Trinen, Bowser on Nintendo World Championships – keeping games a surprise, how titles are chosen, participants

IGN recently spoke with Nintendo of America senior product marketing manager Bill Trinen and senior VP of sales & marketing Doug Bowser. The two had plenty to say about the Nintendo World Championships. Between the two, we’re able to hear about how the games tend to be a surprise, how the titles are chosen in the first place, and the types of participants brought in this year.

Read about these responses below. You can find the full article on IGN with more comments here.

On how the most of the games are a surprise…

“One of the things that we really do like, both for players and for viewers, is that feeling of surprise. So being able to draw on that and say “OK, what can we pull out of [Nintendo’s] library that’s just going to blow people away in terms of ‘What am I seeing right now.'” – Trinen

On the games selection…

“We really want to focus in on games that make sense, the competition rules make sense, there’s a clear objective. It’s easy for a fan to understand what people have to do, it’s easy for the player to understand what they have to do, but it’s still a game that’s fun to play and one that is fun to watch.” – Trinen

“We test the tournament, and we test it rigorously before we even get to New York. And that impacts [game] selection. Is it fun to play, is it fun to watch, and sometimes you think you have a good idea and it’s not.” – Trinen

On the people who participated…

“This year, what we really wanted to do was bring in a group of people from overseas. But we also wanted people who you as a fan, even if you don’t know who they are, you can look at their body of work as a gamer and go ‘Yeah, they belong in that tournament.'” – Trinen

“By bringing folks in who are very talented gamers and players in their own right that also have different appeal…we think it’s an opportunity to continue to share [Nintendo games] more broadly and also show the social aspect of [them].” – Bowser