Nintendo hosted a competitive showcase last weekend in London to display some of the Switch’s current and future titles.
Fans who were lucky enough to sign up for the event before tickets sold out within hours got to play an array of Nintendo titles over the weekend or even face off in mystery games at the end of the show for a chance to win Nintendo swag.
The event had its fair share of intense competitive moments, with Saturday’s Splatoon 2 qualifier and Sunday’s Smash Bros. Ultimate UK invitational showcasing some of the best talent from around the country. But it was the little things that really made Nintendo’s VS event different from any other competitive showcase.
Only Nintendo could find a way to make The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild competitive, for example.
The Zelda section of the event had four players search around Hyrule in a small scavenger hunt. Each player was told what items to collect and they needed to use their knowledge of the game to find as many items as they could in a set amount of time.
To competitive players who participated in the event and expected to be playing Nintendo’s range of esports titles, like Super Smash Bros., Splatoon 2, and Pokkén Tournament, it offered a curveball that broke the mold. It also forced players to think on their feet, using their Nintendo knowledge to help them advance to the next round.
Other surprise games took to the stage to test the Nintendo prowess of competitors, too. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe time trials, Sonic Mania versus matches, and ARMS bouts all highlighted a weekend full of action.
There were also sections of the weekend where Nintendo pulled together a ragtag group of four from the audience to have them compete on stage in an online Fortnite: Battle Royale match in front of a roaring crowd. Four competitors were thrust into a match of Fortnite, trying to get Victory Royales against other players online who were potentially sitting in their homes watching the event on Twitch.
Any team that emerged victorious won a bag of Nintendo-themed swag—this is Nintendo, after all, so cash prizes weren’t awarded to anyone attending or competing.
The mix of “competitive” events on offer all came down to Nintendo’s philosophy of having something for everyone. They could easily target the competitive esports community with titles like Smash Bros. and Pokken Tournament DX, but they would then risk alienating the casual gamer who just wants to play these games for fun.
Nintendo’s weekend event provided a good mix that got everyone involved and offered a glimpse into how the company plans to embrace competitive gaming in its own unique way.
