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The return of the Nintendo World Championships received a mixed reaction from gamers, especially since many weren't even born in time to experience the first one. While Nintendo's initial Nintendo World Chamionships announcement video was quick to poke fun at the 1990s vibe that the original tournament had, it didn't really reveal anything about what gamers could expect from the 2015 version.

Nintendo has now taken the opportunity to make fun of Reggie's extreme enthusiasm for the event, while also providing some detail on what the Nintendo World Championships will actually entail. Though some information is still under wraps, a good deal of information has been brought to light.

The new video features Bill Trinen, the Senior Product Marketing Manager of Nintendo of America, and Erik Peterson of Nintendo Treehouse. In a tongue-in-cheek announcement video, Bill and Erik discuss what information they're going to deliver to gamers regarding the tournament, acting as though they're not being recorded. Rather than keeping the entire championship a secret, they revealed the following information:

  • The Nintendo World Championships will feature 8 games.
  • Splatoon will be one of the 8 games, and the Nintendo World Championships will be the first place that Splatoon is played in tournament.
  • Kevin Pereira will be hosting the event.
  • djWHEAT, Andre from Black Nerd Comedy, and Justin Flynn will providing commentary during the event.
  • 8 winners of the Nintendo World Championship qualifiers at Best Buy will be admitted to the tournament.
  • The Nintendo World Championships will be streamed live on Twitch, YouTube, and Nintendo's E3 site on Sunday, June 14th at 3PM PDT.

In addition, Nintendo has invited 8 celebrity gamers to compete, including speedrunners, comedians, and completionists. This list includes speedrunners Sinister1, Cosmo, Bananas, Essentia, Trihex, NES completionist TheMexicanRunner, and Jovenshire and Arin of Smosh Games and Game Grumps, respectively.

Nintendo World Championships 2015 Thought Bubble

While the nostalgic charm of Reggie's Nintendo World Championships announcement was amusing, a lot has changed in the gaming world since the 1990s. Nintendo had undoubtedly looked at recent, major gaming tournaments and used them as inspiration for how their own will work, which should lend a more professional feel to the 2015 version of the event. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the chosen celebrity gamers is the abundance of speedrunners, as the exploits speedrunners often use will undoubtedly be off-limits during the tournament. For example, Cosmo once held the world record for the fastest Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time completion time by using a series of glitches and exploits.

There's no telling at this point whether the Nintendo World Championships of 2015 will be a flop or a hit, but it should be interesting to watch. If nothing else, it should provide a fun little appetizer to tide over gamers who are anxiously awaiting E3 2015.

The Nintendo World Championships 2015 will be held on June 14th at 3PM PDT.

Source: Nintendo