Looking for Saturday night plans in New York City this weekend? Consider the much-awaited launch of the Nintendo 3DS.
Nintendo is promising a spectacle of camped out fans, food trucks, and a midnight countdown to Sunday's launch of the 3D handheld gaming system, which will take place at Best Buy in Union Square.
Starting at noon, Nintendo will take over the popular outdoor venue offering branded giveaways, live entertainment, and refreshments. Employees will also let fans test games like nintendogs + cats, Pilotwings Resort, Steel Diver, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, Madden NFL Football, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, and Asphalt 3D.
Best Buy will also host an in-store performance by local band, The HOTcakes. If you're not in town check back for PCMag's coverage by our analyst, Will Greenwald.
The actual launch event takes place from 9pm to 2am, during which Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime and Best Buy President of the Americas Michael Vitelli will make appearances. As we reported earlier, the two execs will be lifted onto a hydraulic stage around 11pm to begin the countdown. Best Buy will stay open until 2am for eager consumers.
Nationally, GameStop is hosting demo events tomorrow from noon to 6pm local time, using launch game Super Street Fighter IV. More than 2,400 stores will stay open until 9am on Sunday, the company said. Check GameStop events near you at GameStop.com.
For more, see PCMag's review of the Nintendo 3DS and unboxing.