A section created in collaboration with Nintendo at Osaka’s Universal Studios theme park is to open in time for the 2020 Olympic Games. The Nintendo-themed attraction is intended to at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, which welcomed 12.7 million visitors last year.
Nintendo has been looking at ways to branch out, providing extra merchandising through its 2014 launch of its Amiibo figurines, an upcoming selection of mobile apps (including Pokémon Go), and an expanded social network system that makes room for real-world attractions: cinemas, stores, and theme parks.
A partnership with Universal Parks and Resorts was announced in May 2015 and Japanese financial broadsheet Sankei Shimbun relays news of more concrete plans involving Universal Studios Japan. Some ¥40 billion will be poured into the Osaka expansion, whose physical size will be similar in spread to that of another licensed area, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
For comparison, USJ’s ¥45 billionn iteration of the Wizarding World contains the Ride of the Hippogriff rollercoaster, dark ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the Black Lake in front of Hogwarts Castle, and a nearby Hogsmeade village stuffed with boutiques and toy stores.
The proposed Nintendo land would mean that USJ expands its outside of current perimeters, with Sankei indicating an eastern portion of the park becoming the plot destined for Mario and friends. But the Universal Studios Japan park has moved to dampen expectations of the Nintendo attraction, as described by Sankei.
First seen: Malaymail Online
