I think it is still too early to know how this Mario Kart will turn out. Although I do not agree with it, Nintendo loves keeping their secrets until the last moment before their game releases. I still remember watching E3 last year and was totally underwhelmed about Mario 3d world. At the time, I haven't even bought the Wii U given how the system was performing. However, once they released more info later in the year, I knew I had to get the system before the game comes out. There must be more information that still need to be released. I think a large part of that will be the online functionality. If online play is done right, I think there will be a lot more excitement for this game. Also, would Mario Kart have DLCs? That may be another way to continually get people interested in the long term. We will find out more in the next Nintendo Direct. Personally, after watching some of the previews of Mario Kart, I am excited. Just thinking of playing with a bunch of friends, local and online, with all the new and revised tracks was enough for me to pre-order the game.