New Mario Kart 8 Information Released, Mario Golf: World Tour and Kirby: Triple Deluxe Launch Today

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This info makes it sound like Mario Kart 8 may be the best one yet!

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Nintendo Gives a Crash Course in New Mario Kart 8 Information
Revealed: Wii U Bundle, Free Game Offer, Online Features, New Items and Racers
April 30, 2014 12:00 UTC – REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– One month from today, Mario Kart 8 will be driving players wild with anti-gravity racing action. To get people revved up for the Wii U game, Nintendo released a new Nintendo Direct video that announced some additional news nuggets, including a Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundle, a free downloadable game offer for Wii U owners who buy Mario Kart 8, details about online features, cool new characters and devastating new items.
On May 30 Nintendo is releasing the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Set bundle that includes a Wii U Deluxe Set system, a Mario Kart 8 game, a red Mario Wii Wheel accessory and a red Mario Wii Remote Plus controller, all at a suggested retail price of just $329.99. (Photo: Business Wire)
“Everyone loves Mario Kart,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “It’s a franchise that brings people together for fun at a family gathering, a frenzied race against friends or just an afternoon break at the office. The numerous new features of Mario Kart 8 make this the most ambitious version yet, and one that will have players of all skill levels racing for the checkered flag.”
To view the Nintendo Direct in its entirety, visit http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct. Some of the new information announced today included:
Mario Kart 8 Wii U Bundle: People who don’t yet own a Wii U system will find it easy to get in on the action. On May 30 Nintendo is releasing the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Set bundle that includes a Wii U Deluxe Set system, a Mario Kart 8 game, a red Mario Wii Wheel accessory and a red Mario Wii Remote Plus controller, all at a suggested retail price of just $329.99.
Get a Free Digital Game: People who buy Mario Kart 8 and register the game with Club Nintendo before July 31 will receive a free Nintendo eShop download code for an additional Wii U game. Players can grow their Wii U digital game collections by choosing from one of these well-received Wii U games: New Super Mario Bros. U, Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD or Wii Party U. That’s a two-for-one deal featuring some of the all-time great Wii U games. This offer also applies to people who get the game in the Mario Kart 8 bundle or digitally in the Nintendo eShop.
Online Multiplayer: Up to 12 players can race together online in four different multiplayer modes, as long as everyone has a broadband Internet connection. Like to trash-talk your friends while you’re preparing for a race? You’re in luck! Mario Kart 8 lets players chat with one another in the lobby area using the Wii U GamePad microphone or text phrases as they wait for their friends to join. Players also can create public or private tournaments for which they specify the day of the week, the time and the rules. Per tradition, players will be able to race against ghost data from friends or even the top 10 worldwide racers. They can try to beat them or just pick up a few tips and tricks from studying the best. If you beat the development team’s ghosts, you’ll get cool stamps for use in Miiverse posts.
Mario Kart TV: As previously announced, players can watch their highlight racing reels, rewind them, play them in slow motion or upload them to Miiverse. They can watch the world’s most popular highlight reels and comment on them. But players with Google accounts can also upload their reels directly to their YouTube channels.
New Items: Items are what make Mario Kart games so balanced. No matter how skilled racers are, they’re just a blue Spiny Shell away from disaster. A well-timed item can also turn defeat into victory in an instant. The new Super Horn blows away all other items – literally. Sounding the Super Horn issues forth a sonic shock wave that blasts away everything in the vicinity, including other drivers, Red Shells and even blue Spiny Shells. It’s a potent asset, especially for drivers trying to maintain their lead. Mario Kart 8 also introduces the Crazy Eight, a swirl of eight different items that lucky players can use one by one.
New Racers: Two new playable female characters make their debut appearances in Mario Kart 8. New heavyweight driver Pink Gold Peach glows with a golden light and makes a nice counterpart to Metal Mario. Baby Rosalina shows up for a play date with other Baby characters. As in past Mario Kart games, players can again choose to play as their Mii characters, which rounds out the field of racers to an even 30.
Mario Kart 8 is now available for pre-order at major retailers throughout North America. A deposit may be required for pre-orders. See individual retailers for details. For more information about Mario Kart 8, visit http://mariokart8.nintendo.com.
Remember that Wii U features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu.
Mario Golf: World Tour and Kirby: Triple Deluxe Make May 2 a Day to Remember
Two Hit Franchises Release on Nintendo 3DS on the Same Day
May 1, 2014 12:00 UTC – REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– When you see two round objects rolling your way, don’t be alarmed: They’re probably just a harmless golf ball and a familiar pink puffball. On May 2, the Mario Golf: World Tour and Kirby: Triple Deluxe games are launching in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. It’s a double dose of Nintendo! Both games are the next installments in their respective franchises and the first of their series on Nintendo 3DS. Both games also feature some of the most loved and iconic characters in the Nintendo universe. And, best of all, both games are ridiculously fun.
On May 2, the Mario Golf: World Tour and Kirby: Triple Deluxe games are launching in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. (Photo: Business Wire)
“May 2 is going to be an outstanding day for Nintendo 3DS owners,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Mario Golf: World Tour and Kirby: Triple Deluxe add two exclusive Nintendo experiences to the already-incredible library of software found only on Nintendo 3DS.”
Mario Golf: World Tour: Players can drive, swing and putt using their favorite residents of the Mushroom Kingdom like Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, or their Mii characters. Exciting courses that are filled with Warp Pipes or even Piranha Plants await players in Mario Golf: World Tour, as well as more traditional golf courses.
It wouldn’t be a golf game set in the Mushroom Kingdom if power-ups inspired by the Super Mario Bros. series weren’t waiting to be activated. Mario Golf: World Tour features plenty of items that can add an extra element of fun to the game when used. The Dash Mushroom, for example, gives the golf ball extra speed when it hits the ground; the Fire Flower burns through leaves and tufts of grass; and the Bullet Bill power-up allows the ball to fly in a straight line and ignore wind.
When not playing one of the numerous courses, players can wander the expansive Castle Club and its luxurious grounds as a Mii character to purchase new gear, visit the trophy room or take a break in the lounge to hang out with Mario and friends. There are hundreds of pieces of gear to unlock in the game, including shirts, pants, gloves, hats, golf clubs and golf balls. Each piece of gear can enhance Mii characters’ golf attributes and add power or control to their shots, according to their play style.
Mario Golf: World Tour also features extensive online multiplayer matches as well as communities that players can customize with unique tournament rules. During these matches, up to four players from all over the world with a wireless broadband Internet connection can play together on the various courses in the game. Players can choose either to take turns or to engage in simultaneous play, meaning everyone takes shots at the same time. Either way, players can use built-in emoticons to let rivals know how they’re feeling about the game. This unique twist on traditional multiplayer matches adds a level of fast-paced excitement to the proceedings.
In addition to being able to create their own custom tournaments, players can also participate in online tournaments hosted by Nintendo to get all sorts of new in-game gear. These scheduled events could range from nine-hole tournaments to smaller-scale events such as longest-drive challenges, coin-gathering challenges or even speed golf. Through SpotPass notifications, players will be informed of upcoming tournaments, and all they need to do is play the event and upload their scores before the event deadline. Nintendo is even collaborating with Callaway Golf Company for a series of in-game tournaments that begin on May 22. During these tournaments, players are rewarded with exclusive Callaway in-game items like golf clubs and golf balls just for participating.
Fans of the series can also expand their play options by purchasing up to three packs of downloadable content as they release, which will add a total of 108 new holes and three playable Mushroom Kingdom characters. Through Toad’s Booth in the game, the packs can be purchased individually at $5.99, or all together at a discounted rate of $14.99 with the Season Pass. Players who purchase the Season Pass will receive the packs as they become available and also have instant access to a special Gold Mario playable character. Fans who purchase all three packs separately will be able to get Gold Mario once all packs are available. Players can even participate in Trial Tournaments to sample courses from the downloadable packs available at that time, once they download the Trial Pack from Toad’s Booth in the game.
Mario Golf: World Tour will launch in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS on May 2 at a suggested retail price of $29.99. Fans can also now download the demo version in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 2DS. For more information about the game, visit http://mariogolf.nintendo.com.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe: In Kirby: Triple Deluxe, players must help Kirby save longtime rival King Dedede by traveling through numerous colorful worlds while inhaling enemies, copying their abilities and jumping back and forth between foreground and background in dynamic 3D side-scrolling levels.
Kirby’s legendary ability to copy enemies’ powers returns, allowing him to inhale, spit and transform into new forms like the bow-wielding Archer and the horn-sporting Beetle, as well as returning classics like Parasol, Hammer and Sword. These forms each possess their own abilities and help Kirby make his way through numerous challenges. New to the Kirby series and a highlight of Kirby: Triple Deluxe is Kirby’s new, dramatic Hypernova ability. After collecting Miracle Fruit, Kirby will be imbued with the ability to inhale almost anything that stands in his way, including massive obstacles and entire sections of levels. The Hypernova ability can also come in handy for solving massive puzzles that Kirby might encounter throughout the game.
While taking a break from the action of the single-player adventure, up to four friends can duke it out in the Kirby Fighters multiplayer battle mode via local wireless or Download Play. Kirby Fighters finds players picking their favorite copy abilities and using them in fighting-game style matches against friends or the game’s AI (artificial intelligence). With Download Play support, four friends can play together using only one game card. (Additional Nintendo 3DS systems are required for multiplayer modes.)
Fans of collecting hidden items will love Kirby: Triple Deluxe. The game has more than 250 keychains that are hidden in each stage. Every keychain is inspired by the gorgeous character sprite art from classic Kirby games like Kirby’s Dream Land and Kirby Super Star. Keychains can also be collected by using the StreetPass functionality of the Nintendo 3DS system to tag other players who also have the game.
Kirby: Triple Deluxe will also launch in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 2DS on May 2 at a suggested retail price of $34.99. For more information about the game, visit http://kirby.nintendo.com/triple-deluxe/.
Remember that Nintendo 3DS features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.2 billion video games and more than 669 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.