Mario Kart 8 includes free game offer, Wii U bundle announced

Nintendo announced today that buying and registering Mario Kart 8 before the end of July will net you a free downloadable game. It will also be bringing out a Wii U bundle with the game on launch day.

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If Mario Kart 8 isn't enough to tempt you by itself, maybe a free game will help? Nintendo announced today that those who pick up the kart racer early can get a digital copy of another first-party game. If you don't own a Wii U, they've got you covered there too, with a bundle incoming.

Buying MK8 and registering it on Club Nintendo before July 31 will get you a download of New Super Mario Bros U, Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, or Wii Party U. The announcement notes that the offer applies to both physical and digital purchases, and to those who get the Mario Kart 8 bundle.

What bundle, you may ask? Alongside the game on May 30, Nintendo will release a bundle that includes the Wii U Deluxe, Mario Kart 8, a red Mario Wii Wheel, and a red Mario Wii Remote Plus controller. It will cost $329.99.

This was all announced in a Mario Kart 8 Nintendo Direct presentation that included details on Mario Kart TV. The feature will let you upload clips to Miiverse, or link to a Google account to upload directly to YouTube. Finally, the announcement included word of two new racers and two new items. The racers are Baby Rosalina and Pink Gold Peach, while the items are the Super Horn to defend against any items in the area, and the Crazy Eight to provide a series of eight different items.

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  • reply
    April 30, 2014 6:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Mario Kart 8 includes free game offer, Wii U bundle announced.

    Nintendo announced today that buying and registering Mario Kart 8 before the end of July will net you a free downloadable game. It will also be bringing out a Wii U bundle with the game on launch day.

    • reply
      April 30, 2014 6:32 AM

      Other than the awesome Shacknews Multiplayer matches, this is another great reason to buy MK8. This is definitely on my list.

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      April 30, 2014 6:34 AM

      Mario Kart 8! Mario Golf! AHHHHHHHHHHHH :D

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      April 30, 2014 6:36 AM

      I was going to pick this up anyway, but getting Pikmin 3 with it too? That is one sweetened pot right there.

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      April 30, 2014 6:48 AM

      This is a sweet deal. I've wanted NSMBU since I picked up the console over Thanksgiving.

    • reply
      April 30, 2014 7:03 AM

      [deleted]

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      April 30, 2014 7:05 AM

      Must resist buying... haven't even played a game on anything here lately.

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      April 30, 2014 7:08 AM

      Alright Nintendo, you win. I'll buy your game. But only because I can get Wind Waker or Pikmin with it! Then I'll just need to figure out how to expand that laughable 8GB storage space on my WiiU.

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        April 30, 2014 2:39 PM

        Doesn't it come with the 32GB console like the Wind Waker bundle? Just buy a cheap external laptop hard drive and plug it via USB.

      • reply
        April 30, 2014 4:27 PM

        Buy an external USB drive, works like a champ.

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      April 30, 2014 7:19 AM

      Love me some Mario Kart... too bad I don't want to buy a WiiU just yet :(

    • reply
      April 30, 2014 7:25 AM

      I have all the free games. I guess I'll be passing the code along.

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      April 30, 2014 8:04 AM

      Fuckin' A, I can finally get Windwaker that way.

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        April 30, 2014 8:21 AM

        Same here, I've never played it and other games kept pushing it further and further back.

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      April 30, 2014 9:57 AM

      tempting!

    • reply
      April 30, 2014 10:15 AM

      Woah, I nearly ordered wind waker yesterday! Sold.

    • reply
      April 30, 2014 1:04 PM

      Wait...there's something that can BREAK BLUE SPINY SHELLS???

      The game has truly changed!

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        April 30, 2014 1:06 PM

        Those horns will be the only thing people want when they're in first haha

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      April 30, 2014 4:00 PM

      It pains me that a PS4 is only $70 more and will ultimately offer 10x more games that I want to play. $329 is just a lot of money to put down for a machine that will probably only ever play 5 or 6 games I care about (if that). They really need to get the price of this bundle down to make it more attractive.

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        April 30, 2014 4:08 PM

        $320 for a console and two AAA games isn't good?

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          April 30, 2014 4:30 PM

          [deleted]

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          April 30, 2014 4:50 PM

          Extra controller, as well.

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          April 30, 2014 5:30 PM

          If I only play the two free games, and eventually buy maybe 2 more full-price games at $60 each, that makes the total cost for "the Wii U experience" $110 per game. The fact is, there's just not enough games in their library that interest me to justify the price of the hardware :(

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            April 30, 2014 5:53 PM

            Oh goddamnit, I just watched some of the video...it looks glorious! Getting closer to justifying it...

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            April 30, 2014 5:56 PM

            It depends on what games you want to play. No system gives me the ideal cost-per-game metric because I mostly play games on my PC anyway. Exclusives are all that matter to me.

            New Smash and Zelda will be happening. Super Mario 3D World, Wind Waker HD, Pikmin 3, NSMBU, and Rayman Legends are all excellent. I still buy Virtual Console games. Mario Kart 8 was my favorite game I played at E3 last year.

            Yeah, its mostly first party stuff but that's enough for me. I have a gaming PC that replaces nearly everything my PS4 plays and will ever play, and I have no need for an XBox One. The only thing I have aside from Resogun on my PS4 is a pre-order for The Last Of Us Remastered. That will change over time, but its still just about the console exclusives for me. By that measure I'll be buying the most console games on the Wii U.

            If you mostly play games on console instead of PC then that would swing way more in the favor of the PS4 or XB1. Then the Wii U would make less sense unless you're a huge Nintendo fan.

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        April 30, 2014 4:08 PM

        70$ plus multiplayer locked behind a paywall.

        Assuming you want to keep your free PS+ games and own your console for 3-4 years, it adds up.

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        April 30, 2014 5:23 PM

        For me, Smash Bros. is enough. Everything else is icing on the cake.

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        April 30, 2014 5:25 PM

        You can get a refurbished deluxe set straight from Nintendo for $199, comes with warranty as well.

        http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=212209&catalogId=10001&storeId=10001

        Down for maintenance right now, but they should have them available.

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      April 30, 2014 4:30 PM

      OMG I only watched the video now and it looks fucking fantastic. Love the anti-gravity stuff and the details
      in the animation (Mario's mustache wiggling around in slo-mo is a nice touch).

      Finally the killer app for the Wii U if Windwaker HD wasn't it and it
      even comes free with MK8!!

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      April 30, 2014 4:47 PM

      Still too expensive. Nintendo needs to put in more work. They still don't have accounts that tracks your purchases.

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      April 30, 2014 7:16 PM

      Awesome deal, wish that new donkey Kong game were one of the free games though.

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      April 30, 2014 9:03 PM

      Those are awesome deals. I'm so glad to see Nintendo getting so aggressive.

      Folks, if you have any interest in Nintendo games, now is a great time to get a Wii U. There are a bunch of cool games out already, with lots of 1st party games still in the pipe. And if sales pick up enough, the 3rd party support could come back too.

    • reply
      May 1, 2014 7:15 PM

      I'm still waiting for the WiiU 2.0.

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