Nintendo’s hallmark convention Nintendo Live has been seen in major cities across the world like Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seattle. Now, for the first time ever, Nintendo Live has blessed Sydney and was marketed as “An all-ages celebration of Nintendo fun!“. This article aims to provide a Nintendo Live Sydney 2024 recap, not so much critique it, but nonetheless, I will share things I’d like to see improved next time.
Walking into a Nintendo Wonderland
Arriving on Saturday, I queued up at about 9:20am for the 10am entry session. Upon entering the queuing hall, attendees were given a tote bag with various goodies inside – pins, a gold Nintendo Live-branded coin, a map of the convention, a sticker, a sick lanyard, and more. These gifts were totally unexpected, especially for a free event. Being one of the first to hit the convention floor at 10am, I navigated the floor to see what exactly was on offer. And there was a decent amount!
Live Stage – The Championships
My highlight of Nintendo Live Sydney 2024 was definitely the Live Stage. The live stage was home to the Mario Kart 8 AU/NZ Championship, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate AU/NZ Championship on Saturday, and the Splatoon 3 AU/NZ Championship and Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition play session on Sunday.
The atmosphere of these events well exceeds watching it on a live stream. I thought I was a master at MK8 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but after watching these talented players, I was humbled very quickly. The Mario Kart 8 Championship had a clear winner from halfway through the cup (congrats Panda!), but the tension and anxiety I had watching the Smash Bros. tournament, especially towards the final bracket, was unmatched. Jdizzle took that trophy home.
Charles Martinet – Meet & Greet and Q&A
Also on the Live Stage was a Q&A with Charles Martinet, hosted by Thank God You’re Here host Celia Pacquola. Prior to the Q&A with Charles, Celia played some old-school and new-school Mario games and gave the audience a bit of a background on her history with Nintendo games.
Once Charles Martinet came on stage and sat with Celia in an intimate Q&A, that’s when the magic started. Charles has such a way with words. If he wasn’t making us laugh, he was making us cry. You can tell Charles is very aware of his impact in just about everyone’s childhoods, and he doesn’t take that for granted. He spoke about his early career and particularly got emotional when he was talking about how blessed he was to live the life he is living – meeting fans and spreading joy around the world. Celia nailed her role of hosting the Q&A, shedding her more adult hosting style from TGYH in favour of a family-friendly approach.
Charles Martinet held three meet-and-greet sessions on both days of the event, and the queues were packed. Charles wasn’t signing any merchandise but took photos with everyone so efficiently. It still felt personal and not just a tick-and-flick-type experience.
Meet & Greets and Other Photo Ops
Across the convention floor were a ton of photo ops and meet-and-greet stations where you could meet your favourite Nintendo characters. The characters up you could meet were: Isabelle, Mario and Luigi, Kirby, Pikachu, Kirby, and Princess Peach. These mascots only had 20-minute sessions every hour or so, meaning the lines were closed quite quickly. However, a few of the set pieces were available to take photos with during the character’s breaks.
Every display in the conventional hall was ideal for a photo op. You couldn’t walk past anything without wanting to take a snap!
Nintendo Dojo
The Nintendo Dojo was a battle-royale type experience for attendees. The first around had 4 tables of 8 Nintendo Switch’s with Mario Kart 8. The winners of two races on each table would move onto the next round – a speedrun of a Super Mario Maker 2 level. The top 4 of that round then moved onto a stage where they would face off and crown a winner. The Nintendo Dojo was hosted by Mike Loder across the two days, who kept the Nintendo Dojo interesting by constantly engaging with the contestants and audience.
Playable Games
The following games were playable at Nintendo Live Sydney 2024:
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
- Nintendo Switch Sports
- Splatoon 3
- Pikmin 4
- Mario Kart 8
- Super Mario Maker 2
- Princess Peach: Showtime!
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land
As you can see, a decent amount of Nintendo’s current catalogue was showcased, with some amazing set pieces surrounding them. As someone who reviews games, I didn’t go out of my way to go and play any of these, but I saw a lot of attendees checking these stations out and having fun. It would have been great to see an Echoes of Wisdom demo here, but perhaps that is being saved for PAX Aus 2024.
My Nintendo Store
The My Nintendo Store was the most popular attraction of Nintendo Live Sydney 2024. A ticketing system was used, where attendees were to collect a ticket, which assigned a time for them to line up at the My Nintendo Store. During that timeframe, attendees, once in the My Nintendo Store area, were able to look at the extensive range of merchandise, including clothing, amiibo, plushies, videogames, and more. Customers were given a catalogue to mark what they wanted to purchase, which was then passed onto the checkout assistant at the back of the My Nintendo Store and able to be picked up at the lobby of the ICC.
On paper, this sounded like a great system. Unfortunately, the demand for the My Nintendo Store was underestimated, and attendees who purchased later in the afternoon were waiting until 7pm on Saturday night to pick up their orders. From what I’ve heard, the whole process seemed to have been refined a bit better on Sunday. I’d like to commend the Nintendo team members for their professionalism and resilience in an obviously stressful situation on Saturday evening.
Nintendo Live Sydney 2024 Review
Nintendo Live Sydney 2024 was a fantastic event that showcased Nintendo’s current catalogue of games very well. I would have loved to have seen more of a nod to Nintendo’s past if they weren’t going to show any upcoming games, but for a free event, it was solid overall. Obviously, a few issues need to be refined for the next Nintendo Live (whenever that may be), but I don’t regret travelling half the country to attend the first ever Nintendo Live in Australia.
Want to go on a quick tour Nintendo Live Sydney 2024? Check out our TikTok below!
