Mario Kart 8 (Wii-U)

[Doctor MK]

They don't even plan on dispatching it until launch day!

 

To be fair, the dispatch date has been listed as "Est. 30/05/2014" since I first placed the order back in February or March or whenever it was. I assumed it was a placeholder, and in fairness it still might be - any second now Nintendo could click a button and update all the orders to "dispatched". It's just agonising not knowing when that will be.

 

If they don't even dispatch it til Friday though then... jeez, that will suck. What's the point in pre-ordering a game if you get it later than everybody else and can go out and buy it in the shops before you even get your hands on it?

[SuperLink]

I haven't pre-ordered a game from Nintendo UK before but from my recent experience with the Stars Catalogue

 

their dispatch estimate was 4 weeks after they sent it and their delivery estimate was even further away. In the end they dispatched it the day I got it and it came like the next day despite what those estimates said. (the Mario 3D World OST I mean)

 

I have no idea if the Stars Catalogue items and UK Store items are handled in similar ways or not though.

[Lady Soniko]

update bitches.

 

 

Dear Soniko

Thank you for your message.

We can confirm that payment for your order has been taken and it is now currently awaiting dispatch from our warehouse. We anticipate that all orders for Mario Kart 8 should be received either before or on the date of release (May 30th).

Please check your online store account later for updates from our team and any change in status to your order.

Thank you for using our online store and hope you continue to shop with us for all your Nintendo product needs!

Should you have any further questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,


Ryan Lee
Nintendo Customer Support

[Doctor MK]

Cheers for contacting them Soniko, let's hope they stick to their word. It's looking increasingly unlikely that it'll arrive before launch day (unless they get their acts together in the next couple of hours!) but as long as it turns up by Friday I'll be happy.

 

Now to go back to sitting and watching my e-mail inbox like a hawk for any sign of an update...

[JezMM]

So for anyone who missed my status update, I got this today via my glamorous assistant Mollfie.
 
I played non-stop but now alas I’ve been banished to work til 8.  Managed to play the Mushroom, Flower, Shell, Banana and Leaf Cups.  My thoughts so far (some content spoilers, of course - naturally there may be some stuff here you guys have been talking about for weeks/months that I haven't seen due to spoiler aversion):

• This game is breathtakingly beautiful in the flesh.  I can’t believe the amount of detail, the Mushroom Kingdom has never felt so alive. Compared to Mario Kart Wii it’s like the difference between Mario 64 and Galaxy in terms of atmosphere.
• Soundtrack is phenomenal.  It has taken much too long for Mario Kart to have live recorded music but it’s here and it’s great.  At first I was like “where’s the 1st place beats!?” but then remembered those only appear in 100cc+ in 7… hopefully the same case here.  If the quality continues to the end of the game I’d almost be tempted to call it a MK64 beater but we’ll see.
• Speaking of cc, I’m playing 50cc to familiarise myself with the tracks and it is stupid easy.  During the first four cups I didn’t get overtaken once simply by driving, like, competently.  Unless the unlockables I’ve been getting are tied to 50cc, I wouldn’t have any problem recommending a MK veteran try out 100cc first for a more thrilling experience.
• Holy crap there’s a lot of awesome retro track choices and 50% of them have been so heavily modified they are practically new (note: good thing - in the past they’ve always felt a little tame and mundane compared to new ones).  Toad’s Turnpike almost feels too different, like give it different music and a different name and I would’ve thought it was just an homage, not a remake - but they expanded the concept of driving around with vehicles so well it makes for a better track than it ever was.
• You can no longer do wheelies on bikes.  A little weird but I’ll get used to it.
• You can use the GamePad as a steering wheel and it’s much more comfortable than the Wii Remote for it.  You can use Y to accelerate too thank god, A was really wearing my thumb out. You can also use d-pad to steer on Wii Remote if you’re lacking in controllers and don’t want to use motion control.
• I really hoped this would be the game to mark the return of a proper award ceremony cut-scene but alas no.  There’s even less of one than MK7 had.
• Having been avoiding spoilers I thought the figure-8 shaped Mario Circuit was gonna be the first track.  The actual first track BLEW MY MIND what an utterly amazing opener.  Really left a first impression.
• Seems many people have it early one way or another, as it only took seconds to find an online game.  Only had time for one race before heading to work (fittingly for my first race with people from out countries it was the airport track).  Course selection now only gives you a choice of 3 random ones (plus “random” - presumebly from the selection available).  You can also now do the simple chat with random people between races like you could with Friends on MKWii.
• Little opinion on new items since I spent so long in first place on 50cc I haven’t been able to try them all yet lol.
• Unlocking racers seems to be much quicker than it was in MK7.  I’ve unlocked one per cup on 50cc.
• After my disappointment with her in Mario Golf, I can confirm that Daisy has new lines and is her usual sassy self again phew.
• As far as I can see, you cannot explore the castle on N64 Royal Raceway like days of old.

That’s all I can think of for now.  Seriously amazing stuff so far.

[Willsy]

Thanks for the mini review Jez! I'm really looking forward to picking this up on Friday now.

[StaticMania]

I don't think Mario Circuit has ever been the "1st" track outside of the original SNES game.

 

I'm getting positive vibes right now. Game sounds like its been really good, so far.

 

Although just one small thing...No proper Award ceremony and even less than the previous game?

[DarkRula]

I've seen playthrough's. All it is this time is

a highlight reel of one of your races in the GP, with a red banner down the side with the trophy appearing after the first loop of the reel. Then the results show up.

 

At least, it's something like that.

[JezMM]

I don't think Mario Circuit has ever been the "1st" track outside of the original SNES game.

 

I'm getting positive vibes right now. Game sounds like its been really good, so far.

 

Although just one small thing...No proper Award ceremony and even less than the previous game?

 

Yeah, I thought Mario Circuit was the new "not Mario circuit", like it was gonna be called... well not Figure-8 circuit we already had that, but yeah, something else.  So having a huge dramatic stadium at night for the opening course just blew me away and really made it feel like something fresh.

 

 

And yep, the Award Ceremony is:

 

Just a 20 second highlight reel from one of the races (randomly selected, or maybe selected based on your best performance) from the cup you just did.  Once the reel is done, it cuts to a (nicely designed but generic) screen showing off the trophy, like Mario Kart 7 had after the ceremony cut-scene in that.  No victory lap, no character animations, and for the 5th game running, no trophy fish.

[Gabz Girl]

Bought the game from Amazon but they're not known to dispatch early. ;-; Anyways, great impressions Jez! I'm super excited to play this like you wouldn't believe!

[KrazyBean]

Mine was dispatched on Tuesday. I should get my copy tomorrow! If I do I'll livestream the crap out of this game...unless Nintendo has an embargo on it, which I doubt.

[Doctor MK]

Mine was dispatched on Tuesday.

 

Aw man! No fair

 

Still no update on the Nintendo UK Store front... sigh. If they don't dispatch it tomorrow - by which point they'll have had people's money for almost a week - I am gonna hurl a proverbial red shell right up their backsides. Needless to say I probably won't be pre-ordering from them again unless there's an absolutely unmissable offer.

[Blitz 'n Burst]

Oh wow only a few days to go. Looks like I know how I'll be spending my four-day weekend!

[Boomer]

I pre-ordered mine from SimplyGames who are known for having speedy delivery (I got Thief 2 days early off them.) So hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow!

[Komodin]

Mine was dispatched on Tuesday. I should get my copy tomorrow! If I do I'll livestream the crap out of this game...unless Nintendo has an embargo on it, which I doubt.

If you do get it tomorrow, then I think you should probably hold up on livestreaming it until Friday, just to be safe.

[-Robin-]

Got the message from Gamestop telling me it'll be ready for pickup Friday morning. No midnight launch for me.

I completely forgot I pre-ordered this game months in advance

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Got the message from Gamestop telling me it'll be ready for pickup Friday morning. No midnight launch for me.

I completely forgot I pre-ordered this game months in advance

Same here on the Friday pickup... kinda sad but oh well 

[Swiss]

Got mine today and after playing through 3 cups and some split-screen 3-player races, this is shaping up to be almost perfect! The visuals are lush, the music is incredible and the driving feels top-notch! Ninty have done a cracking job!

 

Here's a little video I uploaded after my very first race, loved how I managed to crush Daisy after both of us were subject to a Lightning bolt. Luigi looks so evil, especially in the game's slow-motion!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc4bc_90B9g

[JezMM]

Finished all Cups now!  Spoilers of the last three:

 

New Bowser's Castle is badass as hell but the new Rainbow Road was a little underwhelming.  Just feels like a standard ole' track, was really hoping it'd throw some surprises during the last lap or something.  The other two Special Cup tracks are decent but nothing amazing.  I feel like after an entire game of dizzying gravity play, Rainbow Road would REALLY go the extra mile and be amazing... and it did not go that extra mile, unfortunately.

 

Star Cup however had several awesome tracks with awesome music too.  Lightning Cup had some great choices - I'm really glad DS Tick Tock Clock returned as it was a fave of mine from MKDS.  N64 Rainbow Road was awesome though was surprised that it was just one lap - the track is already shorter than the original due to the increased vehicle speed in modern Mario Kart, so the race was over in like 2 minutes.

 

Alas yet another boring end credits sequence of just random gameplay footage with upbeat music...  Though it is the best credits music they've done in a long time, very varied and cool.

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Ok the amount of detail in this game is INSANE, I mean the chrarcter tracking is crazy too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmtoe3dwUNM&feature=player_embedded

[KrazyBean]

If you do get it tomorrow, then I think you should probably hold up on livestreaming it until Friday, just to be safe.

 

Yeah. I'll do that.

[Mystwalker]

If you do get it tomorrow, then I think you should probably hold up on livestreaming it until Friday, just to be safe.

 

I've been seeing many streams ever since that Fnac store in Paris started selling early. Today the amount of streams has multiplied by a lot. I'm fairly sure Nintendo doesn't bother with it, perhaps they see it as free advertisement.

 

 

24 hours, ugh... Guess I'll get ready for an all-nighter to do an unlock-a-thon so I can head online with the rest of the community the next morning.

 

Anyone has any idea when a tournament is gonna happen? I participated in Vi's MKWii one 6 years ago, may as well keep that tradition even though I'm more of a lurker here these days.

Edited May 28, 2014 by MickX

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

I've been seeing a lot of streams ever since that Fnac store in Paris started selling early. Today the amount of streams has multiplied by a lot. I'm fairly sure Nintendo doesn't bother with it, perhaps they see it as free advertisement.

 

 

24 hours, ugh... Guess I'm go get ready for an all-nighter to do an unlock-a-thon so I can head online with the rest of the community the next morning.

 

Anyone has any idea how many weeks you'll be giving until a tournament comes up? I participated in Vi's MKWii one 6 years ago, may as well keep that tradition.

proably when enough people have it, I'm in  

[Lady Soniko]

I'm going to be making the tournament topic very soon, but won't be holding the proper one till proper mid-summer during school break so everyone can take part and not have to worry about missing it. Might host a few mini tournaments till then though.

[Conando]

How do they even work? I thought you can pretty much just set one up to run every week, like a community. It just resets the leaderboard every week.