'Mario Kart 8 Deluxe' sets series launch sales record with 459,000 games sold

By Gabe Gurwin May 1, 2017

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Accolades Trailer - Nintendo Switch

After the record-breaking success of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, another Nintendo Switch game has managed to put up some impressive early sales numbers. Though released on a console that has only been on store shelves for about two months, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had the largest launch of any game in the entire series.

“With more than 459,000 combined packaged and digital sales in the United States on launch day alone, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch system is the fastest-selling game in the long-running Mario Kart series,” Nintendo said in a press release.

This is slightly more than the roughly 434,000 sold for the Wii in 2008, but the system had already been on the market for a few years and had exploded into a worldwide phenomenon.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe‘s success was not limited to North America. In the United Kingdom, the game managed to top sales charts — the first Nintendo game to do so since Pokémon White in 2011. Mario Kart 7, which released for the then-struggling 3DS, and the Wii U’s Mario Kart 8, were unable to achieve the feat.

Nintendo also revealed that the attachment rate for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is about 45 percent, which puts the country’s total Switch console sales at about 1 million. These numbers could very well give Breath of the Wild a run for its money. In the latter game’s first month on sale, it managed to move 925,000 copies of the Nintendo Switch version, which was 19,000 more than the total number of Switch consoles sold in the United States. Will eager fans have to wait even longer to pick up their consoles? If Nintendo’s recent decision to move a shipment of systems by airplane in order to get them onto store shelves more quickly is any indication, they will not have to wait much longer.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is available now. Check out our full review here.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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Mario Kart Tour microtransactions land Nintendo in legal trouble

mario kart tour launch day record nintendo mobile

Nintendo is facing a new lawsuit over its previous implementation of microtransactions in the mobile game Mario Kart Tour.
Mario Kart Tour first launched on iOS and Android in 2019 and used to have a loot box-like system where players could spend real money to activate Spotlight Pipes, which had undisclosed odds of granting players useful items and upgrades. Nintendo removed Spotlight Pipes from Mario Kart Tour in a September 2022 update, but Axios reports that a new class-action lawsuit has been filed against Nintendo over its previous implementation of them in the game.
The suit calls the mobile game's microtransactions "immoral" and is based on the belief that the game was intentionally difficult to progress in without spending money. Its plaintiff believes this "capitalized on and encouraged addictive behaviors akin to gambling" in all players, specifically the minors that'd be interested in trying a Mario Kart game on mobile, with them having spent $170 on those microtransactions. As such, it suit is demanding Nintendo issue refunds to all minors who spent money on Spotlight Pipes when they were available in Mario Kart Tour.
The loot box-like style of microtransactions that used to be present in Mario Kart Tour was fairly common in a lot of games with microtransactions. That said, it has fallen out of favor in recent years thanks to increased scrutiny from regulators and lawsuits like this that argue the undisclosed odds tied to these systems are too similar to gambling. As such, microtransactions in many recent games tend to be more direct or actively disclose what players will get once they spend money.
Nintendo seemed to be aware of this when it removed Spotlight Pipes from Mario Kart Tour last year, but that clearly wasn't enough for this plaintiff. Nintendo has not commented on this lawsuit, but it's definitely worth keeping an eye on how this plays out.

Gaming

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has a new Yoshi’s Island track — and it’s perfect

Birdo sails through the sky in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Yoshi's Island course.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe just got even bigger. The fourth wave of its Booster Course Pack DLC just dropped on Nintendo Switch, adding eight more tracks to the racing game. The list includes some classics from the GameCube, Wii, and Game Boy Advance installments of the series, but it's most exciting addition is an entirely original one: Yoshi's Island.

As you may have guessed, the new course draws inspiration from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. On a visual level, it's one of the Mario Kart's most delightful tracks yet. The first leg has players racing through yellow rolling hills that are packed with little references to Yoshi's standalone games. From the starting line, you can see Poochy sitting on an oversized mailbox and catch some Chain Chomps delightfully bouncing around in the distance. Later, you'll spot some Goonies flying in the sky and a giant purple Blargg.

Gaming

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit’s studio has made an AR Hot Wheels game

Key art highlighting the mixed reality nature of Hot Wheels: Rift Rally.

Velan Studios, the developers behind Knockout City and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, has announced Hot Wheels: Rift Rally, a mixed-reality racing game that uses actual RC Hot Wheels cars and will launch on March 14.
It very much looks like a spiritual successor to Home Circuit, but uses the popular toy car brand instead of Mario Kart characters and items. However, it's not on Nintendo Switch; Rift Rally will only be available for iOS, PlayStation 4, and PS5. Rift Rally comes with a Chameleon RC car that can transform into over 140 different Hot Wheels vehicles in-game, as well as four Rift Gates that players can use to set up the boundaries of a racetrack.

From there, players can participate in various races and challenges, with the RC car moving around in the real world as flashier-looking gameplay takes place on the player's screen. Rift Rally looks like it improves upon the formula Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit established, though. There is more challenge variation -- we saw gameplay footage of one challenge where players had to clear as many flower petals from a track as possible, and Stunt Mode allows players to just drive and perform tricks around their home without the need for the Rift Gates.
Hot Wheels isn't a stranger to the video game industry. There have been lots of licensed Hot Wheels games over the years, with the recent Hot Wheels Unleashed and themed expansion for Forza Horizon 5 being particular standouts. But no Hot Wheels game before now has looked and functioned quite like Rift Rally.
Hot Wheels: Rift Rally will launch for iOS, PS4, and PS5 on March 14. The game will cost $130, although a Collector's Edition that comes with a black and gold Chameleon RC car and a regular McLaren Senna Hot Wheels car will also be available for $150.