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Nintendo will stage the first tournament for its upcoming Super Smash Bros. on Wii U in Los Angeles on the day E3 begins and is inviting 3,000 fans to come out and watch it for free.
The Super Smash Bros. Invitational also will be livestreamed on both Nintendo's Twitch and Twitch's E3 channels, beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10. The field comprises 16 "previously selected highly skilled Super Smash Bros. players," according to a news release from Nintendo, though none were named.
The venue is the Nokia Theater, just a few blocks from the Los Angeles Convention Center, where E3 is held. Additionally, Nintendo is offering prime front-row seating to those who show up cosplaying one of their characters.
Nintendo is, for the second year, skipping the pre-E3 news conference that console makers and major publishers typically stage. Nintendo instead is holding a "Nintendo Digital Event" to announce its news, via an Internet livestream, also on Tuesday, June 10 at noon ET. And Nintendo still will have a presence on the show floor at E3, and will beef up fan outreach with a series of daily livestreams from its booth.
