Attention to all creative Nintendo fans: clothing retailer Uniqlo wants to see your best ideas for a Nintendo T-shirt design.
However, that's not all, because the company plans on giving away some nice prizes to the person who submits the best design: $10,000, plus a Nintendo NX console. The second prize isn't bad, either: $3,000, plus an NX. Runner-ups get $500. Uniqlo will print all winning T-shirt designs and have those shirts up for sale in 2017.
That's quite a surprise, considering that the NX is still in concept phase and Nintendo hasn't even actually released any details about it yet. The console didn't even put in an appearance at this year's E3, although the company mentioned that it kept quiet about the NX because it feared imitation.
That means that no one knows much about the NX, except that it possibly exists and will potentially come out next year, with a new The Legend of Zelda game. At this point, though, no one knows if it will incorporate virtual reality, or what its specs are or what sort of technology advancements it will offer to make it competitive with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Winners of Uniqlo's first and second prizes will also receive an invitation to an awards ceremony with Shigeru Miyamoto in attendance in the spring of 2017 — around the time that Nintendo hopes to finally release the NX. Miyamoto will also autograph the "new concept game console NX (Development Codename)" for the top two winners.
To apply, artists can download the T-shirt template from the Uniqlo contest website, create the design on that and then use an entry form to upload their designs (and yes, Uniqlo accepts multiple entries). The deadline for entry is Aug. 31, Japan time. The only thing designs should contain is some reference to Nintendo: what Nintendo means to the artist or a representation of something that represents the company and/or its games.
"Contest participants can choose from 10 different colors to be used for their T-shirt design," the contest rules read. "Please note that the color of the finished T-shirts may be slightly different from the templates that are shown online. The colors may be changed by Uniqlo when deemed necessary."
Uniqlo also prohibits T-shirt designs from having characters from different game franchises on the same design. For example, Mario and Luigi on a shirt is okay, but Mario and Link is not.
Good luck and happy designing!
