CNN correspondent Selina Wang visited the newly opened Super Nintendo World to showcase the theme park, as well as to outline some of its COVID policies. She even managed to make a ride on the AR Mario Kart track, “Koopa’s Challenge”, which is more than many visitors will get – VGC noted that the queue was bigger than the park itself.
“I talked to the contestants,” Wang said in the news segment, “and many of them have been playing Nintendo games since childhood. Some of them say that it’s actually emotional to walk in there and really see their childhood games. get life. ‘
Originally, the park would open in the summer of 2020 to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics, but of course that did not happen. The fact that Japan is closed for international travel means that the park does not bring in the large number of tourists and gives the country’s economy a boost as originally planned.
Photo opportunities and other designated “mask-free zones” are closely monitored to ensure that visitors keep a distance from each other and the mascot of the park, and are not allowed to touch. Instead of the Disney-style photos of kids embracing the costumed characters, it’s likely you’ll get a photo of Mario and Luigi at a respectable distance, like awkward teens at a prom.
Wang notes that the park cost half a billion dollars and that the gambling industry in general made big money during the pandemic as one of the few activities you can still do at home.
“For Nintendo, this is an important step outside the core business of video games and consoles,” says Wang. “It deserves a treasure trove of intellectual property and iconic characters.” As a comment on Reddit on the video says, “Nintendo is basically printing money in an industry that is currently struggling,” refers to the theme park industry.