Mario Kart 8 Is Off To A Fast Start!

We know that Nintendo makes great games. What we didn’t know is could they translate a good game into positive sales on the much maligned Wii U system. On Monday, however, Nintendo released the first sales figures of Mario Kart 8 and it sold 1.2 Million copies in its opening weekend. To put this in perspective, Super Mario 3D World sold only 107,000 copies in its first week last November and has still only sold 2 million units.

It’s a great start for the latest addition to the series. The Mario Kart franchise as a whole has sold more than 100 million copies, including MK8’s console predecessor, Mario Kart Wii, at 35 million. (Check out the sales statistics at the bottom of the article to see how much of a force Mario Kart has been historically.)

“The early response to Mario Kart 8 demonstrates that the best days for Wii U are still ahead,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America president.

This is great news for family gaming. Nintendo has shown the strongest commitment of the “Big Three” manufacturers to family friendly content and safe environments (to a fault some critics would say). A stronger Nintendo means more options for us to sit down with our family over great experiences like Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3D World.

I’m anxious to see whether sales of MK8 are translating into console sales. Anecdotally I’ve heard of emptier shelves and the Twitterverse was full of people saying this is pushing them to buying. Can Nintendo ride this momentum through next week’s E3 event and keep Wii U’s forecasts on the rise?

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Total Mario Kart Sales by Release (Stats care of Nintendo)