As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Nintendo Iberia (better known as Nintendo Spain) is hosting a Nintendo Switch Tour that is visiting multiple towns and cities around the Spanish peninsula this summer. The Tour boasts 20 different Nintendo Switch games, including the likes of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo Switch Sports, Splatoon 3, Everybody 1-2 Switch, Pikmin 4, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Super Mario Party Superstars.
I got a chance to visit the Nintendo Switch Tour when it came to a town close to where I live, a place called Puerto de Santa Maria in the Cádiz province of Southern Spain. I went with my partner Veronica, her brother Javi, and his girlfriend Espe. The actual setup of the Nintendo Switch Tour event was more compact than what I was expecting (about 400m2 at most), but I suppose it was designed that way so it could easily be organized and set up in whatever limited space was available during the tour.
There were several designated spaces that had open tents propped up and a single game with space for up to four players to play at the same time. These were designated for games like Nintendo Switch Sports, Just Dance 2023, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The latter, however, was set up for seven players to play together via a LAN connection. You can, of course, play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with up to eight people via LAN or Local wireless but there were only seven Switch units set up at this event for Mario Kart Multiplayer.
Aside from the tents, there was also a truck (or lorry as we say in the UK) with a trailer (kind of like those Mobile libraries back in the day) that was decked out with Nintendo Switch demo units and a selection of Nintendo’s latest games to play. The games here consisted of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Splatoon 3, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Mario Party Superstars, Pikmin 4, and Splatoon 3.
The two Mario games were not inside the trailer but rather set up outside of it. Pikmin 4 also had its own area outside the truck and was decorated with a small flower stand. Anyone who played the Pikmin 4 demo at the event was treated to a bag of flower seeds so they could grow their own flowers when they got home (or give them to a green-fingered relative who may get better use out of them).
The last game at the event, which was the one I was most interested in playing (mainly because it was one of the few games at the event I don’t actually own), was Everybody 1-2 Switch. When the Nintendo Switch Tour opened up at 6 pm, there weren’t many people in attendance, but by 7 pm, there was quite a buzz around the place, and so it was the ideal time to participate in a session seeing as up to 100 people could play together.
While there weren’t 100 willing players to play Everybody 1-2 Switch, at least 50 people were up for joining in. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, it’s like Jackbox meets WarioWare and can be played using joy-con (up to 8 players) or smartphones (up to 100 players). The Nintendo staff at the event also had spare smart phones for people who didn’t have their own and wanted to play. The catch was that they had to play from inside a cordoned off area in front of the large monitor that would be displaying the game.
I had my fair share of reservations for Everybody 1-2 Switch, but after playing it with a large group, I could start to see the appeal. Even my partner Veronica had a lot of fun with the game and is toying with the idea of getting it. It is worth noting that it is definitely more fun to play with large groups of people as opposed to just one or two people as the energy and good vibes from other people just make it feel that much more enjoyable.
On the whole, the Nintendo Switch Tour was actually pretty fun and well worth checking out. In Spain, the event is held every year and has been going on for the last 20 years. Although for someone like me who usually buys Nintendo games on day one, there may only be a game or two that I would be mildly interested in and wouldn’t need to wait an hour in a queue for a game I can simply play on my own Switch. That said, I can deeply appreciate that these kinds of events are ideal people who aren’t able to buy every game or on the fence about certain games.
It also gives Nintendo an opportunity to receive feedback on their games directly from the public which they can use to improve the experiences of their games as well as evaluate what games are more populare and with what demographic. If I did have to add some minor criticism, it would have been nice to see a merchandise stand or a My Nintendo Store stand with Nintendo products. I would have certainly liked to have picked up a souvenir or two, even if it was only a keyring or a couple of posters.
Also, some more “upcoming games” that have yet to have been released would have been more enticing for me, especially games like the newly announced Super Mario Wonder, Super Mario RPG, and Wario Ware: Move It! Unfortunately, that depends more on the higher-ups at Nintendo HQ rather than the smaller division of Nintendo Iberia. Still, if next year there is another Nintendo Switch Tour in a town near me, I will most definitely consider going again.
The Nintendo Switch Tour continues in Spain until the end of the summer season. You can find dates and locations of where the Nintendo Switch Tour will be next over at Nintendo.es
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