Nintendo World Championships Competition Coming To Schaumburg

By Jim Bochnowski in Arts & Entertainment on May 25, 2015 5:35PM

After a 25-year hiatus, Nintendo is resurrecting the Nintendo World Championships and the video game company is bringing a qualifying round to the Chicago area.

The world championships, which were loosely based on the terribly awesome late '80s movie The Wizard, took place in 1990 and pitted video game players against each other in the games Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer and Tetris.

The idea was great—have a bunch of kids play against each other in wildly popular games, get some free publicity, give out prizes. But then it disappeared for years.

Nintendo has now decided to bring it back. On May 30, at eight Best Buys locations across the country, competitors will have a chance to qualify for the World Championships in Los Angeles. And while there's a considerable amount of consternation on the Internet about the small number of qualifying sites, there's one happening right near Chicago in Schaumburg, at the Best Buy located at 900 E. Golf Rd.

On to the specifics: Those wishing to compete can begin lining up in a designated area at Best Buy for the event no earlier than 9 a.m. on May 30. The first 750 people eligible to play in line will get a wristband to compete. You must be present to be selected to compete, fill out an official registration form and those under the age of 18 must have a parent or legal guardian complete the form for them, according to official rules.

Those who make the cut will enter the competition and will compete in the game "Ultimate NES Remix," which has users play incredibly challenging versions of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3 and Dr. Mario. The event will last from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and whoever has the highest total score at the end of the day will be flown to Los Angeles on June 14 to compete with the winners of the other qualifying tournaments.

We plan on being there to watch the proceedings so if you're competing, let us know.