When you get an invite from Nintendo to come to Redmond, WA for a family day, you just don’t say no. I mean, we live an hour from Redmond, the city the Nintendo of America can be found, and getting a tour is not something that happens often. Really, it’s almost unheard of. Plus, I have a long love affair with Nintendo. I still remember getting that first console back in 5th grade for Christmas…
I was nervous about how Nathanael would do all day at Nintendo. But do you know what? Not only did he do amazing, but both kids had such a great time, they didn’t want to leave.
Nintendo invited 20 bloggers with their children to come visit Nintendo of American HQ for a food, fun, a Nintendo tour, great information, and did I mention fun? Mario and Luigi both came to visit the kids — they all had their Nintendo 3DS (lovely gifts from Nintendo) in hand to play of course. The hashtag for the day was #3DSKidForaDay — and it was fun to be with friends and family and be a kid for the day at Nintendo.
Nintendo Tour
After breakfast we heard about more about Nintendo, a company that is over 125 years old! While the parents were sitting and listening to the Marketing dept. and from President Reggie Fils-Aime, the kids were playing either their own Nintendo 3DS or one of the many 3DS around the room set up with a variety of different games to play.
We learned about:
- Nintendo Switch
- NES Classic Console
- Pokemon
- Mario Maker
- Amiibo
- and much more!
Switch
The Nintendo Switch trailer is one the most viewed videos ever with 24 hours of launch. We learned about Switch and I have to admit, this looks very cool! I know it’s a product that my hubby would love. Look for this product in March of next year. Have you seen the Nintendo Switch trailer yet?
NES Classic Edition
Nintendo set aside 21 NES Classic Edition consoles just for us to purchase in the on-site store. You bet I bought one! These lovely consoles are hard to come by right now. Pre-loaded with 30 classic NES games, the NES Classic Edition is only $59.99! Now I just need to find a second controller! Here’s a few other things that I picked up at the on-site store:
Pokemon Sun & Moon
Pokemon Sun & Moon broke all video game pre-sale records. 1.2 million pre-sales of this game! Our kids had the chance to play it before it was even released in stores. They were excited! We even had a Pokemon game expert from Nintendo available for questions. Honestly, the kids knew much more about Pokemon than the parents. It was nice to have the experts on hand to answer questions.
Playing Pokemon Sun and Moon before the release date.
Amiibo
Amiibo is are small Nintendo figures that you use with game play. You can get cool in-game extras, like characters or outfits, modes and perks when you tap the Amiibo to the screen of the Wii U or Nintendo 3DS. Learn all about Amiibo here.
This Amiibo is for the Animal Crossing Nintendo game. You’ll see Amiibo in different shapes and sizes, from high-quality character figures to super-portable cards.
We had a great time visiting Nintendo. My kids asked me, “When can we go back?” It really was that fun. Now that they have their own Nintendo 3DS, they have a wish list for more games. {At least they easily fit in their stockings!}
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Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. My love for Nintendo is all my own.
This is so cool! I grew up on these games, so glad the next generation has the chance to enjoy too!
I grew up on them too, now it’s so fun to see my kids love them too. Hubby’s now hooked!
Sounds like a fun event! My husband is a big kid (lol) and would’ve loved this!
My husband wanted to go, quite badly. But the tour and day of fun was limited to one adult. My kids LOVED it!
This is so fun! My father-in-law used to work for Nintendo for many years, so I can vouch for it being a great company. It looks like all the kids had fun!
The young man from marketing who gave us the tour; he mentioned that 800 people worked there at Redmond. He loved working there too! Such a great, fun company. All the employees that met with us were on fire and happy!