Will Mario Kart do for the Wii U what it wasn´t able to do for the GameCube?

[TK14]

This is just my personal opinion, but I think Mario Kart: Double Dash was just ANOTHER game with a poor direction on a system that saw MOST of its potential big selling titles make questionable decisions. I realize that to a lot of gamers, especially the hardest of the Nintendo "hardcore," the Gamecube's unique titles are highly regarded and well-liked. I can respect that. To me personally though...Mario Kart: DD was just another game on Gamecube that didn't really give the fans what they wanted. To me, Sunshine was a poor follow-up to Mario 64 (as evidenced by SO many people, myself included, STILL wanting a proper sequel to Mario 64), Wind Waker is fantastic but artistically isn't at all what people wanted at the time, and then Mario Kart: DD is kind of the black sheep of the Mario Kart franchise for various reasons.

So while I'm sure Double Dash DID help the Gamecube's sales at the time...Gamecube had a host of other issues to contend with. Wii U has MANY issues at the moment too, but from what I've seen, the games that are coming in 2013 are more true-to-form, straightforward (slightly safe, yes, but when you need sales, that's okay) and SHOULD help the momentum. Then, in 2014, it's looking like the games are a little more adventurous...either pushing the system's graphics more or offering more NEW things in the actual gameplay. The games coming out in 2013 should help the Wii U have a solid holiday and then following that up in the Spring with Mario Kart 8 should help things stay positive well into 2014. If things DON'T go well during the holidays, I think Nintendo would use Mario Kart as it's trump card...either bundled WITH the system OR announcing a price drop right around the time of its release, both of which I think would work. Either way, I DO think Mario Kart 8 will play an important role in either maintaining and growing Wii U's sales or saving it all together. Mario Kart IS a bigger franchise than it was back in the Gamecube era, and with 10 solid first party titles coming starting with Pikmin 3 this year, adding in Mario Kart along with Smash Bros., X, Bayonetta 2, Yarn Yoshi, SMT X Fire Emblem and eventually Zelda should ensure that the Wii U reaches a healthy, respectable install base of at least 25-30 million or hopefully more.