Mario Kart 8‘s dominance could not have come at a better time for Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. Despite his absence from the company’s Annual Shareholder’s Meeting today due to a recent surgery, it appears the longstanding former HAL programmer was voted to retain his position as president for the foreseeable future. Given that his approval rating fell last year to 77.3% from 92.9% in 2011, this result wasn’t exactly a shoo-in. Still, 77.3% is still a hefty majority — more than enough to win the vote, apparently.
Iwata’s win doesn’t come without reason, either. Nintendo conveniently confirmed the total sales of Mario Kart 8 today as well, and the numbers (especially considering the Wii U’s install base) are quite staggering. In less than a month’s time, the rampageous racer has sold approximately 2 million copies, and that’s with the holiday season still to come. In other words, hoards of kids have yet to put MK8 on their Christmas list.
The news of Mario Kart 8‘s performance was delivered at the Shareholder’s Meeting by Genyo Takeda, who is currently speaking on behalf of Mr. Iwata. Reports indicate that Iwata’s condition was caught early and is therefore treatable, so with some luck he’ll be back head-butting Reggie in no time.
