While the Wii U’s struggles have been well documented, there are those at Nintendo who simply refuse to throw in the towel. It would appear that much of their hopes hinge on the next entry into one of their most iconic franchises.
Roger Langford (who is UK brand manager for Nintendo) revealed in a recent interview that the Wii U’s future could literally be altered by a single killer app. According to Langford, that magic bullet could very likely come in the form of the new Mario Kart 8 . “ 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. 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 touts.
While a new Mario Kart will no doubt be a success (due to its huge fan base), having enough power to pull the Wii U out of its nose dive is another story. Needless to say, I remain skeptical. However, Langford points to the series success over the years, and the positive impact it’s had on other Nintendo consoles over the years. “ 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.” Said Langford.
We’ll bring you more on the upcoming release of Mario Kart 8 and if tying it to the success of the Wii U makes any real difference for Nintendo.