Hey, look, some good news for Nintendo!
According to the Japanese gaming giant, Mario Kart 8 has sold over one million copies in the U.S. alone since it launched on May 30. That makes it just the second Wii U game to reach that milestone (the other being New Super Mario Bros. U, which launched with the system on Nov. 18, 2012).
The Wii U has struggled to match the sales of rivals Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but Mario Kart 8 has been a rare bright spot in the console’s short history. We always knew it would be one of the system’s biggest releases of the year, especially with Hyrule Warriors and Super Smash Bros. being the only other big hitters left in the Wii U’s 2014 lineup. Nintendo will need Mario Kart 8 to continue to perform well and hope for the new releases to have similar success if it wants to finish the year strong. As of July, Nintendo has sold 6.68 million Wii U consoles.
Meanwhile, the portable 3DS continues to do well, having sold 40 million copies of software in the U.S. alone. Fittingly, Mario Kart 7, the 3DS version of the popular racing series, is the best performer in Nintendo’s catalog, topping the charts with 3.48 million sold. People love Mario Kart. As of June, Nintendo has sold 44.14 million 3DS systems worldwide.