Wii Games Summer 2010 Grand Championships Recap 9/2/2010
Wii Games Summer 2010 Grand Championships Event Recap 9/3/2010 – 9/4/2010
On September 2, 2010 Nintendo began to send the top Wii Gamers from around the United States to Redondo Beach, California to compete in the Wii Games Summer 2010 Grand Championships. My sister and I, Team BeruGold, happened to be one of the winners of a qualifying event and thus were sent to the Grand Championships.
Upon arriving at LAX my sister and I were greeted by two friendly members of the Wii Games staff. The staff put us on a shuttle bus that took us to our hotel. Once checked in at the hotel, all competitors had to go to a special meeting where the rules would be discussed in detail.
It shocked most competitors to find out that the rules of the Wii Games had been changed. In the qualifying rounds of the Wii Games, each team member had to play two of the four games (Wii Sports Resort Bowling, Wii Sports Resort Basketball 3-Point Contest, Wii Fit Plus Hula Hoop, and Mario Kart Wii Mushroom Gorge Time Trial) and both teammates would play the final game simultaneously (New Super Mario Bros. Wii Coin Battle). In the qualifying rounds each team got one shot at each game.
The new rules stated that each team would get two shots at each game (each teammate playing each game now) and that only the highest score would count. This got a bit more complicated with Wii Sports Resort Bowling. In bowling, Player 1 would bowl the first five frames of a game and Player 2 would have to bowl the rest in that game. This would be repeated for the second attempt.
The rules for Wii Sports Resort Basketball 3-Point Contest were also changed. In the qualifiers, one teammate would play three games. Now during the first attempt the games had to be played by Player 1, then Player 2, and finally Player 1 again. The second attempt would be played by Player 2, then Player 1, and finish off with Player 2.
Soon it was learned that after everyone had played under these new rules that only the top four teams in each category would compete in a Final Showdown on September 5th to determine the top places. During this Final Showdown the rules would, once again, be changed.
The Final Showdown rules stated that each team would play every game twice and the score would count for BOTH games played. In addition to that, Mario Kart Wii would no longer be a Mushroom Gorge Time Trial. Competitors would face one another head to head in four player split screen (Two Rounds) on the Coconut Mall track with items set to aggressive.
Reactions to the new rules were mixed to say the least. Many teams had partners who weren’t practicing certain games because it was unnecessary in the opening rounds that toured the country. At the very least though it gave players two chances to succeed.
Most players, however, weren’t happy about the new Mario Kart Wii rules for the Final Showdown. The new Mario Kart Wii rules made the outcome more random and less about skill, a common complaint about Mario Kart Wii’s Vs. mode.
After this briefing players were then given Wii Games Summer 2010 Finalist track jackets, and a Wii Fit Plus tote bag. I will feature both of these in one of my upcoming Nintendo Collectors Journals.
All competitors then had the option to visit the Wii Games Summer 2010 competition tent before the public. This tent layout was almost exactly the same as the NYC Main Event that I went to but the big surprise was that there were plenty of unreleased Wii games on hand. Everyone had the chance to play E3 demos of Wii Party, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Epic Mickey, Donkey Kong Country Returns, GoldenEye, NBA Jam, Just Dance 2, FlingSmash, and PokéPark Wii: Pikachu’s Adventure. Sadly absent from this list is Samurai Warriors 3, a game I now think that NOA has completely given up on.
At 9:00 PM the Wii Games Summer 2010 tent was closed down for the night and competitors were urged to get some rest for the events to come the next day.
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