A bunch of beloved Nintendo franchises are officially coming to a Super Nintendo World theme park attraction near you and it’s enough to make Mario himself jump for joy.
The collaboration between Nintendo and Universal Parks & Resorts has been in the pipeline for a few years now.
But covert pictures taken in Hollywood, California, show the construction – and thus the journey to real life Rainbow Road – has begun and not enough Kirby can hold its breath in anticipation.
A theme park enthusiast who goes by the handle @Ryanthemepark shared some snaps he covertly took of the construction site.
While it’s not quite up to Princess Peach’s standards yet, the mere fact of seeing photographic evidence of this glorious shrine to all things Nintendo is a sight to behold.
It looks like it needs to level ups a few more times, but is coming along nicely:
In a deal reminiscent of that which Warner Bros. made to create the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park spaces, which are currently located at Universal Orlando, Japan and Hollywood, Nintendo are set to own an entire area of theme parks at various Universal sites.
The photographs show construction is underway for three Super Mario Worlds – one each at the Hollywood and Japanese parks with a third site set for the Orlando destination.
So, the real question remains: what’s in store for visitors?
Speaking in an Industry Focus podcast for Motley Fool, a financial service company, finance expert Dan Kline explained why these parks were set to add to Nintendo’s high value stock.
He also said:
We know there will be a Mario Kart ride. About a month ago it became public that Universal Studios is building a fourth gate, another theme park, and they’ve amassed a big chunk of land to do that. It’s very logical to think that Nintendo is going to be the cornerstone, the Harry Potter of this new park.
Shigeru Miyamoto said he is ‘constantly amazed’ at how park developers over at Universal can bring ‘the essence of our games to life in the real world’.
Watch what else he haas to say in the promo video below:
Moreover, Miyamoto has promised Nintendo shareholders the theme parks won’t completely eradicate the desire for consumers to carry on gaming traditionally, saying the games franchises and parks will rather operate in synergy.
With the mobile nature of some of Nintendo’s most popular games – like Super Mario Odyssey (but not Pokemon GO) – some pundits think Nintendo could plan on adding special features to encourage players to bring their gaming devices with them, such as offering special downloadable content, reports Variety.
The Japanese instalment was first announced in 2015. Construction began in June 2017 and is planned for completion in time for Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Olympics.
A completion date is yet to be set for Hollywood or Orlando, but between this and the upcoming Mario movie, there’s enough to get excited about in the future.
In the words of Yoshi, WHOO-HOO!
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.