Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo World Championships in Denton

Fans of video game history are probably familiar with the Nintendo World Championships, the video game competition that challenged players across the nation to prove themselves as the best Nintendo player in their city - then the world. (Did you see The Wizard? It was a lot like that.)

But what you might not know is that the 1990 event made its first stop in Dallas on March 8 at Fair Park.

To commemorate the anniversary of championships, local video game industry personality Patrick Scott Patterson is teaming up with Freaks and Geeks in Denton for a weekend event full of fun, games and history.

"To this day I can walk into the building at Fair Park and visualize the entire thing as if it was still set up in there," Patterson said via e-mail. "It was essentially the first event to really kick off what we call eSports today. Nobody had ever done a video game competition to that scale before, and at the time Nintendo literally ruled the video game world. From the contests to the chance to meet personalities such as Howard Phillips to getting our hands on unreleased upcoming titles - a rarity at that time - it was a dream come true to me as a 14-year-old video game fan.

"I don't think the NWC 1990 gets enough love in the history of the video game industry and culture. I want to help change that and I feel celebrating the anniversary of the event is a great way to do that. Freaks and Geeks is a great venue to kick this off and I look forward to the festivities and fun."

A highlight of the event will be a visit from Thor Aackerlund, who won the Nintendo World Championships back in 1990. You might even get to play Tetris against him - at your own peril, anyway. Evidence suggests that he's still very good at the game.

On March 8 there will be screenings of the aforementioned film The Wizard and Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters, which if you ask me is one of the very best video game documentaries out there.

The celebration will take place at Freaks and Geeks on March 7 and 8. The full schedule for the event, courtesy of Patterson, is below.

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Saturday, March 7:

3 p.m. - Introduction to anniversary celebration. Airing of short-run video about the original NWC event and some of the post-tour happenings followed by introduction by Patrick Scott Patterson as to the impact the event had on him, how the first event on the tour took place in Dallas exactly 25 years before and what it meant to competitive gaming and eSports today.

4 p.m. - Visit with Thor Aackerlund, the winner of the 1990 event. PSP hosts this chat with the champion in a town hall format where attendees can ask questions and take part in the conversations.

5 p.m. - 6 p.m. - "Beat the Champ" challenge: Have the opportunity to play Tetris against Thor to see how you match up in an attempt at gaining incredible bragging rights for life should you pull off the upset.

7 p.m. - ??? - "Beat the Champ" challenge: Face off against PSP on the Wii U's Nintendo World Championships Remix. Patterson's 4.9 million point score on this modern-day version of the original competition cartridge is the highest Nintendo has seen. Can you beat him one-on-one?

Sunday, March 8:

3 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Screening of 2011 documentary film Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters, a film that focuses on the legacy of the original NWC 1990 event and Thor Aackerlund's legend as a modern-day Tetris championships is planned and takes place. Followed by a brief Q&A by PSP and/or Thor (if he can come that day)

7 p.m. - 9 p.m. - Screening of The Wizard, the 1989 cult classic that, in many ways, is seen as a precursor to the 1990 event.