To celebrate the upcoming launch of the Super Mario Maker game for the Wii U console, Nintendo is hosting a special “hackathon” event at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on July 28 and July 29. (Graphic: Business Wire)

To celebrate the upcoming launch of the Super Mario Maker game for the Wii U console, Nintendo is hosting a special “hackathon” event at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on July 28 and July 29. (Graphic: Business Wire)

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To celebrate the upcoming launch of the Super Mario Maker game for the Wii U console, Nintendo is hosting a special “hackathon” event at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on July 28 and July 29.

Hackathon events are a unique element of the Facebook company culture, and an opportunity for employees to pursue a project outside their day-to-day responsibilities to rapidly create something that interests them. The Super Mario Maker hackathon is exclusively for Facebook employees to design a special level in the game. At the event, participants will be using the demo version of the game that drew rave reviews at the recent E3 video game trade show to create levels using the in-game tools that will become available to a wider audience when the game launches exclusively for Wii U on the 11th of September. The event will culminate with designers presenting their creations to a panel of judges from Nintendo and Facebook. The winning individual or team has the opportunity to make the level available for Super Mario Maker owners to play after the game’s launch. Nintendo will be making a video series documenting the event available for fans to view shortly after the event concludes, and fans can also check in to Nintendo’s social media channels on July 28 and July 29 for live updates.

“Facebook is known for connecting people through delightful shared experiences,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “Video games fit that mission perfectly, and we’re thrilled to work with a partner like Facebook to help more people form connections through the joy of games like Super Mario Maker. It’s easy for anyone to create levels in the game and share them with friends, and we can’t wait to see what the talented Facebook employees will create before the game becomes available to everyone starting on the 11th of September.”

Super Mario Maker is the ultimate evolution of the Super Mario Bros. series and lets players’ imaginations run wild. For the first time ever, friends can have fun playing through levels they create for one another. The Wii U GamePad controller makes it so easy for anyone to create levels that it feels like simply sketching out ideas on paper. Players with Internet access can enjoy a seemingly endless supply of inventive Mario levels inspired by Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. U from players around the world. Everyone who purchases the game will also receive a special Super Mario Maker Idea Book providing inspiration and thought starters on the level-creation process. In addition to the game, Nintendo will also release a special Mario amiibo figure to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game. To coincide with the anniversary, both the Super Mario Maker game and the 30th Anniversary amiibo launch the 11th of September.

For more information about Super Mario Maker, visit http://supermariomaker.nintendo.com/.

Remember that Wii U features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.3 billion video games and more than 680 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.

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