They truly are the little carts that could. Nintendo today announced at their 74th Annual General Meeting that Mario Kart 8 has sold 2 million copies worldwide since its release just a little under one month ago.
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IGN broke the news and received confirmation earlier this morning. "The news was announced by Genyo Takeda speaking on behalf of Nintendo President Satoru Iwata."
With Wii U sales sluggishly plodding along, this is precisely the kind of news Nintendo wants to hear. The game released last month to overwhelming positive reviews and is, in my opinion, the best Mario Kart game since Double Dash back on the Gamecube. The explosion of the 'deathstare Luigi' meme, which ran across the internet like an unchecked hurricane, gave Nintendo the kind of product advertising they could only dream about.
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I have little doubt that the green clad plumber's rocket to the heights of pop culture had something to do with the strong sales figures. The last console Kart game, Mario Kart Wii, sold over 35 million units worldwide since its release in 2008, but still managed only a stunted sigh in terms of popularity.
If the sales figures remain steady, Mario Kart 8 will pass that mark in another 17 months!
Hopefully the positive word of mouth translates into hardware sales. The original Wii has sold over 100 million units since it debuted in 2006. The Wii U has sold only a paltry 6 million units since its release in November of 2012. However, that also means that one out of every three Wii U owners has Mario Kart 8, and if that's not market saturation, I don't know what is.
Of all the multiplayer experiences available this day and age, none are sweeter, better and more fun than a Mario Kart race. When done right, the game has absolutely no equal in terms of enjoyment.
Check out some Luigi deathstare below.
