Mario Kart 8 Toys to Come With McDonald's Happy Meals

Avid Nintendo fans may soon have a reason to take their (real or, if need be, imaginary) kids to McDonald's, as the fast food joint plans to begin offering Mario Kart 8 toys with Happy Meals.

As noticed by Nintendo Life on the Happy Meal website (yes, they have their own website), it looks as if there will be seven Mario Kart 8-themed figures (possibly along with a Mario visor) available, each riding a kart or bike from the game. Pictured are Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Toad, Peach, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi, leaving Wario, Daisy, and the rest of the game's roster to fire their agents.

The Mario Kart toys are listed under the "next Happy Meal" section of the site, suggesting they'll be available soon. An exact schedule for when these toys will begin being offered, or for how long, was not shared. GameSpot has contacted Nintendo for more details.

Given that these are free toys being packaged with a meal for children, you likely shouldn't set your expectations too high. You will have a chance to own higher-quality Nintendo figures--and ones that can interact with Mario Kart 8, among other games, no less--when Nintendo launches amiibo, its Skylanders-like toys line announced at E3 last week.

Mario Kart 8 launched late last month and quickly became the fastest-selling game on Wii U: In its first weekend alone, 1.2 million copies of the game were sold worldwide. Nintendo had been hoping the game would act as a "catalyst" for sales of the struggling Wii U, and early indications are that it's succeeded to some degree. At E3, Nintendo said the kart racer has had a "significant impact" on Wii U sales, and just yesterday NPD data showed sales of the console in the U.S. during May were up 85% over the prior month.