Joystiq at Nintendo World Store: in video

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 4th 2006 at 11:45AM }

The Nintendo World Store hosted a very special event on Tuesday for its fans. They brought Fusion Tour headliners Hawthorne Heights to their NYC flagship store to perform a live acoustic set ... but, that wasn't the real reason Nintendo fans flocked by the hundreds to this midtown mecca. Nintendo also granted their eager, sweaty fanboy hands access to the elusive Wiimote and games like Wii Sports, Excite Truck, Wario Ware, and Metroid Prime. Check out my exciting adventures in picture and video form, after the break.

This is my first-ever video (and post) for Joystiq... Try not to be too harsh with the comments!

Nintendo says NO to education by encouraging tons of students to cut school. It worked.

Those that survived the wait were treated to some Wii gaming. But why was the disc reader not glowing blue?

There were plenty of Wii consoles connected to some nice flat-panel HDTVs, proving that Nintendo really doesn't believe in HD.

Wario Ware trains a new generation of Nintendo fans to become stronger soldiers in their war.

Fans had to wait patiently through three songs from Hawthorne Heights before they were allowed to go back and play. (Don't worry: they were cool about it. "We know you guys are here to play the Wii," they said, so they kept things short.)

If I were Ludwig, I'd have a much funnier caption for this picture.

Playing with the Wii will make anyone, including celebrities, look a little silly. (Me? I always look dumb.)

They took one look at me and screamed: "OH MY GOD DUDE! IT'S THE GUY FROM THE 1UP SHOW!!!" I told them, bitterly, you wish.

Tags: fusion tour, FusionTour, hawthorne heights, HawthorneHeights, nintendo, nintendo world, nintendo world store, NintendoWorld, NintendoWorldStore, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Vincent @ Oct 4th 2006 11:55AM

And who was told about this event? Hell I would have gone if they had e-mailed me about it.. Like the SSBM tournament fiasco. Oh, you had to register two weeks in advance.. but don't worry, we only told people who happened to be in the store two weeks ago, not the people who signed up for the e-mail updates about the tournament. Great so now I'm at Nintendo World, during a tournement, that I can't get into.

Bah, that musta been really fun. Oh well, only a bit over a month to go anyway, its going fast. I'll be at Nintendo World on Wii launch day, you guys will remember me.. Mario at the DSLite launch. However my bro will be Luigi this time, not the other kid who was with me. We may force him to be Waluigi or some other useless character, hehe.

Vincent @ Oct 4th 2006 11:58AM

Oh crap, that's right! We welcome another New Yorkian to the Joystiq crew, Andrew. We're the best aren't we?

crono141 @ Oct 4th 2006 11:59AM

Nintendo needs a store in every states capitol, not just New York City.

I needs me a nintendo store.

nambit @ Oct 4th 2006 12:00PM

Give some love to your buddies up North!

... Toronto anyone? Give us a visit.. bring the Wii!!

Plaid Ninja @ Oct 4th 2006 12:02PM

Nice. I got to see the interview in progress (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhoran/260243060/in/set-72157594311873570/) and did a little taping of the joystiq rep playing metroid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-89WoAcEabI)

I sure wish I had a press pass yesterday, my feet were killin'

Vincent @ Oct 4th 2006 12:03PM

"Nintendo needs a store in every states capitol, not just New York City."

New York City isn't the capitol city, Albany is. Though NYC was once the capitol of the US...

flyers241 @ Oct 4th 2006 12:07PM

Nintendo had a little note about the event on Nintendo.com, but I don't think they did anything else to inform anyone.

There were surprisingly few people there. Well, not that surprising, everyone should've been at school or work.

And around 2 o'clock or so, they stopped letting people play Wii Tennis because the sunlight was interfering with the signal between the sensor bar and Wiimote. So you heard it here first, don't play with your Wii outside!

number40one @ Oct 4th 2006 12:37PM

#3 - I agree. Nintendo should build one of these stores in major cities throughout the country/world. (It is the "World Store," isn't it?)

...but... NYC is not the capitol of New York State. That would be Albany. Most state capitols are actually pretty small cities.

"the more you know"

darryl @ Oct 4th 2006 12:38PM

"... Toronto anyone? Give us a visit.. bring the Wii!!"

God I hope not!

Thanks for the video! Now when people ask why I think the Wii sucks bollocks I can send them the link to this video. That seriously made my day, I had no idea it would be *that* bad! LMAO!

...and what's with the music! Had to turn the volume right down, it was that sad. Scary.

MetaHuman @ Oct 4th 2006 12:52PM

NoA was formerly located in NYC. That's kinda why I think they chose that place for Pokemon Center (back then)/Nintendo World. I wish they'd have more, like one in the biggest mall in the US. >.>

Cirone @ Oct 4th 2006 1:03PM

Yeah, I wouldn't want to travel to Springfield, Illinois to go to a Nintendo store, haha.
Chicago would be more fitting, yes?

The music was terrible in this video but seeing the reponsiveness of the controller was awesome.

Destin @ Oct 4th 2006 1:11PM

Wow, I wish I'd known about this.

Are the Wii demo units still there, or was it just for this event? I'll head over there after work today if they're still up...

Destin @ Oct 4th 2006 1:12PM

Wow, I wish I'd known about this.

Were the demo units only there for the party? I'll go by there after work today if they're still up...

b @ Oct 4th 2006 1:20PM

are the wiis available for demo now at the store? did they replace the gamecubes yet?

Darrell @ Oct 4th 2006 1:32PM

9. "Thanks for the video! Now when people ask why I think the Wii sucks bollocks I can send them the link to this video. That seriously made my day, I had no idea it would be *that* bad! LMAO!"

It would seem that, given the nature of this statement, you had it in mind that the Wii was "bollocks" long before this.

Me, I don't quite get where you're coming from after having watched the video. Looks pretty consistant with what we've been seeing up to now.

thecloofer @ Oct 4th 2006 1:33PM

Dude I work like 3 blocks away and i didnt hear anything about it. Not cool. I walk by the store all the time and there weren't even ads up there. Weak.

Andrew Yoon @ Oct 4th 2006 1:45PM

To Destin: The Wii kiosks will not be there. It was for this one day only. Sorry!

To darryl: Hmm... I don't think the video was anti-Wii. In fact, I think Darrell noticed that video compliments the controls quite a lot. I had a blast playing it. "It's like I'm playing a Gamecube" is true though... I really wish the graphics were better.

To Vincent: NYC is the best place to be. It's great Nintendo's store is here, or we'd be completely shafted from most gaming events.

Brad @ Oct 4th 2006 2:05PM

You ask why the disc reader is not blue? Well, here's your answer:

http://www.uzziah.org/fusion_tour/MVI_0048.AVI

In short, it's only blue when you turn it on. I speculate that won't be the case for the final version of the hardware, but for now, this is what we've got.

ashmufc @ Oct 4th 2006 2:31PM

What model TV are they using?

Zachary Hinchliffe @ Oct 4th 2006 2:42PM

I've been to Nintendo World before and I have to say this: those TVs are progressive-scan, not HD.

Zell @ Oct 4th 2006 3:05PM

I wanted to go but that pesky thing called work got in the way. Ugh. At least I got a buddy to pre-order my Wii.

Matt @ Oct 4th 2006 3:23PM

You didn't mention that the sun killed two wii's. No details as to why, but when two of them were in direct and heavy sunlight they stopped working. Also, I'm the loser with both hands up in the last pic.

CubeGuy @ Oct 4th 2006 3:47PM

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to travel to Springfield, Illinois to go to a Nintendo store, haha."

Hey now, we're not so bad...

We got the Lincoln museum...

Yeah. Okay. We suck.

*hangs head*

mike shin @ Oct 4th 2006 3:54PM

wow, i'm impressed
good job w/ the video...
the nintendo world store should give you a lifetime pass for all events ever

ZaxCG2 @ Oct 4th 2006 4:06PM

Good video. Shows how it went. Like how you got comments from everyone.

Jason T @ Oct 4th 2006 4:14PM

I was there yesterday too, I was the guy in the bright green Nintendo track jacket and red Converse. The other guy with the same jacket was RawmeatCowboy of GoNintendo. I've got a lot of coverage of the event myself, but it'll be posted at NintendoGal.com if anyone's interested.

Sean @ Oct 4th 2006 5:04PM

hahaha, right in the begining "i'm skipping school to play nintendo Wii"

Thats me guys

I am now a Z list celebrity.

Sean @ Oct 4th 2006 5:04PM

and I also asked you if you were from 1up, you look like one of those guys.

number40one @ Oct 4th 2006 5:22PM

Cirone & Cubeguy

Much Illinois love! Maybe they can split the difference and open up a NWS in Peoria or Moline.

Of course, in those two cities, I think they're still reeling from the N64's launch...

MrD @ Oct 4th 2006 5:45PM

"Cirone & Cubeguy

Much Illinois love! Maybe they can split the difference and open up a NWS in Peoria or Moline.

Of course, in those two cities, I think they're still reeling from the N64's launch..."

What happened here (Moline) during the N64's launch?

Cirone @ Oct 4th 2006 6:08PM

I'm actually living in the wonderful city of Chicago now, so I can't really complain, hah.

Wait, didn't Moline just get the gameboy color?

Destin @ Oct 4th 2006 6:12PM

Answering my own question: The demo stations aren't there anymore. They're back to just Gamecubes. Well, at least I got a new DS Lite case.

The dude behind the counter said demo kiosks would be installed "definitely by the end of the month, probably around the middle of the month." Which was pretty obviously just a guess.

SuperSneaky @ Oct 4th 2006 7:33PM

I've said it before and I'll say it again: That thing looks like HELLA good fun in a you-and-your-mate-completing-contra-on-the-toughest-setting-for-the-first-time kinda way. That or Goldeneye 4 player goodness. Damn. I'm getting one.

Shame about the blue light not having an functionality option tho. I'd have liked to be able to set it to be permenantly on, then change it after a month or so once I'd gotten bored. Ooh, changable colours would have been cool as well ! Ah well.

Superdotman @ Oct 4th 2006 8:46PM

"And who was told about this event? Hell I would have gone if they had e-mailed me about it."
"Nintendo had a little note about the event on Nintendo.com, but I don't think they did anything else to inform anyone."

If you subscribed to Nintendo's mailing list, you would have recieved the following on August 4th:
"The Nintendo Fusion Tour returns in a big way this fall with Hawthorne Heights headlining the 40-city tour. Hawthorne Heights is joined by Relient K, Emery, Plain White T's, The Sleeping and very special guest star, Wii.

Tickets are now on sale for select dates! Check out the full list of dates on the Nintendo Fusion Tour's Web site (OR BELOW). It's the must see show of the year. Not only do you get to see some totally rocking bands, but you'll be among the first in the nation to get a sneak peek at Nintendo's new console, Wii. You can also get your hands on the hip new DS Lite. It will blow you away! Save the date and we'll see you there!"
Along with tour information. With that, some publicity on Nintendo.com, a posting on Joystiq two weeks ago, and probably a press release or two, Nintendo definitely released enough info. Of course they won't shove a huge "FIRST CHANCE TO EXPERIENCE THE WII" in everyone's face; the emphasis is on the bands playing, and they want people to listen to them. The tour happens yearly, too, so you should have known about it (minus Wiimotes), too.