The Nintendo World Store held a father-son event in New York today for the title of "Biggest Brain." The winners were Rick and Michael Singer of Virginia who beat 30 other contestants (so, 15 teams?). The bracket-style playoff tested memorization, computation, analysis and other skills we overly evolved apes have. The event was a giant interactive advertisement for Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree.

The Singers walked away with the "hot Wii," which we don't know if that means stolen, and a copy of the Wii Big Brain Academy. The best part is the father, Rick Singer, went to New York on a whim with his son, he says, "I asked my son to come to New York with me for Father's Day, but he said he'd only come if we could go to the Nintendo World store." So, dad wants to spend time with son, son wants to visit the Nintendo World Store, and they walk away with a Wii. Not a bad bonding experience.

[Via Press Release]

Thousands of Pokemon fans stormed the Nintendo World Store for their incredible Pokemon Diamond & Pearl launch party. Getting into the event was no easy task, as the line stretched across a New York avenue. Once inside, fans were treated to equally long lines to purchase the game, and a myriad of activities to partake in. A scavenger hunt had Pokemaniacs survive the heat and go through all the stations set up for fans.

Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori from Game Freak stopped by to answer fan's questions and sign autographs. In spite of the surprising success of the Pokemon franchise, the two were incredibly humble and seemed jovial in the presence of their adoring fans. Children (of all ages) crowded the plaza for a chance to meet some of the people responsible for this global phenomenon.

To end the festivities, Nintendo made an incredible donation to Earth Day NY: a giant check (is there any other kind?) for $10,000 was presented to the eco-friendly charity. The event was a blast, and everyone appeared to be in high spirits. Considering the thousands of people in attendance, it's safe to say that the Pokemon phenomenon is still going strong.

Reader Alex answered our call for photos from Saturday's Cooking Mama kickoff event held at the Nintendo World Store, and he wasn't messing around -- his Flickr set contains nearly 100 pictures! It's just like we were there ourselves, and thanks to his efforts and our caption skills, you can experience it as well. Hit the jump for a selection of photos, and then go wallow in the entire set. It's enough to make our tummies rumble.

Well, obviously Majesco wants everyone to get on the Cooking Mama train (we hear that's how they make that money), but this weekend, as you'll recall, they're offering New Yorkers a chance to get in the game in style. To promote the release of Cooking Mama: Cook Off, Majesco is calling all Iron Chef-wannabes out to show their stuff -- and win free swag. If you're going to be anywhere near the Nintendo World Store this Saturday between 11 and 4, drop by, if only to sample the goodies the on-site chef will be preparing. Now that's incentive.

To our readers in the area: we'd love to see your pictures if you attend. We may even post them and make you an interweb celebrity for a whole five minutes.

The Nintendo World Store in NYC doesn't have parties too often, so when one happens, you have to take note. Disney's Spectrobes will be taking over the store: you'll get a chance to meet Kentaro Hisai, Spectrobes' producer, play in a Spectrobes tournament and try to win a custom DS.

The party begins at 11AM this Saturday.

The Nintendo World Store hosted a very special event on Tuesday for its fans. They brought Fusion Tour headliners Hawthorne Heights to their NYC flagship store to perform a live acoustic set ... but, that wasn't the real reason Nintendo fans flocked by the hundreds to this midtown mecca. Nintendo also granted their eager, sweaty fanboy hands access to the elusive Wiimote and games like Wii Sports, Excite Truck, Wario Ware, and Metroid Prime. Check out my exciting adventures in picture and video form, after the break.

If you live in the New York area and are unable to attend E3 this year (given the hordes of sweaty, shoving geeks involved, it might not be such a great loss), be sure to drop by the Nintendo World Store on 9 May. The store will be broadcasting Nintendo's keynote, an event sure to host new DS games, Wii revelations and at least one appearance by Shigeru Miyamoto dressed as a Nintendo character. Missing it would be quite appalling.

For more information and an opportunity to RSVP for the event, check out Nintendo's official World Store website. Be sure to snap some pictures and send them to us!

[Via N-Sider]