Would be cool if we could BUY the eShop version BEFOREHAND and it would automatically begin downloading at 30/5 0:00 ...

So I will end up staying up to buy, watch the download starting and go to bed.

Hope it will be like US christmas - wake up and the good things are there...

Please Nintendo - make that possible. Its a "win win" - the gamers could have more sleep and Nintendo more than a clue what minimal bandwidth and servers they need to have...

They weren't last christmas. Have they upgraded their servers? Or are they hoping that shutting down WiFi Connect for Wii and DS games will free enough capacities?

Yep. They have stated that in an Iawata asks. They could now scale up better on demand... If I remember correctly they might even use Amazon EC2 for those tasks... .

Depending on the exact way they handle the digitial delivery I could see them going for some days to Akai or something like that. But this would mean that all Wii Us would download the same encrypted file or files or at least the "big chunks" of them... . 

I think if Nintendo won't offer to buy the eShop version beforehand they are pretty sure to being able to handle the load even when they have to encrypt each copy. Otherwise it would be dumb not to also encrypt beforehand... But maybe they have crypt hardware in their servers (which I doubt)...

Lazy! :L

Well that probably had more to do with the 3DS hehe. No idea if they've upped their servers, but they better have considering they're shutting down Wifi connection.

Not at all. Its a hazzle to WAIT when I just in a desperate need for a QUICK "fix":

Push the eject button. Wait to get the disc. Put it into its box. Unbox the other disc. Insert it. Wait for the game to get recognized...

Not to forget: less disc changes also mean less chances that your discs get scratches.

BTW: I will miss having a physical box in my games "library". But maybe later I will get a scan of the inlet, make myself one and place an USB stick with the digital copy of it in there. Maybe the Wii U is able to handle that a download could be on multiple storages as long as they are bound to the same console. Not sure about that...

Can you get that free game promotion if you do digital?

@Conina

Most people not individual countries... Average download speed is around 300KB world wide...

Mine is 500-600KB while upload is 45-65KB per second which is lame since I cant play with Yankees because I would hqve ping 200 which is two second delay... :P

The worldwide average (which includes African countries, India,...) is relatively irrelevant. There won't be much WiiUs in countries with average download speeds of 300KB or less, don't you think?

According to this site 5.7 of 6.1 million units have been sold in North America, Europe and Japan, only 430k in the rest of the world.

Yes, you can, Nintendo themselves confirmed this.

http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/Mf9RJDcWmALXECxUdPB0Lf3N9Jb2VtRt

"You can purchase Mario Kart 8 as packaged game, digital download, or as part of the Mario Kart 8 Wii U Deluxe Set bundle to qualify for the offer."

Also (this is in Europe, dunno if it's the same in the US), you can purchase Super Mario Kart (SNES) on the eShop to get 7.99 off digital MK8. Meaning you get Super Mario Kart for free, PLUS a Wii U game from that initial offer. MK8 + 2 free games. That's awesome.