Posted April 5, 2014 (edited) [countdown=05/30/2014 0:00 AM;!!!]Count down:[/countdown] The latest instalment in the highly successful Mario Kart series, Mario Kart 8, is set to be released for Wii U in Europe on the 30th of May 2014! In this thread you'll find information and media from the game, and will be able to discuss every aspect of MK8 with no requirement to use spoiler tags. So for anyone that wants to stay spoiler-free*, I highly suggest clicking the back button! You have been warned. * please use the original MK8 thread to discuss the game in a spoiler-free environment. Feel the rush as your kart rockets across the ceiling! Race upside-down and along walls on antigravity tracks in the most action-packed Mario Kart game yet! Take on racers across the globe and share videos of your greatest moments via Mario Kart TV. Fan favourite features from past Mario Kart games include gliders, underwater racing, motorbikes, mid-air tricks, and more Spin Turbo: While racing upside-down or on walls, players can bump into other racers or certain course obstacles to get a speed boost. Spin Turbo fundamentally redefines the way that players compete, and makes antigravity racing even more exhilarating. Live recorded music: For the first time in the Mario Kart series, select courses in Mario Kart 8 feature music recorded by live performers. Crisp HD graphics and fluid animation offers players the most visually stunning Mario Kart yet Developer: Nintendo EAD 1 Publisher: Nintendo Release date: 30/05/2014 Genre: Racing Age rating: PEGI 3+ Price: Standard Edition - £39.85(€59.99) Limited Edition - £59.99(€?) Players: 1-4 local multiplayer, 1-12 online multiplayer Tech details: 720p / 60fps / 5.1 surround sound / Off-TV play eShop download size: TBA Compatible controllers: GamePad (traditional or motion control), Wii Remote/Wheel, Wii Remote + Nunchuck, Wii Classic Controller, Wii U Pro Controller. MK8 features many of the regular items from the MK series, but also adds several new items! The game also features an interesting new mechanic (for modern MK at least) whereby it's no longer possible to stockpile items, instead players can only have a single item equipped/in their inventory at a time! This will make defensive play a little bit trickier, but should also mean much more exciting races! All of the items that appear in MK8 (what's been revealed/discovered so far) can be seen bellow, along with a history of which other MK games they've featured in: The new items: Boomerang Flower – Gives you 3 boomerangs to throw, they can be thrown backwards or forwards. Piranha Plant – Lunges out at other players or items, which also gives a slight speed boost. 8 – ??? Speculation is that it will function similarly to the Lucky 7 of MK7, but obviously with 8 items instead. Speaker box – ??? In MK8 players will be able to choose from Karts, Bikes and now ATVs! Vehicle colouring and decals are once again determined by character choice, and customisation also returns, with interchangeable parts like tyres and gliders. Vehicle modifications are expected to alter your stats, just like in MK7. Confirmed so far: Mario Luigi Princess Peach Yoshi Bowser Donkey Kong Toad Koopa Troopa Princess Daisy Toadette Wario Waluigi Rosalina Baby Mario Baby Luigi Baby Peach Baby Daisy Shy Guy Lakitu Metal Mario And joining those characters for the first time ever in a Mario Kart game are... The Koopalings! Yeah, all of 'em!! Larry Koopa Morton Koopa Jr. Wendy O. Koopa Iggy Koopa Roy Koopa Lemmy Koopa Ludwig von Koopa This brings the current playable character total in MK8 up to 27! That's already the largest roster of any game in the history of MK, and it's very likely to increase, with several characters from previous games still a possibility and Miis are almost certain to feature as well. MK8 continues the long running tradition of featuring 32 tracks spread over 8 different cups. 16 newly designed and 16 returning retro tracks from previous MK games are included. They are as follows: Mushroom Cup Mario Kart Stadium Water Park Sweet Sweet Canyon Thwomp Ruins Flower Cup Mario Circuit Toad Harbor Twisted Mansion Shy Guy Falls Star Cup Sunshine Airport Electrodrome ??? ??? Special Cup ??? ??? Cloudtop Cruise Rainbow Road Unassigned Tracks Bone Dry Ruins Dolphin Shoals And on the retro side: Shell Cup Wii Moo Moo Meadows GBA Mario Circuit DS Cheep Cheep Beach N64 Toad’s Turnpike Banana Cup GCN Dry Dry Desert SNES Donut Plains 3 N64 Royal Raceway 3DS DK Jungle Leaf Cup ??? ??? ??? ??? Lightning Cup DS Tick Tock Clock N64 Rainbow Road ??? ??? Unassigned Tracks Wii Grumble Volcano 3DS Music Park 3DS Piranha Plant Pipeway Unannounced Tracks N64 Yoshi Valley GCN Sherbet Land Even though it's not up to much in MK8, the GamePad is still being put to use for a few things: Race standings. Also shows what items other players currently have. Toot toot! Off-TV play. The icon always features a live feed of the TV picture. Tapping here will expand it to fill the GamePad screen. Toggle map. Replaces the horn with a larger version of the map, also expands the standings section to show player names. Switch to motion control on the fly. MKTV is a new feature in MK8 that will allow players to edit and share video replays of their gameplay! The feature hasn't been shown in any detail as of yet, but it is known that players will have several options to generate videos, such as choosing camera angles, following specific characters or focusing on certain moments like item usage or stunts. More information regarding this feature will appear here once it's available. To voice chat or not to voice chat? :p Very little is currently known about the online functionality of MK8. 12 player online racing is confirmed, as are custom communities, but there's still a lot left to be revealed. Stay tuned... Announced on the 6th of March 2014, and available to pre-order from various retailers, the MK8 Limited Edition features a boxed copy of the game and a 5″* Spiny Shell figurine. *estimation (including stand). Additional bonus items are also available depending on the retailer, they include a Bullet Bill T-Shirt and 3 keyrings in the form of a Red Shell, Golden Mushroom and Bullet Bill. To pre-order the limited edition bundle directly from Nintendo, click HERE. NintendoLife Eurogamer IGN Reviews coming soon. A new MK game means a new N-E League! Organised by lostmario, the N-E MK8 League is currently scheduled to commence in June. League races are held every Thursday evening and players will get the chance to participate in special character/vehicle/item themed GPs! League highlight videos should also be making a return this time, and depending on the functionality of MKTV, could potentially be better than ever. To check out previous N-E MK League highlights, click . More information on the N-E MK8 League 2014 can be found here. If you're a guest reading this, get yourself signed up here at N-Europe and get involved! And that's the end of this opening post. The thread is now open for spoiler-filled discussion of MK8, so get posting people! Get on-board that train!! Get Hyped!!! See you on the racetrack! : peace: Edited April 22, 2014 by RedShell Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 Quality opening post, @RedShell. Fantastic work. Love the 8 logo used instead of the Wii U one as well. It's the little touches that count. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 The "8" is almost certainly the new version of "Lucky 7" from Mario Kart 7. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 The "8" is almost certainly the new version of "Lucky 7" from Mario Kart 7.Another theory going around is that it could mess with antigravity or the track somehow. Think that's probably a bit too out there though. What does everyone reckon that speaker item will do? I had a laugh the other day imagining it to temporarily allow voice chat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 If this has voicechat I might join the league. Played a few times on the Wii with ye but the lack of voicechat killed it for me. That and it was too much of a lottery to win. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 Best opening post to a thread that I've ever seen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 I'm not sure MK8 needed a separate spoilers thread, but the excellent opening post makes it more than ok in my book! Hopefully the other one will drop down Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 One thing to note is that you can no longer hold 2 items at the same time, carrying one behind you whilst having another "in supply". So when you're dragging a Green Shell behind you, that same Green Shell occupies your "inventory". No more defending with one shell whilst holding another in reserve! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 I wish they'd bring back the feather, would add so much strategy, particularly to battle mode. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 One thing to note is that you can no longer hold 2 items at the same time, carrying one behind you whilst having another "in supply". So when you're dragging a Green Shell behind you, that same Green Shell occupies your "inventory". No more defending with one shell whilst holding another in reserve! This will make things very interesting indeed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 Why can't they just bring back the pipe kart and make it the default vehicle? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 8, 2014 I actually really like the new mechanics. Not being able to store the weapons, at first I was horrified as I just do it all the time, on the one hand it'll make it even more madcap as defence is weaker, but also take a little of the emphasis away from the weapons. Also the spinning on anyti gravity, again it wasn't too sure, but thinking about it it'll really change the way the game is played on those moments. Actually wanting to bump into people, both boosting, strategic other people could have Weapons, encourages reckless driving.... This game will be immense. Personally I'm not bothered about VC, but want it in for the people who do, and feel it should be in! Will be equally annoying if they include Wii sports cumbersome gamepad messaging system! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 Some off-screen pics of the UI appeared, one from the character select screen and another of the cup selection screen. Have added them to the first post. Gonna be interesting to see if 30 characters will actually be the final amount, or if we can expect even more! If it does end up being 30 though, the likelihood is that only 2 will be from the Mario universe, and the remaining character slot is to select your Mii. Who are people expecting/wanting to be included? I'm hoping Birdo is back, purely to torment people when playing online. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 I bet Diddy Kong and Funky Kong will return. Birdo as well, probably. It's a Home Console Mario Kart so they should go all out. Personally I'm hoping for Professor E. Gadd, my main catterpillar Wiggler and Lubba from Mario Galaxy 2 Metal Mario is still the stupidest inclusion ever. That should just be an item, not a character! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 I hope there's another row of unlockable characters., they need to bring back all the MK Wii characters and add in some new ones. I'm hoping for more Kongs (Diddy, Dixie, Funky and Cranky) and Dry Bowser. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 I hope Dry Bowser makes it back in! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 Metal Mario is still the stupidest inclusion ever. Agreed. His voice is terrifying, sounds like he constantly drowning. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 Birdo would be good, but I have to say I wish this game brought back Double Dash's character specific items, made things a bit more interesting Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 You've only listed coins being available for MK & MK8. Pretty sure they were in MK7, too. And maybe one of the others, too? Excellent list, though. Looking forward to it. Will get a LAN/Ethernet thingy to strengthen my connection. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 You've only listed coins being available for MK & MK8. Pretty sure they were in MK7, too. And maybe one of the others, too? Excellent list, though. Looking forward to it. Will get a LAN/Ethernet thingy to strengthen my connection. They were in Super Circuit too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 You've only listed coins being available for MK & MK8. Pretty sure they were in MK7, too. And maybe one of the others, too? They were in Super Circuit too Coins as a usable item (i.e. obtainable from a [?] on the racetrack) have only been in SMK and now MK8, trust me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 Coins as a usable item (i.e. obtainable from a [?] on the racetrack) have only been in SMK and now MK8, trust me. Woops, didn't realise that is what you were on about..I just thought you meant coins in general. Forgiveness, please Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 Forgiveness, please You're forgiven. And cheers for reminding me of this classic: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2014 You're forgiven. And cheers for reminding me of this classic: I am so glad you got that reference. *high give*: peace: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
