Due to the coronavirus global pandemic, the Japanese Super Nintendo World was unable to open its doors to the public… until now.

Nintendo has spent a ton of money to design and build Super Nintendo World: the news claim they spent over half a billion dollars, but the big N is in good financial standing, thanks to the success of the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch Lite (with a rumoured Nintendo Switch Super planned to launch this year, capable of achieving 4K in docked mode, as well as using Samsung’s OLED panel). Nintendo’s theme park still has limitations: currently, only Japanese visitors can enter due to international travel bans.

For Nintendo, Super Nintendo World represents part of a move from a games firm to an entertainment company (which is why they had/have plans for films with Mario and Pokémon). They are planning to build three more parks: one in Los Angeles (Universal Studios), one in Orlando, and one in Singapore. They will likely plan something for Europe, too. Initially, the park will take only half the visitors it can accommodate, due to social-distancing measure. The visitors are required to wear masks in most of the areas, too.

The theme park is modelled after Mario and his games – the Italian plumber has been known for a good four decades by now (although in Donkey Kong, his first appearance, he was first called Jumpman; by 1983, he was known as Mario in Mario Bros.), and the franchise has become such a household success that it sold more than 370 million games in its history. There will be a Mario Kart race as one of its rides. Here, visitors will ride sporting an augmented reality headset attached to a red cap.

The park is meant to be a gaming experience. The visitors are encouraged to buy wristbands to collect keys, redeem coins, play mini-games around the land and even team up with other visitors via a smartphone app.

Source: BBC