Nintendo has unveiled its first major live event in the West, and it’s called (rather simply) Nintendo Live.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Nintendo was one of many publishers confirming it would not attend E3 2023. At the time, reports indicated that Nintendo was working on a live event of its own that would make an appearance at E3 redundant. This raised eyebrows throughout the industry. Would it be something like the seemingly defunct PlayStation Experience, an IRL fan meetup at which Sony would make the occasional announcement? Would it be some kind of PR stunt or activation? Could we be looking at a full-blown NintendoCon situation?
The answer, it appears, is somewhere between the PlayStation Experience and NintendoCon options. Nintendo Live will be attached to PAX West, and will be held at the Seattle Convention Centre from September 1-4, 2023. It’s interesting to see Nintendo get around PAX again like this — Nintendo quite famously did not have a presence in the PAX Aus Expo Hall in 2022, and I had wondered if that reluctance to return to the show post-pandemic would affect other PAX events in the US.
Not so, it seems.
#NintendoLive 2023 will be held Sept. 1-4 at the Seattle Convention Center! If you’re interested in attending, you can register from May 31 until June 22 for a chance to receive free tickets.
Learn more: https://t.co/EgTSFoHJqY pic.twitter.com/zsDVJQxU9e
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 8, 2023
(For the Aussies reading the announcement tweet: ‘Arch at 705 Pike’ is the Seattle Convention Centre’s address, but I’d understand if you mistook that for a code of some sort. And yes, Sept 1-4. West is the only PAX that runs for four days.)
Nintendo Live is an all-ages event with a live stage, as well as tournaments, photo opportunities, a merch store, and games playable at stations around the space (though Nintendo doesn’t say which ones). So, it sounds like Nintendo is simply transporting its glorious, gigantic E3 booth to Seattle for a weekend in September.
What’s-a the catch?
And here, at last, we arrive at the catch. Not just anyone can attend (cue sad trombone sound, much grumbling and shuffling of feet in the comments). Those keen to attend will need to throw their names into a lottery. If you somehow manage to get your name pulled out of the hat, you’ll only be given access to Nintendo Live for one (1) event day. The event’s FAQ doesn’t say if you get to pick which day to redeem your ticket or if Nintendo gets to pick it for you. It also doesn’t have anything to say about pass-outs. So, hypothetically, if you were to head over to Nintendo Live from PAX West, enjoy a few hours there and then return to PAX, there’s nothing in the rules (right now, at least) that says you can’t go back to Nintendo Live as often as you like throughout your chosen show day.
Oh and you’ll also need an active Nintendo Account to even throw your hat into the lottery.
You might also wonder, “If I, an Australian, wanted to journey across the Pacific to PAX West, does my PAX badge get me into Nintendo Live?” It does not! In fact, you’ll need to enter a separate lottery for Nintendo Live tickets if you’re attending PAX West (for which tickets go on sale May 31st).
I’m sure it’ll be a nice event, but organisationally, it sounds like we’re all relying on pot luck right now. You can find out more about it at the official Nintendo website.
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