OSAKA / TOKYO – Nintendo has opened the doors to the long-awaited venture into the sports park industry after its world-famous character Mario teamed up with the likes of Harry Potter as his opponent latest at Universal Studios Japan.
Crowds trying to maintain social distance requirements gathered around the entrance to Super Nintendo World as a mascot representing Mario, his twin brother Luigi and Princess Peach waving to the crowd. They marked the explosion of colored confetti from a cannon.
Shigeru Miyamoto, the charismatic creator behind the Mario video game series, was dressed in a big red hat designed with a big M on the front, Mario’s trademark. “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Miyamoto said. “Either with friends or family, every generation can have fun here and feel the world of Mario using all five of their senses.”
The opening of Nintendo’s area inside the USJ, near Osaka, comes nearly six years after the Japanese game giant and the operator of the consortium announced the announcement. The USJ is said to have invested some 60 billion yen ($ 549 million) in the project, carefully planning with Nintendo so as not to disappoint enthusiastic fans of the games.
Super Nintendo World was scheduled to open last summer. But the spread of the pandemic coronavirus disease caused the companies to delay the opening twice. The Japanese government lifted a state of emergency in Osaka earlier this month, which cleared the way for the park to finally open.
Aerial view of Super Nintendo World. The high walls are to allow visitors to immerse themselves in the experience. © Kyodo
In addition to the standard entry pass for USJ, visitors need an entry ticket with free time to enter the Mario-themed part of the park at this time, as the USJ expects a large number of passengers. -visits in the few months after they open.
High walls around the new park are designed to allow visitors to immerse themselves in the world of Nintendo. Inside, visitors will find the area full of the essence of Nintendo’s Mario games. They will hear a Super Mario Bros. theme song; feeling the ground shake when Thwomp, Mario’s great stone enemy, stone-faced, enters the ground; and marvel at the intricate details inside Bowser castle.
One expected visitor was Haruki Hironaka, who was there with her friend. “I questioned whether this was really Japan,” the Osaka native said of the scene.
As a Nintendo fan ever since she played on the Nintendo 64 console, Hironaka appreciated how the theme park brought “Nintendo game design to life.”
“I’m scared to leave and come back to reality,” the 29-year-old said.
Super Nintendo World marks the latest effort by Kyoto-based Nintendo to expand beyond video games.
The company has been a major force in game consoles for decades, beginning with the launch of its Computer Computer in 1983, which was modified and sold in the U.S. as the Nintendo Entertainment System. extremely successful. His latest gaming consoles included the Game Boy, Nintendo DS and the Wii.
In 2017 it came out with the Switch gaming console, a hybrid device that can be used both at home as a console and as a portable device. Thanks to a strong line of software titles including Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as well as the rise in self-quarantined gamers, the Switch’s sales jumped last year. Switch’s total global sales have reached approximately 79 million units.
While Nintendo has created a legacy of gaming consoles, it is now finding itself in a rapidly changing industry with the rise of mobile and cloud-based games. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has accepted these challenges, telling Nikkei Asia in an interview in September, “Gaming is a difficult business that requires sustainable creation and risk-taking. “
For a long time the company wanted to avoid too many of its characters, worrying that it could weaken their brand and intellectual property. But a turning point for the company came in 2014, when the game’s creator Satoru Iwata was president and Nintendo had experienced a lackluster sale due to the failure of the Wii U console.
Nintendo began developing mobile games, opened a product store and entered new business areas in an effort to support long-term growth and expand speakers.
One of Super Nintendo World’s tours is ‘Mario Kart: Koopa Challenge’ (Photo by Yoshiyuki Tamai)
The opening of Super Nintendo World seems to be just the beginning of the company’s effort to expand the use of its characters. Perhaps next is the Super Mario-based animated film, on which the company works with the subsidiary Universal Pictures Illumination.
Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at the Ace Research Institute, reveals that, in terms of profit, the sports park is likely to add only a small percentage to Nintendo ‘s baseline. “However, it is a meaningful strategy, as it will lead to increased consumer interest in their characters,” he said, adding that “Super Nintendo World has the potential to attract the nongamer community to take a game. “
While Super Nintendo World incorporates the elements of a traditional sports park, it also allows visitors to enjoy the gaming experience through technology. The Mario Kart-inspired draw uses improved headphones and predictive mapping to allow visitors to race against other players.
Visitors can also purchase an RFID (radio frequency identifier) handset connected to the USJ smartphone app to collect real coins like Mario does in Nintendo games. Through the app they can keep tabs on the number of coins collected, and see where they rank against other players.
JL Bonnier, president and CEO of USJ, said visitors can “do anything Mario does.”
Bonnier said Super Nintendo World is “transforming the way a theme park experience is going to be from now on.”
USJ marketing director Ayumu Yamamoto said: “Nintendo has fans all over the world. I believe overseas people will find Super Nintendo World inspiring, and to wait patiently for the opportunity to visit. “
Nintendo wants Osaka to follow suit others around the world, including the US and Singapore. However, the coronavirus has dealt a blow to Nintendo ‘s hopes of reproducing the park in the U.S., with reports that a delay in construction will push back the opening of Super Nintendo World in Orlando, Florida, before two years to 2025.