Mario Kart 8 is currently a top selling game at both Amazon and GameStop

Now, I may be looking too much into this. As a Wii U owner, I really, really, really want the system to do well. I want others to experience the same joy I do when playing games such as Rayman Legends (seriously, this game is absolutely fantastic please go buy it) and Super Mario 3D World.

Given the recent news of Nintendo’s downright pitiful sales for both the Wii U and 3DS, I may or may not have slept with the Wii U’s GamePad at night to help console it. Today, however, I think the GamePad may not need any more coddling; currently, as I type these words, Mario Kart 8 is the top selling game on both Amazon and GameStop’s website.

Granted, the GameStop list is randomized (I refreshed the page to see Tales of Xillia 2 occupy the “top” spot, yay JRPGs!), but Amazon’s doesn’t appear to be. More importantly with GameStop is the fact that the Mario Kart 8 Wii U bundle also occupies a top spot.

Regardless, here’s what we can deduce from this recent turn of events: people are really, really excited about Mario Kart 8; So much, in fact, that it’s causing quite a bit of people to buy Wii Us.

Does this mean that the Wii U is finally turning a corner? It’s possible, but I wonder if that’s just the optimist inside me talking. Mario Kart 8 doesn’t exactly scream system seller in the same vein of a Super Mario 64 or an HD Zelda/Metroid title would. Then again, it’s Mario Kart, a game everyone can get behind. Whether it is college kids playing variations of “Drunk Driver” (you have to finish your drink before the race, but you can’t drink while racing; you have to pull over and come to a complete stop), or my parents sneaking downstairs to play Mario Kart 64 when I was younger.

Regardless, the fact that Mario Kart 8 seems to be such a draw begs a question to be answered: why didn’t Nintendo release the Wii U with it?