It has been awhile since Universal has mentioned anything regarding Nintendo, so the official blog has finally deemed it necessary to feed our hunger for Nintendo news with a bit of an update.
The first bit of news, which was no surprise to anyone, but Nintendo will have a presence at Universal Studios Japan, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Universal Orlando. No word on who will see Nintendo first, but we are still betting it will be Universal Studios Japan.
As Universal has been doing with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Nintendo will be “expansive, immersive, and interactive.” They go on to say that the Nintendo expansion will “be highly themed and authentic environments filled with multiple attractions, shops, and restaurants.” Part of this immersion that they also described includes Gigantic Piranha Plants that spring to life, question blocks, power-ups, and Mario and friends “there to pull you into a brand-new world.”
Universal also says that we will fell like we are playing inside of real life versions of our favorite games and there will be something for every age and level of gaming experience. No word on which games we’d actually be seeing, beyond Mario of course, but I wouldn’t count on knowing that kind of information until construction starts on the first Nintendo expansion.
So, despite very little new information being released, it is still exciting to get any update on what could be Universal’s next juggernaut intellectual property collaboration. If Nintendo is done well, it could easily be as immersive and impressive as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but also a hit with families and younger kids. Children of the ’80s and early ’90s grew up on Mario and Nintendo, so there is no doubt they will be excited to step into this new world or introduce their children to a piece of their childhood.
The planning process and creative work is underway and still in full swing, and Nintendo will start opening over separately over the next few years.
I would love to see a Star Fox Coaster complete with barrel roll.
I can’t see how this will be fun. Many of us children of the 80s and 90s didn’t play video games, especially women. This doesn’t appeal to me at all.
Good grief, relax a little on this not appealing to females. I’m a female, born in ’85, and played a decent amount of video games growing up. Even if I hadn’t, so long as the land is done well with entertaining attractions and stunning scenery, the IP shouldn’t matter. Even people who never read or watched Harry Potter can appreciate and enjoy the lands that Universal created. I’ve never watched a single Star Wars film, but I’m super excited for when that land opens too.
You’re kidding, right? Donkey Kong was a Nintendo arcade game that came out in the 80’s. Game boy came out in the early 90’s.
Huh?! Many, many children of the 80’s and 90’s (I’d venture to say most) played video games. Nintendo is an immensely popular IP. This is an incredibly smart decision on Universal’s part and I know it will be insanely popular.
And I didn’t play video games. However, I’m still excited because Universal has yet to disappoint me with their themeing or attractions. If one day they do–oh well, not every single thing they do can appeal to every single person.
O.o
Maybe I was a lock key child, but I played more than my share of video games from Atari on up all through to the 90s. I only stopped with console games when my own kids took over and wouldn’t share. I’d love to be able to “walk into” a 3 dimensional game and interact with the characters the way they’re programmed to behave. What a blast!
Now my own kids are grown, but they too are enthusiastically waiting to see what evolves from this.
I’ve read lots of positive comments about this news. But I’m just not excited about it. I’m sure anything Universal puts together will be good, but I think it is okay to have different opinions and I’m glad to offer an opposing view. I also think it is important to recognize that there are a lot of people who aren’t familiar with these games (my husband didn’t play video games either). Perhaps as more news comes out about the attractions, it will seem a bit more interesting.
Speak for yourself! Total 80s/90s girl kid here who had Nintendo and Super Nintendo and played the mess out of them. Just because you didn’t do something doesn’t mean many of us didn’t.
I am speaking for myself and many others. I never said that there weren’t many who did play video games. I don’t see why my comment is met with such hostility. Is everyone supposed to be excited about this news? Are the people who don’t get excited about video games/nintendo not supposed to say so?
I honestly have had NO interest in visiting Universal in Florida and won’t until i see what they do with the Nintendo IP. If it could/will be as cool as I imagine I’d be there in a second. Although if they do a bunch of VR rides I’m out.
I play and played a lot of video games, but never had a Nintendo console.
I also don’t care about water parks.
But I’m looking forward to both of them.