The new Mario Kart 8 supports up to 12 players online, and you'll be able to voice chat with other racers in the lobby. It will also support a playback/record race feature that lets you upload videos to Miiverse or YouTube. Lastly, you can start your own public or private tournaments with custom rules and time.
The new items are super horn (blows away items and racers) and the Crazy Eight item (similar to MK7's "7 item".)
The game features live music! Instead of playing synthesized tunes, a live band was recorded for the game.
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Welcome to the future. Too bad the voice chat is limited to lobby, because I want to hear the receiving end of blue shells.