Play Wii U for free at six airports this month

Harriet Baskas | Special for USA TODAY

Passengers traveling through six U.S. airports have an added option for battling boredom this month.

Southwest Airlines and Japanese video game giant Nintendo have partnered to provide Wii U gaming lounges on heavily-trafficked areas of concourses at Dallas Love Field, Chicago Midway, Atlanta, Denver, Tampa Bay and St. Louis airports.

"These are some of the busiest places for holiday travelers and we want to make sure they are having fun while at the airport," said Southwest Airlines spokesman Dan Landson.

The game kiosks are free and feature Super Mario 3-D World and other new and popular games. Four people can play at each kiosk and there are several kiosks in each airport gaming lounge.

The lounges are open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., and each has attendants on hand to assist game players and answer questions.

While fun, travelers will need to keep track of flight boarding times because "there are also no time limits for game players," said Landson.

Installed just before the big Thanksgiving holiday travel weekend, the Wii U gaming lounges will stay at these airports until Dec. 22.

To kick off the promotion, on Nov. 26 more than 100 passengers on Southwest Airlines Flight 1883 from New Orleans to Dallas received a Wii U console as a gift.

Travelers who missed out on that flight may still be able to reap extra rewards from the Southwest/Nintendo partnership. A sweepstakes underway through Dec. 25 will award 30 prizes, each consisting of two round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines and one Wii U Deluxe Gaming system.

While these promotions end by Christmas, there are numerous airports where video game play is an option year-round. Singapore's Changi Airport, for example, has a free "Entertainment Deck" with an Xbox Kinect Room and another offering Xbox 360 and PlayStation consoles.

Some airlines have complimentary game rooms in their airport lounges and many airports have arcade areas where travelers can play a variety of video games, but not for free.

Harriet Baskas is the author of seven books, including Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can't or Won't Show You, and the Stuck at the Airport blog. Follow her on Twitter at @hbaskas.