sections really turns these games into stinkers. 5 minutes of tedium, 1 minute of fun and repeat. I had 4 or 5 and I think we only ever finished a board twice.

  • rudedudejude #13 5 years ago

    I never had a gamecube so this is new for me, hence it will be cool!

    The last mario party I played was on my N64 and that rocked!!

  • Stoatboy #14 5 years ago

    re: "I can't for the life of me see why people would want to play something like Zelda with a Wiimote though..."

    I reckon a lot of them just haven't thought it through properly yet, tbh.

    I want Ninty to track people's config settings. I'd love to know how long it takes for the majority of people to revert to playing with buttons where the option is available.

  • MadMirko #15 5 years ago

    First new Mario Party game, then.

    Bet it will drive the women crazy again. Honest, I do not know a single guy liking the games, but the women...

  • MadMirko #16 5 years ago

    re: "I can't for the life of me see why people would want to play something like Zelda with a Wiimote though..."

    I reckon a lot of them just haven't thought it through properly yet, tbh.

    Quite the opposite. Check out the many previews floating around the net, reviewers find it "unthinkable" to revert to the old joypad scheme (I believe it was IGN who said that, but go to the forums for a thread on the details).

    Just a few which I nabbed of Joystiq's metapreview:

    GameDaily - "Twilight Princess may be the greatest Zelda ever ... Jaded critics will no doubt find lots to complain about, but don't listen to them. Twilight Princess is not only the Wii's quintessential killer app, but also one of the best adventure games to come along since Resident Evil 4."
    Game|Life - "I was worried that the Wii version of the game would be rendered gimmicky and unsuitable for long-term play sessions. But now I've played it, and not only has every lingering speck of doubt been scrubbed clean, I was actually shocked at how well it worked."


  • chupachups #17 5 years ago

    "STOP MAKING THE SAME GAMES OVER AND OVER AGAIN FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!!!!!!!"

    Its our own fault, we keep buying them. And FIFA etc, just look at the end of year charts, they're full of yearly "updates".

  • dudefella #18 5 years ago

    well maybe I'm wrong and I'll change my tune when I have actually played it, but when I'm playing Zelda I like holding the controller and sitting on the couch and using my brain. I don't want to have to swing a controller to swing my sword in-game. I fail to see how physical interaction will improve games. To be honest I have great reservations about the Wiimote. Except for Nintendo, how many developers will we see developing serious games with this? Glorified gimmick? Perhaps... Like Stoatboy, I think a lot of the people going "motion control is going to be so great and the world will be a better place eetc" haven't really thought things through. Play a lightgun game. How long till your arm gets tired? 45 minutes, tops. For a Wii, with games like Red Steel and Zelda, I can imagine getting tired after about an hour, maybe a bit more. My worry is that it will become contrived and arbitrary, and Wiimote controls will be shoehorned into games for the sake of it. The truth is I couldn't care less about motion controls. The only reason I'm interested in the Wii is Nintendo's games and Virtual Console. And IF Wiimote controls eventually fade away for most games, you're left with a very underpowered console, in the face of the competition, and then even Nintendo's exclusives might not hold so much sway...

    I can just see the Wii failing in this way and it breaks my heart because Nintendo deserves much better, but it seems like they've bet all their cash on a one-trick pony... I really hope I am wrong and it will catch on like the DS!

  • Ignatius_Cheese #19 5 years ago

    First impressions of this version of Mario Party posted on various other sites have favourably noted that this has finally(!) received a graphical overhaul. This can only be well-received as the Cube titles suffered from pseudo-N64 graphics throughout. Either way, a Wii version could breathe fresh air into this series. Just think! You can actually roll the dice! ;o)

  • Santino #20 5 years ago

    @dude
    you really need to read some of the previews of twilight princess before saying things like your arm will get tired. Some members of the press played the game for 12 hours straight and some for around 6 and all said they did it easily without tiring. no offense but i am far more inclined to believe these people than yourself seeing as you only have guesswork as your basis for opinion. on even went so far as to say it was the ultimate lazy controller as he could slouch back with one arm at either side whilst playing. As for mario party, never really liked them myself although the idea is good its just not implemented well and the games take too long. they should alter the formula, release one definitive version then offer the rest as optional downloads/updates.

  • smelly #21 5 years ago

    >I can imagine getting tired after about an hour

    Maybe you should get off the sofa a bit more often and do some more excercise then?

  • Talha #22 5 years ago

    Plug the console into your PC monitor (if it supports two inputs, otherwise get a switching device), get much better picture in the bargain, and the chair for your PC will keep you alert for longer (tried and tested). Sitting on the sofa 10 feet from the telly (and waving your arms about) will naturally make you tired earlier since your OTHER end is getting all squishy.

    Of course these are proven facts and I have years of research data, specifically that tracking numbness of legs, arms, and the areas most likely to develop an itch after extended exposure to coarse surfaces. If you say I will be happy to email the 3GB folder to you! ;-)