Nintendo and Facebook are teaming up for a Super Mario Maker hackathon event

Lucky Facebook employees will get the opportunity to spend some time with an early version of Super Mario Maker for the Wii U next week in a “hackathon” event at Facebook HQ.

Nintendo will be there to document the festivities as the Facebook teams get to design their own levels, and have them judged.  The video series will be released to fans after the event concludes.

Read on for the announcement!

To celebrate the upcoming launch of the Super Mario Maker game for the Wii U console, Nintendo is hosting a special ?hackathon? event at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park on July 28 and July 29.

Hackathon events are a unique element of the Facebook company culture, and an opportunity for employees to pursue a project outside their day-to-day responsibilities to rapidly create something that interests them. The Super Mario Maker hackathon is exclusively for Facebook employees to design a special level in the game. At the event, participants will be using the demo version of the game that drew rave reviews at the recent E3 video game trade show to create levels using the in-game tools that will become available to a wider audience when the game launches exclusively for Wii U on the 11th of September. The event will culminate with designers presenting their creations to a panel of judges from Nintendo and Facebook. The winning individual or team has the opportunity to make the level available for Super Mario Maker owners to play after the game?s launch. Nintendo will be making a video series documenting the event available for fans to view shortly after the event concludes, and fans can also check in to Nintendo?s social media channels on July 28 and July 29 for live updates.

?Facebook is known for connecting people through delightful shared experiences,? said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America?s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. ?Video games fit that mission perfectly, and we?re thrilled to work with a partner like Facebook to help more people form connections through the joy of games like Super Mario Maker. It?s easy for anyone to create levels in the game and share them with friends, and we can?t wait to see what the talented Facebook employees will create before the game becomes available to everyone starting on the 11th of September.?

Super Mario Maker is the ultimate evolution of the Super Mario Bros. series and lets players? imaginations run wild. For the first time ever, friends can have fun playing through levels they create for one another. The Wii U GamePad controller makes it so easy for anyone to create levels that it feels like simply sketching out ideas on paper. Players with Internet access can enjoy a seemingly endless supply of inventive Mario levels inspired by Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World andNew Super Mario Bros. U from players around the world. Everyone who purchases the game will also receive a special Super Mario Maker Idea Book providing inspiration and thought starters on the level-creation process. In addition to the game, Nintendo will also release a special Mario amiibo figure to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game. To coincide with the anniversary, both the Super Mario Maker game and the 30th Anniversary amiibo launch the 11th of September.

For more information about Super Mario Maker, visit http://supermariomaker.nintendo.com/.