Pokkén Tournament Joining Competitive Pokémon Championship Series
Special Pokkén Tournament Early Access Competitions
Being Held for the Chance to Win a Spot at the 2016 Pokémon US National
Championships
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–For over a decade, Pokémon video game and Pokémon Trading Card Game
players have tirelessly trained and battled in official Pokémon
Championship Series events throughout the year for the opportunity to be
crowned Pokémon World Champion. Nintendo and The Pokémon Company
International announced today that the upcoming Pokkén
Tournament game for Wii
U will join the Pokémon Championship Series beginning this spring.
These tournaments are sanctioned annually by The Pokémon Company
International, and this year will culminate with the crowning of the Pokkén
Tournament World Champions this August at the 2016 Pokémon World
Championships in San Francisco.
One way to prepare for and even gain entry into the official 2016
Pokémon Championship Series, as well as getting the chance to play Pokkén
Tournament before it launches on March 18, is attending the Pokkén
Tournament Early Access Competitions being hosted by Nintendo at
select GameStop locations across the United States on Saturday, Feb. 27.
Winners from the regional tournaments will advance to the finals being
held at the Nintendo NY store in New York on March 17. The final two
winners of the Pokkén Tournament Early Access Competitions will
earn travel awards to the 2016 Pokémon US National Championships (July
1-3 in Columbus, Ohio), where they will battle to advance to the 2016
Pokémon World Championships, the premiere Pokémon tournament of the year.
On Feb. 27 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. local time, GameStop stores in the
following cities will host local qualifiers for the Pokkén Tournament
Early Access Competition. Registration will begin at each regional
location starting at 10 a.m. local time. Players will compete at these
regional competitions for a chance to move on to the finals at the
Nintendo NY store in New York:
- 2201 Preston Road, Plano, TX
- 1841 Chamblee Tucker Road, Chamblee, GA
- 3972 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA
- 8115 S. John Young Parkway, Orlando, FL
- 6451 W. Diversey Ave., Chicago, IL
- 242 Bellevue Square, Bellevue, WA
- 32 E. 14th St. – Union Square, New York, NY
- 3914 Rivermark Plaza, Santa Clara, CA
The Pokkén Tournament Early Access Competitions are open
to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, and will be split
into two age brackets: players born in 2001 or later and players born in
2000 or earlier. The winner of each age bracket will then be trained by
a professional fighting game player during fun training sessions that
will be shared on Nintendo social media channels. Once training is
complete, the winner from each city and age bracket and a guest will be
flown to the Nintendo NY store on March 17 for the Pokkén Tournament
Early Access Competition finals, where they will battle against all
other local champions. The winners of the Pokkén Tournament Early
Access Competition finals will each win a Wii U system, the Pokkén
Tournament game and a travel award to Columbus, Ohio, where they
will battle at the 2016 Pokémon US National Championships for the chance
to advance to the 2016 Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco.
“If you have fighting game skills and love all things Pokémon, but never
had a chance to combine the two, the Pokkén Tournament Early
Access Competition is your chance to show off your skills,” said Scott
Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales &
Marketing. “You’re only a few battles away from the chance to win an
amazing travel award to the largest Pokémon competitive event in the
United States!”
“We cannot wait to add Pokkén Tournament to the Pokémon
Championship Series,” said J.C. Smith, The Pokémon Company
International’s Senior Director of Consumer Marketing. “It’ll be fun
watching who’ll quickly master the game, moving on to the Pokémon US
National Championships, and ultimately battling Pokkén Tournament
players from around the globe at the 2016 Pokémon World Championships.”
Pokkén Tournament launches for Wii U on March 18, and brings
high-definition game play and over-the-top action to never-before-seen
battles between some of the most recognizable Pokémon characters. People
that buy the first production run version of the game will also receive
a special Shadow Mewtwo amiibo
card, which can be tapped to the Wii U GamePad controller to unlock the
Shadow Mewtwo playable character in the game. When customers pre-order
and purchase Pokkén Tournament from GameStop, they will receive a
double-sided poster featuring art of some of the epic battles in Pokkén
Tournament (while supplies last).
For more information about Pokkén Tournament, a list of GameStop
tournament locations, times and the full rules, and to learn more about
the 2016 Pokémon Championship Series, visit http://pokemon.com/PokkenTournament.
Remember that Wii U features parental controls that let adults manage
the content their children can access. For more information about this
and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited. Open to legal residents of
US (excl Puerto Rico); minors require parent/guardian consent. Masters
Division for eligible participants born in 2000 or before; Senior
Division for eligible participants born in 2001 or after. Tournaments
run from 11:00AM – 5:30PM local time on 2/27/16 at participating
GameStop locations. To enter, complete registration form (available
online or at participating GameStop) and arrive no earlier than 10:00AM;
participation limited to first 32 eligible participants per division,
per location. One winner per division, per location, will win a trip
package to New York to compete in the Pokkén Tournament Championships on
3/17/16, governed by separate rules (ARV $2,300 per prize package). For
Official Rules, visit http://pokemon.com/PokkenTournament.
Sponsor: Nintendo of America Inc.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of
interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan,
manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™
and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and
Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when
it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has
sold more than 4.3 billion video games and more than 692 million
hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U,
Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™,
Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi
XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo
GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons
that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™,
Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and
Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America
Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s
operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about
Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.
About Pokémon: The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of
The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and
is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon
Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the
official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and
today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in
the world. For more information, visit http://www.pokemon.com.
Note to editors: Nintendo press materials are available at http://press.nintendo.com,
a password-protected site. To obtain a login, please register on the
site.
Contacts
Golin/Nintendo of America
Eddie Garcia, 213-335-5536
egarcia@golin.com
or
Kathryn
Green, 415-318-4308
kgreen@golin.com
or
TriplePoint/The
Pokémon Company International
Andrew Karl, 415-955-8500
akarl@triplepointpr.com
or
Travis
Varner, 415-955-8500
tvarner@triplepointpr.com
