Super Mario Galaxy 2 Preview Party
Never let it be said that Nintendo doesn't know how to throw a great party! This evening, from 5 to 8, they shut down the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center for an invite-only preview of Super Mario Galaxy 2, two days before it's official May 23 launch date. But how did these lucky few get such an exclusive invite? You just had to be a huge fan.
"We chose folks that were in the region, because the Nintendo World Store is sort of our flagship," explained David Young, Assistant Manager of PR for Nintendo of America. "And beyond that, we reached out to the Platinum Members of Club Nintendo, because they're the most loyal. We frankly have never done anything like this with Club Nintendo, and we didn't really know what the response would be. But we put out an invite, and immediately all the spots filled up. I mean, within an hour, we had our invite list. It was really impressive, the response. But you know, there's no fans that I've seen that are quite as enthusiastic as Mario fans. We did an event here to launch New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and it was raining cats and dogs. The line wasn't covered, so people were standing in line for over an hour in the pouring rain. I mean, that's the kind of dedication and love that money can't buy. It's priceless."
So if you weren't one of the lucky ones who scored a coveted invite (and if you were, why didn't you come up to me and say "hi?"), you can go ahead and make the jump for a full rundown of the shindig as well as some of my patented pictures!
As you entered, invited guests were issued a swag bag and a scratch-off card that would determine which of two T-shirts they would receive (each one had a different Yoshi power on it). The cinch-pack contained a mini-poster for the game as well as an "astronaut survival kit" which consisted of powdered Tang (natch), and freeze-dried ice cream and strawberries. But you didn't have to dig into your "survival kit" if you got peckish, because Nintendo put out a whole buffet and had coolers of drinks scattered around. The treats were quite good, especially the buffalo chicken skewers!
Obviously, the whole store was decorated to promote Super Mario Galaxy 2, and every available demo station was running the game so you could get your hands on it (And probably make the wait for Sunday's official launch even harder!). They had a DJ spinning tunes upstairs, and an area that seemed to be cleared for a dance floor, though I didn't see anyone actually dancing. Mario himself was available for photo-ops, and the voice of Mario himself, Charles Martinet, was also in attendance for autographs and photos. I had the opportunity to talk to him, and he's a great interview, so look for that probably next week. There were also trivia contests where more Mario swag was given away, including the deluxe Mario chess set. I also heard them mention that the best Mario costume would get a prize, but honestly, I never saw anyone in costume. Which means that they had to pick one of the dudes wearing their felt Mario hat they got as the prize for being a Platinum Club Nintendo Member...
I did get my hands on the game for a little bit, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 is just as pretty and colorful and dizzyingly fun as the first. Although regular readers might recall that I'm not the best at platformers, and therefore not the biggest Mario fan. In fact, I had to call it quits after I got this pink balloon-y creature stuck in Yoshi's mouth that let me float around, but I couldn't figure out how to spit it out! I tried every button and nothing worked, so I very casually quit out to the world map and walked away before anyone noticed how lame I am! And now, as promised, the pics:
Wootini
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 21 May 2010
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: club nintendo, gallery, nintendo, nintendo world store, party, preview, super mario galaxy 2, wii
The astronaut survival kit is kind of funny to me. When I was a kid, what we called "space games" were essentially the entire shooter genre at the time, and they were what the cool kids played.
30 years later, the biggest "space game" is a cutesy platformer, and most shooters fall all over each other to be the most grungy and dull-looking. Even Geometry Wars isn't as much a "space game" as Super Mario Galaxy, though it sounds like the sequel is a little less black-sky and a little more blue.
I'm sorry I missed out on this. I got the invite, but had to be out of town. I also missed the launch on Sunday. Although this morning I stopped by the store to pick up my game and one of the guys gave me the "art print" from Friday's event. Looks like it was fun though!