Nintendo: Super Mario 3D Launch

Nintendo fans in the New York City area were given an extraordinary opportunity to experience their beloved Mario in a whole new dimension. In celebration of the launch of the Super Mario 3D Land™ game for the Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system, Nintendo took over Times Square’s Military Island, presenting a life-sized replica of one of the game’s levels that was open for play to the hundreds of fans that lined the block. Gamers, many paying tribute to their favorite characters in full costume, were invited to explore the 3D world complete with warp pipes, coin jumps and the requisite flagpole at the finish. Attendees were also invited to play the game in advance of its official release date at mobile stations in a Mario themed tent next to the event’s exit.

EPS-Doublet served as a proud partner for the experience from concept to completion, not only fabricating the multi-tiered event platform and providing the larger than life elements made famous by the Mario series (including an 8′ tall ink-spitting Piranha Plant, 2′ tall Goombas stacked 3 high and a 6′ long menacing Bullet Bill in mid flight), but also providing onsite overnight installation and tear-down of the structure. Other notable features of the event’s construction included a full-scale reproduction of the 3DS unit, with a realistic (buttons included) vinyl wrapped pad and a 20′ tall “screen” that served as the world’s entrance, as well as a “Warp Pipe” slide and trampoline jumps with sensor-activated sounds identical to those heard in the game, triggered upon impact.

Watch an event overview, including time lapse video of the installation here.

And check out Nintendo turns Times Square into Super Mario Land on YouTube for a guided tour of the event.

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

EPS-Doublet proudly partnered with the inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge as the official event infrastructure and promotional supplier, responsible for enhancing the look and feel of both the traveling Festival and the race course itself. Providing custom fabrication, textile printing and installation services as the daily stage venue changed, EPS-Doublet had the great honor of ensuring that the integrity of the event’s identity was upheld at key points of interest for both the live and broadcast audiences, anticipated to be in the millions.

With a need for quick daily set-up and teardown in each of the host cities, EPS-Doublet designed custom portable structures that specifically met the demands of simple installation and repeated use. These structures, including start and finish line edifices, a ramped stage for individual time trial starts, and a main stage for awards ceremonies, were shrouded in the highest quality printed graphics to ensure the brand marks of the event and its sponsors were camera friendly in all types of weather. Branded custom course and mile markers were also provided.

A highlight of the event for the live spectators was the Lifestyle Festival and Expo staged in each of the 7 finish cities. Billed as a World-Class event in World-Class locations, the festival provided myriad opportunities for national brands and local businesses alike to engage with a highly coveted audience. EPS-Doublet enhanced the overall Festival experience by providing custom grand entrances, entertainment stage graphics, way finding structures and other various zone identifiers and features. All Festival elements were specially constructed to enable ease of transportation and assembly as they travel the USA Pro Cycling Challenge route to the grand finale in Denver.

EPS-Doublet also worked with host cities and exhibitors to provide them with branded course-side elements, tents and printed display products, to ensure maximum visual impact for the sponsors and brands they represented.

U.S. Army: All – American Bowl

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is the premier high school football game in the country held each January in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The game features the best high school football players in the nation and has helped launch the careers of Mark Sanchez, Adrian Peterson, Tim Tebow, Ndamukong Suh, and many other college and NFL stars since its inception in 2001. In 2010, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl drew more than 34,000 fans to the Alamodome and was the most watched sporting event on television over the weekend, besides the NFL Playoffs.

After providing promotional elements for several years, at the 2009 event, EPS-Doublet rolled out some unique new product lines, which included: customized fabric frame displays with and without lighting, display stands and tension fabric displays. In addition to the canopy tents and display signage at the Alamodome and Sunset Station, those who attended the U.S. Army All-American Bowl got to see the 107 Presto Pop-Up displays, 260 expandable banner stands and a variety of fabric displays and tri-panel stands in the “Hall of Heroes” display at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Olympic Games: Vancouver 2010

The 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, provided a challenge beyond that of any other sporting event. Unlike semi-permanent arena installations, or single day race projects, the complex structures we provided had to be both modular and transportable as well as be able to withstand extended use in extreme weather. To meet the basic requirements of the printed components – flexibility during installation in potentially sub-zero temperatures and minimal seams for on-camera aesthetics – dye-sublimation onto polyester fabric provided the ideal solution.

Of all the structures EPS-Doublet created for the Olympics, the many start houses and perimeter markers, perhaps the favorite piece was the geometric arch exit structure. Born of a simple illustration, the custom fabricated structure shrouded in printed vinyl provided an unassuming, yet unmistakable backdrop to some of the most memorable gold medal moments of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.