Nintendo Live 2023

We won lottery tickets to the first ever North American Nintendo Live event held this year in Seattle, Washington. This event was tied into the larger PAX West 2023 event, which we will also write about in a separate post later. These events are like the annual Disney trip for all game lovers.

We wore cosplay-inspired outfits of the Animal Crossing characters Reese and Cyrus. Once we woke up, we were ready to do a lot of waiting for the perfect photo opportunities at the Animal Crossing exhibit. First, we waited to register for wristbands for entry. Then we waited for wristbands for other special events. Then we waited for the main hall to open at 10:30am. Finally, we rushed to the Animal Crossing line to wait for the shortest amount of time in any line for the day. Steven had spent time 3D printing little gold “bell” coins that we handed out to staff that helped, and other cosplay we saw from the Animal Crossing family during the day. It was perfect!

Once we finished with Animal Crossing and got our swag from the very nice staff people, we walked around in awe for a bit until we stumbled onto the Splatoon 3 showcase. We were excited about the championship games later at the event in the day, so we decided to play a round of turf war with some kids. Steve and Sam ended up playing well, winning both rounds easily, and all participants were given a pin at the end of the game.

Immediately after our games finished in Splatoon 3, we overheard the announcement for seating of our concert! It was a nice change of pace to be able to sit and watch talented performances for a few hours after all the standing. We watched a 45 minute show from the Super Mario Super Big Band, ending with guest appearances from the brothers, Mario and Luigi! After that, we were admittedly very exhausted. We stepped outside to check in with our bodies (and the pop-up merch line, seen just behind us in the photo) and decided that after all that excitement, a nap was needed.

Overall it was an amazing experience. Steve and Sam agree that they would do this experience again as soon as possible – potentially next year? It was an incredible experience to be at the first North American Nintendo Live event, and we hope the next one has more holographic squid sisters, or K.K. Slider.