Nintendo announced today that a Mario Kart 8 Limited Edition bundle will release alongside the standard copy of the game and include a shiny blue shell item from the game.
The bundle has only been announced for Europe (so far), but we expect a similar announcement to come to North America in the coming weeks. While the limited edition might not be a blue shell, North American audiences might be treated to another kind of pack-in bonus.
This is the first time in a while that Nintendo has done any sort of limited edition release since the (extremely) limited release of the GameStop-only Wind Waker HD bundle in September.
It is clear that Nintendo thinks the Mario Kart franchise is big enough to warrant a unique–and higher-priced edition–of the game, and it’ll be interesting to see if the strategy pays off for a company that seems to be grasping at anything to secure a foothold in the next-gen market.
Be sure to take a look at our impressions of Mario Kart 8 from E3 2013 and let us know if you’re picking up a copy when it hits stores on May 20th.