The Nintendo World Championships are on deck to return for only the third time, as the company unveiled plans for the event to take place in NYC this year on Oct. 7. Competitors will be able to qualify by playing Mario Kart 7 for the 2DS/3DS at specified Best Buy locations in NYC, San Jose, Miami, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle and Minneapolis with the first qualifiers starting Aug. 19. Competitive play will be divided into two age groups: 12 and younger, and 13 and older. Since first debuting in 1990, the Nintendo World Championships only made a second appearance at E3 2015 in Los Angeles.
“The format of the Nintendo World Championships means that anyone has a chance to become the winner,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Audiences are hungry to watch competitive video games in action, and many of our most classic games, both old and new, are well-suited to competition by players of all ages.”