Nintendo is sponsoring a tournament for the Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition that will feature several prominent virtual YouTubers or VTubers from Japanese VTuber agency Hololive. Usada Pekora, Nekomata Okayu, Inugami Korone and Himemori Luna will participate as contestants, while Shirakami Fubuki will host. The broadcast is scheduled for July 29 at 20:00 JST on Hololive’s official YouTube channel.
Four competitors will compete in 10 events, hand-picked from over 150 events offered in the game, through the single-player “Time Attack” mode. Each competitor will take turns and each can attempt the event twice – with the faster time of the two attempts counting towards the ranking.
For each event, first place will receive 4 points, second place will receive 3 points, third place will receive 2 points, and last place will receive 1 point. Whoever has the highest total score at the end of all 10 events will be declared the winner.
The 10 events will be:
- Super Mario Bros. – Get the Super Mushroom
- The Legend of Zelda – Defeat all Keeses and get the key
- Balloon fight – Pop 3 balloons
- Kirby’s Dreamland – Defeat Whispy Woods
- Donkey Kong – Climb the first ladder
- Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA) – Dash through the desert and enter the pyramid
- Zelda 2 – Defeat the Rubber
- Ice climbers – collect all eggplants
- Metroid – Get the Morph Ball
- Super Mario Bros. 3 – Clean World 1-1
The official announcement page on Nintendo’s Japanese website also suggests that competitors may use special Nintendo Famicom (NES) controllers during the tournament.
VTubers are YouTubers or streamers who use a virtual avatar on the screen and who usually use some kind of motion capture or motion tracking technology to bring their avatars to life.
Hololive is one of the biggest VTuber agencies out there, home to dozens of virtual YouTubers with millions of subscribers in Japan and around the world – and even has a section dedicated to English audiences. Many Vtubers have streamed Nintendo games on their channels in the past; Korone recently streamed Metroid Prime Remastered, while Okayu played Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door a month ago. Laplus Darkness, another Japanese Vtuber from Hololive, also held a Mario Kart 8: Deluxe tournament earlier this year, but this new tournament appears to be the first time Nintendo has sponsored one of their events.
Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was released recently and is now available for purchase in a standard digital version and a deluxe physical edition. Readers can check out our review of the game here.
