Stratford becomes Mario Land next month

London’s Westfield Stratford centre will be transformed into Mario Land in February.

Nintendo is kicking off a sampling event called ‘Mario is coming to town: Half-Term Heroes’ in a bid to get children, families and gamers playing the latest titles.

Shoppers will be able to go hands-on with a range of boxed titles including Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Cave Story 3D, Tetris and One Piece, as well as eShop games like Pullblox. There will be a 16+ area with upcoming 3DS titles Tekken 3D and Resident Evil: Revelations on display. It’s a similar one-off event to the showcase Nintendo ran during the peak season last year.

Plus, consumers who buy a Nintendo 3DS console or game on the day will be able to bring their receipt to the stand and grab limited edition Mario and Nintendo merchandise. Those who buy both will get a 10 eShop voucher.

A Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics stand will also appear outside the nearby GAME, where users will be able to try out both the 3DS and Wii versions. There will be a Mario Kart 7 leaderboard tournament in a dedicated Mario area, too.

Nintendo is also arranging a treasure hunt around Westfield, with participants able to bring their own 3DS along or hire one on the day.

Demonstrators will be on hand explaining the features of the 3DS in detail. This is something Nintendo says has been really successful” in terms of educating parents about the handheld.

Nintendo UK events and partnerships manager Natasha Chatur told MCV: We’re really excited to be taking our Nintendo 3DS experiential tour to Westfield Stratford this February half-term.

We’re even more excited to be going over and above sampling with all the additional mechanics, to help ensure consumers get real exposure to the hardware, its functionality and the fantastic range of games available.”