Best Buy Will Showcase Playable Demos of Nintendo's E3 Games

smash bros. at best buy please make it happen nintendo

Will be going to Best Buy for sure. That is a great idea on Nintendo's part.

Very cool idea.

... No nintendolife, "the next best thing" would be downloadable demos straight from e3 on the eshop!

YEAH!

Making these downloadable would be awesome, but let's face it, they're games that are very much in their alpha or beta phase. Nintendo doesn't want these on everybody's Wii U, out there with tons of bugs.

They should have had demos since day 1 on the kiosks. This is just another reminder that Nintendo has done a lousy job marketing the WiiU.

And only at 100 Best Buys in US and Canada? They should have at least partnered w/ Walmart. Or even Gamestop.

Sorry so negative, but when Reggie made such a big deal about demos on kiosks, even if they are special E3 ones, well... it's just absurd.

only over 100??.....that means I won't get to try these out since I live in WV. Yeah, there is two Best Buy's within range of where I am, but I already know all these demos will be in New York and California.

eshop demos are the way to go if they really want to spread the hype.
if worried about bugs then make them only available/playable for a specific time.
or hell, just make it clear that it's a beta and roll with it.
the demo of metroid prime hunters for DS was quickly forgotten, but it was cool at the time.
sadly, there have to be way more than 100 best buys in the US so most likely it wont be one in your/my area that has the in-store demos.

There's only one in my area and if they don't get it I guess I'm outta luck. There's like 1500 stores in the US so that needs to be taken into account as well.

eShop demos? Statistically speaking, no one owns a Wii U.

Downloadable demos on E3 week would be amazing. Can you imagine Mario Kart, new 3D Mario, Sonic Lost World, Zelda 3DS and more (Bayonetta 2!) all having demos in one week. Mind blowing! What about instead of 30 plays per demo, they are all available for just 1 month?

I don't understand the complaints... a 100 Best Buy stores is a 100 more locations than the E3 show floor...

Yes, eShop demos would be awesome... but it would take a million years to download with all the traffic hitting at the same time... The server would probably crash too...

I have to say, eShop demos during E3 would be awesome, and I think would be a great idea if it wasn't for us all crashing the servers. haha.

This is actually a better marketing plan than having a huge E3 show. Good on Nintendo for coming up with this. I hope they continue this trend; I much rather it than the "only ever here in California" that excludes a huge majority of fans. Hopefully they'll get this running in Europe and elsewhere, too.

the most disappointing part of the direct... I was hoping he would say "well now you can download the demos directly to your wiiu" but no.

I'm happy for you american and canadian people!! (kinda jealous too lol)

I guess this is bitter sweet news for me. I really like the idea. I'm happy Nintendo thought of this (alittle disappointed they aren't eshop demos, but..). I just know the demos won't be here in WV though.

@Linkstrikesback This

Really cool idea. I don't see the others showcasing anything like this or going out of the way to get the public involved in someway with e3. I doubt my best buy will get one but at least others will get to try it. Good job ninty.

Verrry smart move by Nintendo!!
...too bad that Europe seems to get left out..?

People even find a way to complain about Nintendo bringing an "E3 light" experience to more people.

I think its a cool idea, good for Nintendo to try something new.

@Stark_Nebula I agree. This is way better than spending money on the flashy press conference. And today's direct proved that a Nintendo Direct hits the press like any other conference. By 11:00 it was already one of the top articles on my Google Tech News with an article from Forbes...

The amount of people crying about this is completely appalling! First people complain about not having a presser, they give you something better then a presser an opportunity to play the games that will be coming to the wii u. If you are not press you wouldnt have gotten to play those games anyway! So now they give you an opportunity but you have to get off your butt and drive to a store you complain about it? Then say why no shop? Well lets see the point is not to get people that already own the console excited but the people who don't own the console. This is something no other company has done but gamers just complain complain! If Sony or Ms did it it would be the next thing since sliced bread! Grow up people and be happy when someone gives you an opportunity that you wouldn't have otherwise!

:Makes plans to visit Best Buy E3 week:

Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Wii U will be all mine to play >:0

I really hope they appear at the Best Buy near here.

I wonder why they didn't (or couldn't) also get more brands like Walmart and GameStop on this deal?

Here is the thing about this by doing this at BestBuy Nintendo is doing great marketing. A thing like this would not have worked at GameStop because that is for the fans and gamers. By doing it at BestBuy is marketing the Wii u and the games to the general public and the fans because BestBuy is general electronic store. Now they did said that this is going to be done at over stores so the specific number is not revealed but this is not going to be done all the GameStop so that is a fault at there part. But than again we do not know the specific of the deal. Now another thing that they could have done is include the demo on the eshop but that would have only worked for those who own a Wii u and those who do not are out of luck. What they could have done is both. BestBuy for the general public and those interested gamers who do not own a Wii u yet and the eshop for the Wii u owners but lets hold our horses this can still be a possibility but Nintendo decided not to announce it yet until the next Nintendo direct

sorry meant to say at all the BestBuy

Smart move by Nintendo.

I hate BestBuy. I will not go to BestBuy.

Wal-Mart was another good location they could have done

E shop demos? They are marketing the wii u to people that DON'T have one yet, not those of us that do. This is a great idea to get people to play the system that haven't, and educate people about the differences of the two systems ( wii/wiiu). This can only improve sales which will lead to more games, DLC, and a stronger competition for the upcomming consoles that will be the talk of E3. GREAT IDEA

Great idea. Next put those demos on eshop for us who have the console already.

I will make a trip to Best Buy if it's within reasonable driving distance. Although the lines could be an issue for large metropolitan areas like Chicago.

@rjejr Gamestop and Walmart lol
So you want the systems to be turn off, unplayable and the gamepad without buttons, scratched on the screen and chew up thumbsticks?

I certainly hope they do this at the Best buy I got my Wii U at!
That would be AWESOME.

This is a pretty interesting idea from Nintendo. If only one of the Best Buy stores near me would participate in the event! I might never get the opportunity to go to E3 anytime soon, but this is easily a great alternative. Kudos to Nintendo!

well count me out then. i don't live anywhere near a best buy although that week is usually when my dad comes down to take us shopping for my son's birthday. maybe i can get him to take us to whitby if they even have it there (probably won't). with my luck it will be in toronto lol

I'm probably going to have to drive about 300 miles to see them, but I think it's a cool idea. With roughly ten people per square mile in my state I don't think the one Best buy that I know if will be getting these.

@RoboConker - "So you want the systems to be turn off, unplayable and the gamepad without buttons, scratched on the screen and chew up thumbsticks?"

Better than sticky from all the kids with unwashed hands at Best Buy.

@mumof3kids82: didn't that used to be a '2'? if so, congratulations :3

That's awesome, but I wish they would go the whole distance and make the demos downloadable, even if they only had 1 try each, or locked after E3 ended. With only about 100 Best Buys across the whole country, there will be a lot of people who won't be able to get to one, and there really wouldn't be enough space if everyone who wanted to went anyway.

I love the idea. I might have to check out my local best buy!

The idea of actually putting E3 games in Best Buy is a splendid idea....I guess i don't have to dream anymore about me wanting, to go to E3...Instead i can go to Best Buy....For an E3 experience. Sad thing is that i live in a small town and they don't got Best Buy here...

The last time I felt the need to visit BestBuy to play a Nintendo game on display was Metroid Prime. Will be interesting to see what's available to play come E3.

@theblackdragon well actually i didn't realize i could change my username. i do have 3 kids. my youngest was born in january last year. but thanks for the congratulations.

This is a great move for them to get the Wii U love up. I'm sure these kiosks will generate much needed traffic. But too bad for the rest of the crappy demo-less oh wait a playable rayman demo at the back-kiosks.

Well, unless something major changes between now and E3, they'll get to show off their games to a lot more people by doing it through store demo pods that just putting them up for download through the Wii U itself. I know Microsoft was putting up demos of games from E3 as far back as 06 though, so not really an unprecedented move.

I'll be happy if a Best Buy near me is one of them.

These are the times I hoped I lived in the US...

I certainly hope this comes to Shreveport, La because I'm not driving to Dallas or Baton Rouge just to play some demos.

Edit: I hope they also give an option to download demos on home consoles in case people don't have a participating Best Buy in their area. Best part about the program though is it will give people an opportunity to experience the games who don't already own a Wii-U. Nintendo desparately needs to ship more units and anything that increases public awareness is a good idea. Maybe some 3rd party devs will change their mind about Wii-U support, but at least there appears to be a good selection of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party titles coming out.

EDIT: CRAP, MAN, TYLER, TX GETS AN E3 DEMO, BUT IT'S 97 MILES AWAY, GRRRR... SHREVEPORT IS OVER TWICE THE POPULATION OF TYLER, WHAT THE HECK!!!

Hopefully they'll extend this to the Canadian Best Buy stores too...

This is a neat idea (especially for people who don't already own a Wii U), but it means nothing to me. I'm not driving three hours to a Best Buy to play demos for 20 minutes and then driving three hours back home. These demos really, really need to be released on the eShop as well.

Another perfect excuse to go to Best Buy

How's THAT for marketing?

Never buy anything at Best Buy (get it?...), but you can bet I'll be there if playable demos of Mario U and Mario Kart U are there!

@Linkstrikesback #4 ''No nintendolife, "the next best thing" would be downloadable demos straight from e3 on the eshop!''
This!!!

That's pretty brilliant

No doubt. I need to. I will.

@klautrec pretty sure Canada's gonna get neglected as well (except for Vancouver & Toronto, and perhaps Montreal)

@Shroom_Muncher Or they could, y'know, make them one time uses.

Not bad, but I won't be participating. There's only 1 Best Buy I know, and me and my immediate family don't care for them.

Hell yes. I gotta go there.

They didn't have it downloadable so when other people see that there are a crowd of people in a best buy store, of course the others will be curious and go there also and if those, non-owners liked the demo, they would buy the console.