Pikmin 3, the long awaited next installment in the Pikmin series, will be releasing on August 4th in North America. For those that want to get a chance to check out the game – and maybe get the game a day early – you’ll have your chance this weekend.
Announced last week by Reggie, Pikmin 3 will be playable at over 250 GameStop stores around North America on July 20th and 21st from 1-4 PM local time. Nintendo was so pleased with the Nintendo Experience at Best Buy during E3 that they decided to do a similar event with Pikmin 3. You can find the closest GameStop to you by checking out GameStop’s Events page. NOTE: the locations won’t be the same each day, so make sure to check both event postings to see which GameStop near you has the game.
In addition to playing the game, you have a chance at getting the game a day early. By pre-ordering Pikmin 3 at the event, you’ll have access to the full game the day before the official release.
Now, as someone who went to his local Nintendo Experience during E3, I have a couple of pointers for you, assuming that this will be similar to the Best Buy event. First, get there before the event starts. They will have a sign-up sheet and probably the one Wii U demo console that the store uses. So, it could take a while.
Second, if you have one, bring your 3DS. There will be plenty of people there, and they will want to do streetpass stuff and multiplayer gaming while they wait for their turn.
Third, if it’s anything like the event I went to, the person running it will try to push all those that signed up through so that everyone can get a chance to play the game. During E3, I signed up for around 7:30 on Wednesday and was playing Mario Kart 8 an hour before my initial sign-up. So, be ready to play at any point.
And, most importantly, if they have a Nintendo rep there, be courteous to them. They will have a tough enough job that day trying to make sure everyone has a good time. And if we’re nice, we may get even more of these events with upcoming Wii U games, free swag, and local multiplayer gaming on the 3DS.
