Having only been able to shift 2.72 million within the past year, retailers are still waiting for a game from Nintendo that will spark more significant sales momentum behind Wii U.
As expected the company are placing their hopes on Mario Kart 8, Nintendo UK’s Mario brand manager Roger Langford sharing his thoughts that it “can be the catalyst the will broaden the Wii U’s horizons.”
“Mario Kart 8 really harnesses the capability of Wii U, it has HD graphics and runs at 60 frames per second constantly in single and multiplayer,” Langford explained to MCV.
“There are lots of tweaks in the game that on the face of it might not sound like much. But we are looking to seed these bits out to the core Mario Kart fans via our online and social media campaign, and get that word-of-mouth and buzz up to launch. So that when we get to release day, we have the big TV campaign to make the big splash, but also the fans are raring to go.”
He continues, “Mario Kart is one of our killer titles. Looking back at Super Mario Kart and then moving through the ages, you can see how integral Mario Kart is to Nintendo hardware. It always brings out the best in whatever hardware it is on. Super Mario Kart was one of the first two-player racing games out at the time. The N64 version was one of the first to allow four-player split-screen play. Then the DS version encouraged wireless download play, and Wii had its online functionality.”
As for whether the game can steer the Wii U’s fortunes, Langford is fairly confident: “I certainly feel that Mario Kart 8 can be the catalyst that will broaden Wii U’s horizons. It’s very important for us that we have a successful launch and continue the promotion throughout the year and beyond.”
Nintendo hopeful Mario Kart 8 will act as a “catalyst” to drive Wii U sales
