Robert Niles
Editor
Robert Niles

Super Nintendo World to open at Universal Studios Japan by 2020

December 11, 2016, 11:01 PM · Universal Studios Japan and Nintendo announced tonight that their Nintendo-themed land at the park will be called Super Nintendo World and that it will open before the start of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.

Universal Parks & Resorts announced its deal with Nintendo last year, confirming earlier last month that it Nintendo-themed lands would come to its parks in Orlando, Los Angeles, and Osaka, Japan. The Japanese land has been tipped widely to be the first to open, and tonight is the first announcement of both a name of any of the lands as well as a rough opening date.

Here is Twitter's translation:

[Nintendo themed areas in the world for the first time in #USJ born] popular Nintendo Nintendo characters, large gathering in the world. Huge complex area that is the world to reproduce in a thorough "SUPER NINTENDO WORLD ™" is scheduled to open before the Tokyo Olympic Games!

The concept art appears to show Bowser's Castle and Princess Peach's Castle from the Mario franchise. The land appears to occupy multiple levels in the park, which makes sense for a video game-themed land. Universal Studios Japan has created a section on its website devoted to the new land — http://www.usj.co.jp/nintendo/.

Universal Studios Japan also announced that the land will cost 50 billion yen (about US$433 million) and will include a "world first ride utilizing state-of-the-art technology" and an interactive area, with shops and restaurants. It will not consume existing areas of the park but be built into current parking and expansion space at the Osaka park.

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Replies (11)

anonymous
216.165.95.8
December 12, 2016 at 12:42 AM · This is very exciting news. If it looks anything like the art in this announcement, this is an unprecedented undertaking.
anonymous
184.88.226.248
December 12, 2016 at 4:19 AM · Oh don't you just love the themepark wars. Lol i just read about starwars land at disney.. excited.. now im even more excited ...
anonymous
134.155.185.95
December 12, 2016 at 5:38 AM · This looks awesome! I like that they focus on the Mushroom Kingdom (Mario's and Luigi's home) and don't combine too many franchises in one land. But of course, this is only a preliminary artwork of the area.
robert
Editor
Robert Niles
December 12, 2016 at 11:25 AM · A quick reminder from one of our friends that Disney does have response here, should it care to play it:

Anonymous878
Anon Mouse
December 12, 2016 at 11:44 AM · Disney offloaded their gaming business. This means they should be sure to license their games for their theme parks, but their games are essentially their existing IP so there's nothing new.

Doing a whole land to counter Nintendo is much more difficult to pull off without having a partnership with another gaming company. They blew it with DisneyQuest. No one is much interested in the same old. Maybe just do alternative programming.

Disfan
Disfan
December 12, 2016 at 12:31 PM · Wreck it Ralph? Naw..the movie was just a copy of Nintendo anyway, and a theme park land would be just more of the same. Nintendo is the definitive video game company in terms of theme. Disney should just stick to making the IPs it has great.
Figdragon
Insider
Sarah Warner
December 12, 2016 at 12:54 PM · Wreck-it-Ralph is a very focused entity where Nintendo is a universe in and of itself. Heck, even the Mario universe alone is so expansive, it's hard to imagine. Certainly these are 2 very different playing fields.
anonymous
80.229.228.32
December 12, 2016 at 1:49 PM · Shame we aren't getting this in American anytime soon #ThanksOsaka
OrlandoRob
Insider
Rob McCullough
December 12, 2016 at 2:35 PM · Here's an easy way to work Wreck It Ralph into an existing attraction that is already found at DLR, WDW, an TDLR. As riders begin their experience on Toy Story Midway Mania, a "glitch" happens and the cast from Wreck It Ralph begin to appear and take over game play. At first, the Toy Story cast could resist the intrusion, but by the end of the ride, they have all become friends and the game casts play together. It gives the ability to add that IP to the parks without committing a whole new attraction. Seems like low-hanging fruit to me.
rcdude
Insider
AJ Hummel
December 12, 2016 at 8:28 PM · I'm a bit surprised it won't be open until 2020 (as that means the US installations may be delayed), but other than that I like everything I see about this area. Japan sounds like they're getting an area that is entirely focused on the Mushroom Kingdom, which is a good choice for an immersive Nintendo area. I'm now extremely curious to see what the world's first ride is, especially after those patents posted recently.

As for Disney doing Wreck-It Ralph, that would be a good choice for a single attraction but has no chance of being nearly as popular as Nintendo. I'd rather see Disney put time and money into projects that will actually be a worthwhile investment than attempt to simply outdo their competition.

anonymous
73.110.42.115
December 12, 2016 at 8:39 PM · Maybe by 2020 we will have an opening date for "pee pew land", and maybe WDW's will start in on vertical construction....... one can dream right?

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