Mario Party 8 Nintendo Wii Game Breaks Record

Based on a report from the IGN website, Mario Party 8 for the Nintendo Wii has made a record breaking debut. Since Mario Party 8 was first released on May 29, the game has sold an impressive 550,000 copies.

This now makes Mario Party 8, the quickest selling Mario Party game of all time. No other Mario Party game in this series has sold so swiftly. This Mario Party game is the first one specifically created for the Nintendo Wii system. The game has sold near ½ a million copies in the United States alone.

The Mario Party games are known for their mini games. This new title is no different. According to Wikipedia, this Mario Party game has many new mini games, including the following list of games. Players can play different games such as the shaking cans of soda pop, a race with flag raising, jet skiing, shooting apple targets, and a jump rope game. Many of these mini games are for four players.

Some of the game boards including in the new Mario Party 8 are DK's Treetop Temple, Goomba's Booty Boardwalk, King Boo's Haunted Hideaway, Shy Guy's Perplex Express, Koopa's Tycoon Town, and Bowser's Warped Orbit.

Mario Party 8 has only been released in the United States so far. It will be released in the UK on July 13 and sometime later this year in Japan. The ESRB ratings board in the United States has given Mario Party 8 a rating of E, for everyone. The game has received good ratings from websites and magazines across the country.

Gamespot gives Mario Party 8 a 6.5 out of 10, Gamepro gave the game a 4.5 out of 5, Nintendo Power gave it a 7.5 and Mario.nl gave the title a 8.3 out of 10. The game has had some criticisms however. According to the Wikipedia report, Ryan Davis said the visuals in the game looked outdated, and that the visuals look like high end Nintendo Gamecube graphics.

Nintendo fans will be excited to hear that there will be many classic characters returning in the game. Playable characters include Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Daisy, Waluigi, Toad, Boo, Toadette, Birdo, Dry Bones, Blooper, Hammer Bro, and more.

Based on the IGN report, George Harrison who is the senior vice president of marketing at Nintendo of America said "The overwhelming response not only reminds us how much fans absolutely love the Mario Party franchise but also proves the unmatched ability of the Wii system to attract new players. Wii users are keeping the Mario Party going strong."

Sources
Alexis Dunham "Mario Party 8 Makes Record Breaking Debut"
"Mario Party 8"