The “kings of left field” are at it again.
Nintendo revealed today that there will be a Nintendo World Championship on October 7th of this year at Manhattan Center’s Grand Ballroom in New York City.
In order to qualify for the tournament, eight Best Buy locations throughout the country will be hosting qualifiers over four weekends, in which gamers can battle each other in order to advance to the next round. Check out the list below for the Best Buy locations hosting the qualifiers and their respective dates:
New York
Best Buy Bronx
Terminal Market
610 Exterior Street
Bronx, NY 10451
SF Bay Area
Saturday, Aug. 19: 10 AM ─ 7 PM
Sunday, Aug. 20: 11 AM ─5 PM
Best Buy San Jose
181 Curtner Ave
San Jose, CA 95125
Chicago
Saturday, Aug. 26: 10 AM ─ 7 PM
Sunday, Aug. 27: 10 AM ─5 PM
Best Buy Evanston
2301 Howard St
Evanston, IL, 60202
Los Angeles
Saturday, Aug. 26: 10 AM ─ 7 PM
Sunday, Aug. 27: 11 AM ─5 PM
Best Buy Torrance
3675 Pacific Coast Hwy
Torrance, CA 90505
Minneapolis
Saturday, Sept. 2: 10 AM ─ 7 PM
Sunday, Sept. 3: 11 AM ─5 PM
Best Buy Richfield
1000 West 78th St
Richfield, MN, 55423
Dallas
Saturday, Sept. 2: 10 AM ─ 7 PM
Sunday, Sept. 3: 11 AM ─5 PM
Best Buy Park Lane
9378 N Central Expressway
Dallas, TX 75231
Seattle
Saturday, Sept. 9: 10 AM ─ 7 PM
Sunday, Sept. 10: 11 AM ─5 PM
Best Buy Tukwila
17364 Southcenter Pkwy
Tukwila, WA 98188
Miami
Saturday, Sept. 9: 10 AM ─ 7 PM
Sunday, Sept. 10: 10 AM ─5 PM
Best Buy Hialeah
4001 W 20th Ave
Hialeah, FL 33012
What game will we be competing in?
Those seeking to qualify in the coming months will be playing Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS.
Instead of racing against fellow gamers in a grand prix, participants will compete in time trials and will have two tries to score the best time. There will be two separate age brackets – 12 and younger & 13 and older. One winner from each age bracket will qualify for an invitation to the final event.
It’s an interesting choice seeing as the Nintendo Switch is the hot new tech of 2017 and it would seemingly make more sense for Nintendo to get the Switch in the spotlight as much as possible.
While that might be true, this tournament is geared toward the hardcore Nintendo fan and it’s fair to bet that more diehard Nintendo fans own a 3DS currently than those with a Nintendo Switch.
You can demo upcoming games at NWC qualifiers
Nintendo has also informed us that those in attendance will get the chance to go hands-on with Super Mario Odyssey for the Nintendo Switch and Metroid: Samus Returns for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.
Will you be going to a Nintendo World Championships qualifier? Let us know in the comments below. Good luck!