Beginning July 16 with a large-scale kick-off event in Liberty State Park in New Jersey and culminating in a national championship event in Los Angeles Sept. 3-5, the Wii Games: Summer 2010 competition will include tournament events in 24 markets across the nation.

People are encouraged to come together to have fun, interact with the games and one another, and vie for top scores as they get active with Nintendo’s groundbreaking motion-control video games.

Open to kids, teens, adults, seniors and families, the Wii Games: Summer 2010 events will be focused on five activities: Basketball and Bowling in Wii Sports Resort , the Hula Hoop® challenge from Wii Fit Plus, the platforming adventure of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and the high-speed racing thrills of Mario Kart Wii. Between mid-July and mid-August, tournaments will be held on five consecutive weekends at eight Six Flags theme parks in California, Texas, Illinois, Georgia, Massachusetts and New Jersey, highlighting Nintendo’s ongoing relationship with Six Flags. Additional tournament events will be held at 16 shopping malls across the country. Participants can compete for prizes or just show up to have fun with the immersive, interactive elements that Wii games are known for.

Qualifying winners will travel to Los Angeles for the Wii Games: Summer 2010 national championships, where they’ll be eligible to win great prizes like Nintendo systems and games, home entertainment packages, a cruise, trophies and the national exposure that comes with victory. Throughout the summer, Olympic gold medalist and Dancing with the Stars champion Shawn Johnson will serve as the Wii Games: Summer 2010Ambassador for the competition. Johnson will appear at select Wii Games: Summer 2010 events.

“The Wii Games: Summer 2010 events are a celebration of the fun, active, inclusive spirit of Wii,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “I’m sure players will have fun interacting with friends and family members while they train for each event. Even better, they’ll get to demonstrate their skills in front of enthusiastic audiences everywhere.”

“I play Wii games with my friends and family all the time,” said Shawn Johnson, a medal-winning gymnast at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games. “I’m looking forward to watching people from all over the country coming together to have fun and compete.”

Nintendo has led the industry in creating fun, immersive consumer experiences that get people up and moving with active-play products like Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort and the Wii console bundle (which includes Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort). Nintendo is also participating in consumer-awareness programs like the recently announced strategic relationship with the American Heart Association, as well as the sponsorship with USA TODAY on its “Family Fitness Challenge.” Wii Games: Summer 2010 extends Nintendo’s commitments to active-play video games by giving people a unique chance to step up and participate in a nationwide tournament.

The Wii Games: Summer 2010 competition will be open to two- and four-player teams organized by age group. Categories will include Teen, Adult and Super Adult, plus combined categories in which adults and younger players can compete together with friends or as a family. Participants’ best scores in all five featured activities will be combined to determine their total scores. An online sweepstakes will also be held to allow additional consumers to participate in the Wii Games: Summer 2010 national championships.

Wii Games: Summer 2010 events will also offer fun activities for consumers and families who aren’t competing in tournament play. Attendees and spectators can participate in noncompetitive demos and sample other Wii games such as Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Punch-Out!! . Events will be open to the public and designed to give people of all ages and backgrounds a chance to celebrate the one-of-a-kind active-play experience offered by the Wii system.