UPDATE: After this story was published, Nintendo detailed how players will qualify for the competition! On May 30th, select Best Buy stores will have qualifying rounds nationwide, with the winner of each earning an invite to the finals in LA, hosted at Nokia Theater on June 14th! On top of that, anyone who plays Mario Maker at a Best Buy on the dates in the story will receive a 30th anniversary Mario pin while supplies last!
Check out the press release below:
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On May 30, select Best Buy locations in major cities around the country will host qualifying tournaments for the Nintendo World Championships, which were last seen in 1990. The winners from each regional event, plus competitors invited by Nintendo, will meet on June 14, at the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles for a multi-round Nintendo game competition. In the end, one player will be crowned the 2015 Nintendo World Champion. Fans in Los Angeles will have the opportunity to attend the tournament, while others can watch online. More details about the qualifying tournaments will be shared in the coming weeks.
Original story:
Talk about nostalgia! For the first time in 25 years, Nintendo will revive the Nintendo World Championships at this year’s E3!
Taking place on Sunday, June 14th, (the Sunday before the year’s biggest gaming convention,) the company has teased a wide range of games for players to compete in, including the NES classic, Track And Field, Donkey Kong Country for the SNES, Wii Fit, Wii Sports and even GameCube involvement, although no particular game was teased. It looks like the competition will span the entirety of Nintendo’s home console history, which will be right up the allies of the longtime gamer.
In addition, the company rounded out its reveal with the rest of its E3 schedule, including their E3 Digital Event, live Nintendo Treehouse coverage from the show floor, and a return to Best Buy stores for gamers to try out a flagship convention title, this time in the form of Mario Maker. Not quite Smash Bros., but we’ll take it!
The schedule is as follows:
Nintendo World Championships 2015: June 14th
Nintendo Digital Event: Tuesday, June 16th at 9AM PT
Nintendo Treehouse Live @ E3: Ongoing throughout the convention.
Mario Maker at Best Buy: Wednesday, June 17 from 4-9PM, and Saturday, June 20th, from 12-5PM
Details as to how one enters the contest, confirmation on what games will be featured, or whether or not people will be able to participate outside of Los Angeles is unclear, (although the specification of LA in the reveal video suggests that it will be exclusive to those in town,) but it’s obvious that the company is trying to recapture some of the magic from last year’s Smash Invitational. I for one, know our fearless leader and former contestant will be eager to try his hand at the competition 25 years later. Are you?
Tell us what games you hope will be included below, and throw in some E3 speculation while we’re at it. What do you hope to see?