Nintendo World Championships back after 25 years
Nintendo is bringing some nostalgic fun to this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).
To the delight of Super Mario and Fred Savage fans everywhere, the company will revive its Nintendo World Championships at the gaming convention in Los Angeles in June.
Inspired by the 1989 film "The Wizard," starring Savage, about a video game tournament, the Nintendo World Championships were held once, in 1990. Never repeated, the competition pitted players against each other on three now-iconic NES titles: "Super Mario Bros.," "Tetris" and "Rad Racer."
Nintendo has not revealed details about which games will be included in the multi-round revamp, but competition hopefuls will be able to vie for spots in qualifiers to be held at participating Best Buy stores in major cities across the country May 30.
The winners from each regional event, along with "competitors invited by Nintendo," will meet at the championships June 14, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, according to a press release. Nintendo said it will give out more details about the qualifying tournaments over the next few weeks.
Nintendo itself is already feeling like a winner, recently posting a net profit of $350 million for the fiscal year through March, after deep losses last year. The company expects continued success on the back of it long-delayed foray into smartphone games.
Nintendo of America's president and chief operating officer, Reggie Fils-Aime, announced the Championships in a video replete with an 80s-style training montage. Watch it here: