Nintendo steals the show before the convention doors even open!

Nintendo kicked off E3 2015 with quite the showing with the Nintendo World Championships 2015. Sixteen gamers, from popular YouTube personalities to competitive speedrunners and Smash Bros. players, vied for a chance to be crowned the first Nintendo World Champion in 25 years. Through a double elimination format, players had to compete in the following eight games: Splatoon, The Legend of Zelda, new 3DS title Blastball, Super Metroid, Mario Kart 8, Balloon Fight, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and the newly renamed Super Mario Maker. When it was all said and done, only two gamers remained: speedrunner Cosmo and NYC smasher John Numbers. After a tense final battle in Super Mario Maker, John Numbers was able to claim victory and become the newest Nintendo World Champion.

While there were certainly some lulls in the action during the lengthy eight game tournament, the action and excitement ramped-up as the games got tougher and challengers started falling one by one. There were also quite a few surprises as well, including the long-awaited battle between professional Smash Bros. player Hungrybox and Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Amié, commentated by D1. While Hungrybox came out the smug victor, a salty jab from Reggie arguably gave the NOA president the last laugh. The competition closed with a special guest appearance from Mr. Video Game Himself, Shigeru Miyamoto. Not only did Mr. Miyamoto present the golden Mario trophy to John Numbers, but he also awarded two personally signed New Nintendo 3DS XL systems to John Numbers and Cosmo.

All in all, the return of Nintendo World Championships a fine way to kick-off E3 2015. If you missed the live show, you can check out the video on Nintendo’s YouTube channel. Also, check out the gallery below, courtesy of Nintendo’s Twitter feed, and in-game screenshots from the featured titles provided by oprainfall writer Jacob Dobbs.

Sources: 1, 2