We're getting a new Mario Kart. That's... not a surprise. What is surprising, is that the game will apparently be revealed this February at the next Nintendo Direct.
Mario Kart is keeping up with Fast & Furious: The racing franchise is hitting entry number 9. This is according to a leaker who claims that the February Nintendo Direct will reveal Mario Kart 9, along other games like Xenoblade 3. That's a pretty big deal, considering that Nintendo Directs and Sony State of Plays love to be lame af (look no further than yesterday's State of Play).
Insider: Mario Kart Reveal at February Nintendo Direct
The insider in question is Zippo, and the source of the leak is his very own blog. Zippo is a very reputable leaker who is right more often than he is wrong, and here is what he writes on his blog:
But seriously, yes, I'm hearing that the first Direct of the year will take place this month and could be as soon as next week (...) Let me go out and say it... It's gonna be a big one. I'm not sure of the content at this point in time, but it's safe to assume that Kirby And The Forgotten Land, Splatoon 3, Advance Wars 1+2, the heavily rumored Xenoblade 3, and a new Fire Emblem title will likely be featured in this one (...) Also, if you made Super Bowl sized money bets on this new Mario Kart not being real, you're going to be out of a lot of money.
Splatoon 3, Kirby, Advance Wars, Xenoblade and Mario Kart 9? Nintendo is planning to drop bombs, and it does make sense: With Microsoft and Sony grabbing all the headlines due to their multi-billion dollar acquisitions, this is the perfect time for Nintendo to remind everyone that gaming is about the games, and not about the money. If they were to reveal all of this, it'd send the message that they're still about the games first... and we'd be all the better off for it.