Nintendo Announces Return of World Championships at E3: 'Mario Kart,' 'Super Smash Bros' Tournament?

On Tuesday, Nintendo released a mysterious tweet of a man in a hoodie raising his fists in a gym. According to the gaming giant, this was supposed to be a clue into their big 2015 E3 announcement that took place Thursday morning at 9 a.m. On Twitter, some speculated this was Punchout related, but it turns out that wasn't the case at all. Instead, their big announcement was the return of the Nintendo World Championships. Nintendo has yet to announce what game will be apart of the upcoming tournament, but you'd have to guess either Mario Kart or Super Smash Brothers.

After the E3 announcement, Nintendo released a statement regarding their big news.

"Nintendo of America will host qualifying tournaments for the Nintendo World Championships, which were last seen in 1990," the company said. "The winners from regional events across the USA, plus competitors invited by Nintendo of America, will meet on June 14th, at the Nokia Theatre LA live in Los Angeles for a multi-round Nintendo game competition."

 Nintendo’s expanded lineup at this year’s #E3 includes the glorious return of the Nintendo World Championships after a 25-year hiatus, a new Nintendo Digital Event on June 16 at 9 a.m. PT, the always in-depth Nintendo Treehouse: Live @ E3 from the show floor and a chance to play Mario Maker at select Best Buy locations. Oh, also … maybe a new president of Nintendo of America? Just watch the video via the link in our profile.

A photo posted by @nintendo on May 13, 2015 at 10:05am PDT

Another piece of Twitter speculation before Nintendo said they had something special planned for E3 was that they would have a release date for the NX and their new mobile games. Nintendo's President Iwata shut that down quick before it could become a full-fledged rumor.

"We do not plan on talking specifics about the NX until 2016," Iwata stated. "We cannot talk about the time period when it [the NX] will go on sale or what it's like. Because we are calling it a 'new concept,' we are not thinking of this as a 'simple replacement' for the 3DS or the Wii U."

Iwata then goes on to say that E3 is not the proper place to talk about their mobile news as the event is only about gaming. "However, since we understand that E3 is an event for dedicated video game machines, we do not intend to discuss the smart devices as well as quality of life."

Our lineup @ #E3 includes a championship, a Digital Event, a Nintendo Treehouse: Live event and… a new NOA president? https://t.co/tOUpSnZjhv — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 13, 2015