Recap: All the sights, sounds and lines of Nintendo Live 2024 Sydney

It was a bit of a shock when Nintendo announced that Nintendo Live would be making its way down under. We’ve had Nintendo events in Australia before—there were at least a decade of Nintendo Connection Tours in the mid 2000s and into the next decade, and more recently, we’ve seen the big booths at PAX Australia. But for Nintendo to hold their very own ticketed event, it’s kind of a big deal.

While we covered the event live over the weekend, now that the dust has settled on the two-day event, we thought we’d share some thoughts about it. From the joy of seeing Charles Martinet speak about his love for life, to the top-quality esports action, the wonderful statues, and larger-than-life Nintendo displays—there was a lot going on. But there were also some challenges: the My Nintendo Store was chock-a-block, and many people faced issues with the queues and picking up their products—at least on Saturday. Additionally, the venue’s lack of food or drinks available for purchase inside caused some problems as well.

We had boots on the ground with Ollie, Luke, and Brad in attendance. Here are their thoughts on the event and how it all went down.

Ollie

I was lucky enough to attend Nintendo Live Sydney as a member of the press – though I paid for everything myself, to be clear – and that came with the ability to skip the queue and walk straight in. Perhaps if I had spent an hour waiting in line, I could have psyched myself up for what lay beyond, but going in blind through the back entrance and being hit in the face with a pure celebration of Nintendo is an experience that will stick with me for quite some time.

Seeing the hall plastered with everything I adored, filled with people who adored those things too, it was a very surreal experience. After meeting up with Luke and Brad, we stopped to talk for a moment, and as nice as that was (it really was!) all I wanted to do was see everything that Nintendo had to offer. And boy was there a lot. 

Every area, split up into distinct sections depending on the game and the franchise, was immaculately decorated, and in a way that felt right for the game, too. Some took cues and direction straight from the game, with Animal Crossing, for example, looking exactly like a scene from the game, but others like the Splatoon area were more “inspired by”, and looked just as good. How does one capture the vibe of Splatoon without directly mimicking its in-game look? I certainly couldn’t if asked. But Nintendo knocked it out of the park. 

The highlight of the event, for me at least, was the Q&A with Charles Martinet. I’m sure millions of words have been written about the man in the past, but I have a few of my own, too. It’s hard to quantify just how big of a presence he is in person — you get a hint of it in videos, but when you see him in the flesh it’s just an entirely different vibe. He exudes a quiet confidence, and when he opens his mouth that confidence is realised with the most kindness and consideration you’ve ever seen. Hearing Martinet talk about how and why he is the way he is was eye-opening, and it brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. There are so few people that feel like they’re Nintendo made flesh, but alongside Miyamoto, Sakurai, and the late Iwata, Martinet is one of them. 

Meeting Martinet a few moments after the Q&A wrapped up was a surprising experience, too. I waited in line for about half an hour for the chance to get a photo with him, and while the meeting with him lasted barely a few moments, the kindness and care he showed during those few moments was incredible. He shook my hand, asked me how I was, commented on my beard, and it all felt remarkably genuine. Because of course it was, Charles Martinet always is.

There were issues at Nintendo Live Sydney, and that was plain to anyone who attended, even people like me who were able to skip the lengthy queues. But I didn’t see a single person in that hall without a smile on their face, even people who I knew had waited far too long to get in. It speaks to Nintendo’s dedication to the event, and to its fans, that despite the hiccups, everybody was happy, everybody was excited, and that frowns and frustration gave way the moment they saw a person in a Kirby mascot suit shuffle around excitedly.

Luke

As I waited in line to enter Nintendo Live, due to my place at the front of the queue (not number one but top 15), I could see glimpses of what lay beyond the walls and the excitement grew. A bold Nintendo logo, a giant illustration of Tears of the Kingdom Link nearby and a lone Pikmin Bloom booth were what I could see, so getting in the door was exciting.

Now like most people, I made for the My Nintendo Store that was there, not for plush or games, I wanted the event merchandise, so while folks were inspecting the mountain of plush, I went straight for the checkout. With my order locked in, I then walked the floor to find out what exactly was around and thankfully the crowds were not in the booths, which made for taking photos a lot easier.

With my photos done, I had time to just watch other folks in the show and between the kids who were having a blast on Princess Peach: Showtime or the families playing some tennis in Nintendo Switch Sports, it looked like folks were having fun. Then as midday rolled around, the crowds started to build and things took a turn. I was talking with a mate and the folks watching the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Championships left and we were just swamped with people and they never left. It turns out that they were lining up for the next batch of tickets, when Nintendo realised that the giant line through the middle of the event was for the store, they quickly got them back into the entry hall, to avoid crowding the hall.

There is lots that can be said about where Nintendo went wrong with the event, but they also managed to put on a show, their first ever solo one, where I saw more smiles on faces than anything. Seeing a small girl dressed as Peach, meeting Peach was just so adorable and watching family enjoying Splatoon 3 was a hoot. As an event Nintendo Live was meant to be a celebration of what Nintendo does best, put smiles on faces of those who play their games and they did achieve that, but they had other issues that did get in the way. If you went and had no issues, then it was a great time, but if you had those issues then nothing else really matters.

Brad

My experience at Nintendo Live was mostly a positive one. It was certainly a feast for the eyes, with the majority of the booths having fully dedicated murals, set pieces and statues all displayed beautifully, and giving each section of the floor its own unique feel. The Kirby section was the biggest highlight, with a number of costumes represented including Car Mouth from Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

As beautiful as the presentation was, it wasn’t without issues. I was lucky enough to get into the My Nintendo Store before 11am, but the line became inexplicably long for the store after 12pm. This isn’t to mention that the store had four separate lines to get in, the first to get a ticket to line up for the store at a certain time, then the line to get in when your time comes up, then line up to pay for your items, then line up after you leave to pick up your goods. I think the intent was good but they may not have anticipated the popularity of the store.

I didn’t get to play any upcoming games unfortunately, as the only games on offer are already released games. However, the vibe of watching everyone playing the games didn’t come across as an issue at all. The Mario Dojo was a lot of fun as well, and the set up was like an in-person version of the Nintendo World Championships, complete with commentary.

I think that this was overall a good effort from Nintendo Australia, though I think there is some room for improvement for any future events. It’s been a while since Nintendo have hosted their own event, but it felt like a step up from the old Connection Tours for those who remember them from the 2010s.

Words & Photos: Oliver Brandt, Luke Henderson, Brad Long