Here's How to Watch the Nintendo World Championships 2017

The Nintendo World Championships captivated a worldwide audience of gaming enthusiasts when they first debuted in 1990. Then they returned after a 25 year hiatus. And it looked like another long hiatus was set to begin until Nintendo surprised the world by announcing the NWC would return for 2017. The day has finally arrived, as the Nintendo World Championships 2017 will soon begin from the Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom in New York.

Who Are the Competitors? (13 and older)

These are the eight players set to compete from the 13 and older division, all of whom qualified by racing as Bowser on the GBA Bowser Castle 1 track in Mario Kart 7's Time Trials mode:

• John Numbers (New York)(Defending NWC Champion) - 1:16.120
• Cole G. (Bay Area) - 1:14.993
• Jeff B. (Chicago) - 1:15.074
• Ito (Los Angeles) - 1:13.926
• Staggah (Minneapolis) - 1:14.918
• SuperFX (Dallas) - 1:13.794
• Myth (Seattle) - 1:14.536
• Kyle H. (Seattle) - 1:14.621

Who Are the Competitors? (12 and younger)

These are the eight players set to compete from the 12 and younger division, all of whom qualified by racing as Mario on the DS Luigi's Mansion track in Mario Kart 7's Time Trials mode:

• 8owser16 (New York) - 1:53.380
• Marco R. (Bay Area) - 1:55.362
• Abe E. (Chicago) - 1:53.296
• Sunny K. (Los Angeles) - 1:51.978
• Kid Ocelot (Minneapolis) - 1:51.630
• Pico (Dallas) - 1:54.144
• Wyatt A. (Seattle) - 1:50.949
• Gooperman (Seattle) - 1:51.569

Who Are the Special Guest Invitees?

Nintendo is also bringing in eight special guest invitees to compete in some of this year's games. These are the guests from across the gaming world:

• Bayley - WWE Superstar and frequent guest on Xavier Woods' UpUpDwnDwn YouTube gaming channel.
• YellowKillerBee - Speedrunner who holds the current world record holder for Mickey Mania (Warpless).
• Zerk - 2017 Arms Open Invitational winner at E3.
• Asa Butterfield - An actor by trade, but the star of "Ender's Game" also plays a mean Smash Bros., having competed at Evo 2017.
• tubooron - Won the 12 and younger Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament at San Diego Comic-Con 2016.
• PasteCat - Competitive Smash Bros. and Splatoon 2 player.
• WhySoSara - Mexican Twitch Partner and YouTube streamer, having participated in competitive Battlefield 1 and Rainbow Six Siege tournaments.
• 360Chrism - Speedrunner, particularly for Super Mario 64.

What Games Will Be Featured?

The Nintendo World Championships have typically pulled games from Nintendo's past, present, and future. The 1990 NWC is largely remembered for being centered around a specially-made NES cartridge containing customized slices of Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris. The 2015 NWC is largely notable for featuring some never-before-seen games, including the handheld game that would eventually become known as Metroid Prime: Federation Force and the freshly renamed Super Mario Maker.

The 2017 NWC lineup is a mystery, with one exception revealed last week. The recently-released Metroid: Samus Returns will be on the docket and each of the NWC competitors were issued a free Nintendo 2DS XL to get some practice in. For the rest of the lineup, expect to see some Nintendo favorites, but also be on the lookout for some possible new reveals. If there is a new game revealed at some point today, Shacknews will be on top of it.

How to Watch the Nintendo World Championships 2017

Watch directly on the Nintendo World Championships website

Live on Nintendo's YouTube channel

Live on Nintendo's Twitch channel

The action will also unfold live on Disney XD, so gather the family around the television for this one-of-a-kind event. The Nintendo World Championships 2017 begins at 5PM ET/2PM PT.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?