In a childhood pipe dream-laden interview with Game Informer, Nintendo Treehouse’s Erik Peterson revealed the rad new Nintendo World Championship trophy for this year’s competition at E3 2015. They also chat a bit about The Wizard, which, besides being a glorified Nintendo commercial, was probably one of the best video game movies of the late 80s.
Just in case you haven’t heard, Nintendo is bringing back the Nintendo World Championship for this year’s E3. Yeah. You know, that thing you wish you could’ve done when you were a kid? Where you’d play video games on a stage and have everyone going absolutely futzing bonkers when you cleared five lines in Tetris? That Nintendo World Championship.
Peterson spoke about why he wanted to bring back the competition, most likely echoing a lot of people’s sentiments about the NWC. He said:
On a personal level, the Nintendo World Championships has always meant a lot to me. The last time it happened, I was like 11 years old. I was one of those kids reading about it in Nintendo Power and obsessing over every detail. I had no way to get there and be a part of it, so for me as an adult, the next best thing was to be a part of bringing it back.
He also revealed a brand new detail to obsess over: the gold plated Mario trophy that will be awarded to the winner of the NWC this year.
Since you can’t really talk about the Nintendo World Championships without talking about The Wizard, they chatted a bit about the connection between the movie and the competition. In The Wizard, some kids run away from home and travel partway across the country to LA to compete in the Nintendo World Championships, and the final game was a surprise reveal: Super Mario Bros. 3.
When asked if the final game at this year’s competition would have a similar reveal, Peterson was coy. He said:
We’re deliberately keeping some of the games secret to provide an additional challenge to our competitors and to make the show as fun as possible. That’s probably not the answer you were hoping for, but you’ll just have to watch to find out.
Clever. Game Informer even brought up Fred Savage and Jenny Lewis’ reactions to the NWC announcement. Once again, Peterson remained coy when asked about their involvement.
It’s gotten us really excited to see how hyped everyone is about the tournament—a lot of which comes from both the history and legacy of the Nintendo World Championships and the love of The Wizard. As far as who might be there –you know I can’t answer that! But I will say we have some fun treats in store.
Throwing my bet down now that Fred Savage is going to roll up on stage on an old skateboard in full 80s garb with Jenny Lewis and Luke Edwards in tow. Can you imagine?!
(images via Game Informer)
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