Nintendo has just provided dates and full details of its search to find the Nation’s ‘Best Nintendo Gamer’. Is that you...?

Well, obviously not, since it’s already us. Nevertheless if you’re dedicated/deluded enough to persist in your quest to become Britain’s, ahem, second-best player of Nintendo games we have the information you need about what you’ll be playing and where. Diarise the dates and practice the following as necessary:

games
Wii Fit - Slalom Skiing (Advanced)
Wii Sports Resort - Archery (Expert)
Mario Kart DS - Moo Moo Farm Time Trial
New Super Mario Bros. - World 1-1 Speed Run

Venues
Bluewater: GAME store
Swansea: Borders
Manchester: Trafford Centre, Selfridges
London: Oxford Street GAME store
Birmingham: New Street Gamestation
Hull: Gamestation
Edinburgh: Princess Street Gamestation
Norwich: Gamestation

The huge swathes of the country missing from that list aside, all heats take place over the weekend of October 17th/18th – just roll up and give it your best. The top two from each event will go through to a Grand Final taking place on October 30th at the cavernous Odeon cinema in London’s glittering West End, where they’ll get to grips with the hotly-anticipated New Super Mario Bros Wii.

That’s a prize in itself but Nintendo is also offering a trip to Japan for five for the ultimate winner and every piece of software published by Nintendo in the following 12 months for all finalists. C’mon, it’s got to be worth a crack for that!