Man, Nintendo is going all out. Licensed use of a real-life Mercedes Benz in Mario Kart 8? That's insane. The Big 'N' is holding nothing back for what some deem as the last chance to kickstart the Wii U's sales momentum before the holiday season, and it looks like Nintendo is treating Mario Kart 8 as the ignition to a new-found perspective on the eighth gen console wars.
Previously, Nintendo had always made it known that they were staying out of the hardcore leagues; they wanted to focus on the games they wanted to make for an audience they deemed their own. However, times are changing (or reverting, depending on how you look at it) and we're facing a three-way 16-bit showdown just like when the SNES, Sega Genesis and Turbo Grafix 16 were fighting head-to-head like the world was about to end.
We've yet to reach critical mass in this console war, and we're still at Defcon 4, but Nintendo is looking to turn up the heat and keep it turned up higher than than a sweltering summer in Alabama. In fact, they released a trailer that directly implies that they're back and ready to compete in today's console market. Check out the epic DLC trailer below.
According to a report on Eurogamer, a Nintendo representative revealed to them that the DLC only has a release schedule for Japan and that it will be a free download for Japanese gamers. However, the Big 'N' will be rolling out more information on the worldwide availability of the DLC soon...
"The announcement this time was made by Mercedes-Benz Japan regarding their collaboration in Japan with NCL.” … ”As for the information relating to the distribution of the GLA kart for MK8 outside Japan, we will be able to announce in the near future."
That's all fine and dandy, and it's likely we'll get a full announcement about the DLC and the regional pricing at E3. But I just can't get over that Call of the Kart: Modern Mario depiction in the trailer above. Man, Mario looks like he's about to destroy someone. Check out that face.
Someone is about to get wrecked. Heck, Master Chief has got nothing on Mario.
Anyway, Mario Kart 8 is forcibly pulling the Wii U back into the console war like cheerleading pulled George W. Bush into his dream hobby. In fact, the Wii U is actually opening up a can of whoop-butt on the PlayStation 4 in Japan.
As it stands, Microsoft had to do a Kinect-less Xbox One bundle in order to try to catch up and compete with the Big 'N', because they're about to go all in and leave the Xbox One in the dust like the American government left the native Indian Americans without any land.
You can grab Mario Kart 8 for a Wii U near you starting tomorrow. Greatness may await PS4 owners, but excellence has arrived for Nintendonites.
