As promised, Nintendo has provided more details about their partnership with Best Buy to provide playable demos of unreleased Wii U games during the week of E3 (June 11-13, 2013). We still do not know which games will be playable at the demo stations, but we now have a complete list of when and where the Nintendo E3 2013 events will be taking place.
In total, the Wii U demo stations will be located at 110 Best Buy locations, however, they will not be open the entire week of E3 2013. Apparently, the demos will only be playable between 4PM and 8PM (your local time) on June 12th, and then again between 1PM and 5PM on June 15th. It is unclear if anything will be shown at the demo locations outside of the specified times.
The complete list of cities that are scheduled to get Wii U E3 demo stations is posted below, and you can check Best Buy’s website to see the complete list of individual stores.
Alabama
Birmingham
Huntsville
Arkansas
Fort Smith
North Little Rock
Arizona
Phoenix
California
Culver City
Elk Grove
Emeryville
San Jose
Tracy
Visalia
Colorado
Denver
Connecticut
Manchester
Delaware
Wilmington
Florida
Brandon
Fort Myers
Gainesville
Kissimmee
Miami
Pensacola
Georgia
Augusta
Duluth
Savannah
Smyrna
Iowa
Cedar Rapids
West Des Moines
Illinois
Bloomington
Schaumburg
Indiana
Greenwood
Kansas
Overland Park
Wichita
Kentucky
Florence
Lexington
Louisville
Louisiana
Harvey
Massachusetts
Cambridge
Dedham
Worcester
Maryland
Frederick
Glen Burnie
Wheaton
Michigan
Ann Arbor
Flint
Grand Rapids
Rochester Hills
Minnesota
Eden Prairie
Missouri
St. Louis
North Carolina
Cary
Fayetteville
Pineville
Winston-Salem
New Jersey
Iselin
West Paterson
Woodbury
New York
Albany
Amherst
Long Island City
Syracuse
Valley Stream
West Nyack
Ohio
Fairborn
North Olmsted
Reynoldsburg
Toledo
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City
Oregon
Portland
Pennsylvania
Erie
King of Prussia
Pittsburgh
Reading
Whitehall
South Carolina
Greenville
North Charleston
Tennessee
Brentwood
Knoxville
Memphis
Texas
Arlington
Austin
Houston
McAllen
The Woodlands
Tyler
Utah
Sandy
Virginia
Charlottesville
Glen Allen
Virginia Beach
Vermont
Williston
Washington
Lynnwood
Wisconsin
Greenfield
Nintendo and Best Buy are promising to release the list of games that will be playable on June 11th, and there will apparently be free “Luigi loot” (while supplies last) and “hot offers on Wii U” for anyone who shows up at the E3 demo events.
Overall, it is a little disappointing that the Wii U demo festivities are being restricted to a total of 8 hours during E3 week, but it is still pretty exciting to see Nintendo expand their E3 games directly to consumers. It will be interesting to see if either Sony or Microsoft host similar events next year.
[Update] Nintendo has announced the following Best Buy locations in Canada will also host Wii U E3 demo stations:
Ontario: North York, Toronto, Mississauga, Windsor, London, Ottawa, Kingston, Brampton, Oakville
Quebec: Montreal, Lasalle
Manitoba: Winnipeg
Saskatchewan: Saskatoon
Alberta: Edmonton, Calgary (2 locations)
British Columbia: Vancouver, Langley, Richmond
Nova Scotia: Dartmouth