Geek Family

I will freely admit that I’m a geek. So is my husband. And my kids. My son is not even 2.5 years old and knows the names of numerous Pokemon characters. For almost a year, my daughter insisted we call her Peach (Exhibit A: check out her 3rd birthday party). Hubby and I used Mario & Princess Peach as our cake toppers at our wedding. We live and breathe video games in this house but Nintendo truly holds our hearts.

When Melanie, one of the authors here at The Inspired Home, offered me the chance to attend A Very Nintendo Holiday Celebration, I might have screamed a little. The smile on my husband’s face when I told him that both he and our daughter were also invited was one of pure joy. This is a man who still owns every Nintendo Power magazine from his childhood. He is even named in an issue for beating Final Fantasy III on the SNES in record time.

A Very Nintendo Holiday Celebration

One sunny November Saturday, we headed to Toronto filled with glee and adorned in our Nintendo finest: Miss O in her Pokemon shirt, hubby in a Nintendo shirt and I with my Pokemon scarf. Upon arrival, we even got to meet the man himself: Super Mario! Kids and kids at heart got to try out many of the new games being released for the holiday season including:

• Pokémon Sun & Moon
• Paper Mario: Color Splash
• Mario Party: Star Rush
• Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits & Fleshy Souls
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf
• Just Dance 2017
• Minecraft
• Style Savvy: Fashion Forward
• A look at the online store full of awesomeness

Nintendo Love

This display at the Nintendo Holiday Celebration is of the new Zelda amiibo characters to be released in December. My husband was drooling. Needless to say, these are what I’m buying him for Christmas! After checking out the many new games, Melanie and I had the chance to sit down with Nintendo of Canada’s Communication Manager, Andrew Collins for a little interview. I quickly learned that the Zelda amiibo display was at his request. 

Andrew was a delight to chat with and his passion for Nintendo is evident in every word. Nintendo at it’s core, is as much about the individual player experience and so much more about the family experience. Nintendo is about sharing with your family; being able to sit down with his now-4 year old son and play Nintendo games on the WiiU is important in a gaming system for Andrew as it is for so many families. Nintendo is always on the forefront of introducing beautiful, family-friendly games to the next generation. 

What’s new this season?

We chatted about some of the most popular games on the docket for the holiday season. These included Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, the NES Classic, Paper Mario: Color Splash and more. I was curious about the difference between Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. While both are very similar in terms of gameplay, each has it’s own exclusive characters so you’ll need to play both games if you gotta catch ’em all! 

Inquiring minds want to know more about the NES Classic as it was awaiting release at the time of the interview. Nintendo was expecting extreme popularity; so much so that Andrew was denied when he requested to have one on hand for the holiday celebration. Too bad, as we were all excited to see it. While I was sworn to secrecy at the time, he revealed that not all of the consoles would be released at once. This has proven to be true. Many stores have been receiving more stock as we get closer to the holiday season. Rest assured, fellow geeks, you will likely get one before Christmas arrives!

It was great to chat with Andrew, a man who left his previous job to work for Nintendo – a no brainer because of their core values surrounding gaming, family and fun. This speaks volumes for a brand that holds a place in many hearts.  After our talk, I truly understand why that is. In our house, hubby and I have as much fun playing Mario Kart against each other as we do playing it with the kids. Nothing could be more important to us in a gaming brand.