Nintendo Super Tour '92
The Nintendo Super Tour '92 (also simply known as the Nintendo Super Tour) was a touring event in France and in the North of Spain that ran from 1992 to early 1993. It was organized by Nintendo France, and the second part was sponsored by Player One, Nintendo Player, and NRJ. The aim of the tour was to promote the release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and to show its capabilities for families and children without being drowned by advertising hype.[1] This event is mostly inspired from the United States' model[2] and was in direct competition with Sega, who organized the Sega Euro Challenge 92.[3]
Inside the event, there was an open competition called the Open Nintendo, with the first-place award being a two-week trip in Las Vegas.[4][5]
This was the biggest video games championship in Europe in 1992 with over 800,000 attendees.[6][3]
Organization
The Nintendo Super Tour was divided into two parts in 1992. The first took place from winter to spring in several cities, and the second was in summer on coastlines. In total, the tour had 107 stops.[6]
The tour was run in trucks that unfolded to reveal gaming stations and used 65 tonnes of material.[6] The trucks were chosen, organized, and driven by Gilles Barthélémy and Stephan Brissaud, who chose the trucks as they allowed them to cross several cities in a short time.[3]
Trucks featured stations equipped with the then-recent consoles: the SNES and Game Boy. There were 80 stations during the first part of the event[6] and 72 during the second, with a 15-minute rotation per person.[7] On these stations, players could play titles like Super Mario Bros. 3 or The Legend of Zelda and demos. 15 news titles were presented during this event.
The inauguration of the Nintendo Super Tour took place in the Champ de Mars,[3] then it spread out from March to June, then from July to August.
For the Open Nintendo, registration could be done on site, but places could be secured using a cut-out coupon from a Club Nintendo issue. For the tournament itself, it took place on a special stand in groups of 10:
- The first one was a sequence of three games with three different goals in seven minutes (when a goal was completed, the programmed cartridge automatically moved on to the next game): Super Mario Bros. 3 where players must collecting 50 coins, then obtain 250,000 points in Pin Bot, and finally earn the highest score in Dr. Mario before time runs out.[5]
- The summer tournament was focused on F-Zero: Players had to earn the best time on Mute City in the Knight League with the Fire Stingray.
The final of the tournament took place in Villepinte in Paris suburbs in the international Toy Fair of Paris[8][9] on 31 January 1993[3][10] with a total of 60 qualified.
Every participant of the championship won at least 1 t-shirt and 1 pin in the effigy of the tour but they could also win other stuff such as frisbee, cap and battery-operated radio[3]. The winner of the stop won a SNES and a place for final.
At final, the first place won a SNES with a dozen games, a balloon offered by the Paris Saint-Germain FC's 1993 team, a gold medal and a cup from the tour, a cap, a TV and a trip to Las Vegas for 2 person.[5] The second and the thrid won the same thing except the trip[11] and the rest of the entrants had gifts.[4] The gold medal were also given to organizers.[3]
Stops
| City | Date | City | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter & Spring tour[4][12] | Summer tour[13] | ||
| Parly IIa | 11 March | Nice | 6/7 July |
| Éragny | 14/15 March | Villefranche-sur-Mer | 8/9 July |
| Paris | 18 March | Menton | 10/11 July |
| Orgeval | 21/22 March | Mandelieu | From 12 to 14 July |
| Villiers-en-Bière | 25 March | Sète | 16/17 July |
| La ville-du-Bois | 27/28 March | Canet | 18/19 July |
| Orléans | 1 April | La Grande-Motte | 20/21 July |
| Troyes | From 3 to 5 April | Palavas-les-Flots | 22/23 July |
| Foire de Parisb | From 1 to 10 May | Tréport | 27/28 July |
| Strasbourg | 15/16 May | Fort-Manhon | 29/30 |
| Hagueneau | 20 May | Dieppe | 31/1 July/August |
| Nancy | 11 March | Cabourg | 2/3 August |
| Éragny | 22 May | Biscarosse | 9/7 August |
| Thionville | 26/27 May | Cap-Ferret | 8/9 August |
| Metz | From 29 to 31 May | Andernos-les-Bains | From 10 to 12 August |
| Eparney | 3 June | Anglet | 15 August |
| Soissons | 6/7 June | Arcachon | 17/18 August |
| Bethune | 10 June | Lacanau | 19/20 August |
| Noyelles-Godault | 12 June | Saint-Brevin-les-Pins | 22/23 August |
| Lille | 13/14 June | Brest | 25/26 August |
| Villeneuve | 16 June | ||
| Englos | 17 June | ||
| Wasquehal | 19 June | ||
| Saint-Omer | 20/21 June | ||
| Boulogne-sur-Mer | 23 June | ||
| Dunkerque | 24 June | ||
| Bruxelles | 27/28 June | ||
Gallery
Mario's Artwork on a truck
The 2 trucks and the van
The main truck when the tour is set up
Final of the Open Nintendo
Winners of the Open Nintendo
Gold medal front side
Gold medal back side
Pins
Notes
a - Parly II is a urban planning set with a mall in Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt.
b - Foire de Paris is an annual major retail event in Paris.
References
- ^ "Cette manifestation a pour but principal de présenter la Super Nintendo et d'en montrer les possibilités" (Translation: "The main aim of this event is to introduce the Super Nintendo and showcase its capabilities.") - Gilles Barthélémy, in the 23rd issue of Player One magazine, page 11.
- ^ Nintendo Super Tour à Dijon. TV News showing the Super Tour passing through Dijon. INA.
- ^ a b c d e f g Interview of Alain Milly, one of the on-site organizer for the Super Nintendo Tour 92. YouTube, Florent Gorges (Playhistoire)
- ^ a b c Nintendo part en campagne - Player One. Issue 18, page 18.
- ^ a b c Interview of Vincent Noiret, the winner of the Open Nintendo. YouTube, Florent Gorges (Playhistoire)
- ^ a b c d Nintendo Super Tour 92's advertisement. YouTube, Gilles Barthélemy
- ^ Player one et le Nintendo Super Tour 92 - Player One. Issue 22, page 12
- ^ Bernard Prat PDG de Bandai France annonce la Super Nintendo et ses cassettes (Micro Kid's 1992). YouTube, Oli (Jeux vidéo et des bas)
- ^ Salon du jouet. TV News Showing the overall of the toy's show containing Nintendo Super Tour. INA.
- ^ Medal earned from the final
- ^ Winners of the Open Nintendo
- ^ Voici les dates du Super Tour 92 pour les mois de mai et juin - Nintendo Player. Issue 4, page 12.
- ^ Dates de la tournée d'été - Nintendo Player. Issue 5, page 13.
