Mario Kart 8 Wii U Bundles Coming to America; MK8 Will Also Pack a Free Game Download Code
Put down the pitchforks, America; you, too, will receive a special Wii U bundle for Mario Kart 8 next month. The news came as part of a special Mario Kart-focused Nintendo Direct this morning, where the company spilled the beans on some pretty big news items.
The Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundle will include the 32 GB black Deluxe console, a copy of Mario Kart 8, a red steering wheel accessory, and a Mario-themed Wii Remote Plus. All these bundled goodies will come with a higher price tag, though; while previous Deluxe bundles were priced at $299, this particular package will ring up at $330.
But that’s not all the news Nintendo had to share. The company also revealed that each copy of Mario Kart 8 will come with a code that can be registered on Club Nintendo and redeemed for a free digital game. The North American selection includes New Super Mario Bros. U, The Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3 and Wii Party U. Those in Europe get a few more choices on top of the games just mentioned, including Game and Wario, Nintendo Land, Sonic Lost World, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, The Wonderful 101 and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.
I’m certainly all for Nintendo packing as much value into both the Wii U and Mario Kart 8 as possible. However, I can’t help but feel that the company could have gone in a different direction in order to make the offer more enticing. Most folks I’ve talked to didn’t really enjoy steering their karts with the steering wheel last time around, and, in terms of price, the new bundle has the Wii U headed in the wrong direction. I think leaving the accessories out, dropping the free game and keeping the Wii U at $299 with Mario Kart 8 included would have been the better move.
That said, I’m sure this game will be the hottest seller the Wii U has seen outside of New Super Mario Bros. U, which was bundled with the system for quite a while.
Oh, and do you remember that voice chat rumor we reported on earlier this morning? It was confirmed in the Direct, but just for the lobby. Why just the lobby? I have no idea. That’s Nintendo for you.
What do you think of the new Wii U bundle? Drop us a line below.
[via Joystiq]