Nintendo is partnering with Universal Parks for theme park attractions based on Nintendo franchises

[Solly]

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150507005307/en/Nintendo-Partners-Universal-Parks-Resorts-Create-World’s#.VUslX_lVhBc

KYOTO, Japan & ORLANDO, Fla.--BUSINESS WIRE-Nintendo and Universal Parks & Resorts today announced plans to bring the world of Nintendo to life at Universal theme parks – creating spectacular, dedicated experiences based on Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters and worlds.

The agreement brings two icons of entertainment together and represents a significant partnership for Nintendo as it expands the reach and popularity of its characters and intellectual property.

Universal theme parks offer incredibly popular, innovative themed family entertainment experiences based on compelling stories and characters – using powerful storytelling and innovative technology. Nintendo has created remarkable and imaginative worlds filled with captivating stories and beloved characters. Now, for the first time, those stories and characters will be brought to life in entirely new ways – only at Universal theme parks.

The immersive experiences will include major attractions at Universal’s theme parks and will feature Nintendo’s most famous characters and games. More details will be announced in the future, as the Nintendo and Universal creative teams work to create specific concepts.

About Universal Parks & Resorts

Universal Parks & Resorts, a unit of Comcast NBCUniversal, offers guests around the globe today’s most relevant and popular entertainment experiences. With three-time Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg as creative consultant, its theme parks are known for immersive experiences that feature some of the world’s most thrilling and technologically advanced film- and television-based attractions. Comcast NBCUniversal is a global media and technology company that owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news, sports and entertainment networks; Universal Pictures, a premier motion picture company; significant television production operations; a leading television stations group; and world-renowned theme parks.

Comcast NBCUniversal wholly owns Universal Studios Hollywood, which includes Universal CityWalk Hollywood. It also owns Universal Orlando Resort, a world-class destination resort featuring two theme parks (Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure), four resort hotels, and Universal CityWalk Orlando. Comcast NBCUniversal also has license agreements with Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan and Universal Studios Singapore at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore. In addition, Comcast NBCUniversal has recently announced plans for a theme park in Beijing and an indoor theme park to be developed as part of the Galactica Park project in Moscow.

About Nintendo

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.3 billion video games and more than 680 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 3DS XL, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™ and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™.

A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's website at http://www.nintendo.com/.

I was thinking about how cool this would be when I last went to Universal. I have an annual pass to their parks, and it's a lot of fun.

 

Excited to find out what kinds of attractions they'll have, but this is pretty huge news either way.

[Marcello]

In the About Nintendo part it says Metroid is a household name.

 

First of all,

 

Second of all, I wonder if them mentioning it implies that there'll be a Metroid attraction.

 

Pretty cool news anyway and it's nice to see Nintendo doing things with their I.P.

[gala]

*Crosses fingers for Pokemon Snap*

 

Real talk, this is pretty damn rad, I'm really curious to see what they do with this!

[...]

I've been wanting some sort of Nintendo Land or themed attractions at theme parks for years, kinda surreal that it's actually happening!

Wind Waker virtual reality ride simulating sailing on the King of Red Lions. Pls.

[Nexthehedgehog]

Well , the UE fans bite the dust, they are no Universal parks in Europe, unless you count Port Aventura because of Woody Woodpecker and Sesame Street being there but... no, it can't count.

[spinny]

Real life Great Cave Offensive or bust.

 

...

 

M-maybe the treasures could be replicas of the items found in the subgame too?? I want my own falchion and Mr Saturn. ;~;

[Gabz Girl]

Ahhhhh I've always wanted to see a Nintendo theme park of sorts, so this is really great news! =D Curious to see a Metroid dark ride with a creepy atmosphere, Kirby adventure playground and something with Mario and Zelda.

 

..F-Zero and Starfox simulators too? Maybe?

[Marcello]

Metroid will get a bar. Killing your brain cells will replace getting your brain sucked out by a Metroid.

[Kaze no Klonoa]

Honestly, while it would be rad to see something like that, I'm assuming that Nintendo is probably going to do what Capcom did with making a roller coaster MH themed. Or what Namco did with a Dark Souls cafe.

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-25-capcom-brands-a-monster-hunter-roller-coaster

 

 

 

Capcom brands a Monster Hunter roller coaster

Basically, it was a old ride (The Goliath) turned Monster Hunter themed. They added new props, a live-sized Gore Magala, and a overall change in the aesthetic of the ride, but the ride itself isn't different beyond looks.

 

I'm probably expecting something like that, or maybe Nintendo will just have a small presence there, for say, a small area where kids can play Nintendo games. Would be cool if there was a Nintendo-like Land or pretty much anything people have said above.

[Willsy]

You know what would be really awesome?

Yoshi Coaster

Donkey Kong Spinning Barrels

Metroid Blast (Interactive dark ride)

Super Mario 4D World (4D motion simulator attraction)

Hyrule Coaster

[Kaze no Klonoa]

You know what would be awesome? And I mean, really, really awesome?

Yoshi Coaster

Aww yeh

Come back to me when we have Mario Bumper Karts

 

Aww yeh

[Gabz Girl]

I'm probably expecting something like that, or maybe Nintendo will just have a small presence there, for say, a small area where kids can play Nintendo games. Would be cool if there was a Nintendo-like Land or pretty much anything people have said above.

 

Yeah I think realistically, that's what we might be getting. I mean Universal Studios is a huge theme park already, so something with smaller rides wouldn't surprise me. D: Then again, a Nintendo themed adventure playground would still be neat.

[Captain Fun]

Nobody really knows what this will be. It certainly sounds big considering it's opening in two locations, but I would imagine specific details are a long way off. 

[Nexthehedgehog]

https://mobile.twitter.com/TheBitBlock/status/596267440721428481?p=v

I pretty much excpecting he would react like this! XD

[The Deleter]

A part of me is really excited about this. I love theme parks, and I've always throught Nintendo would be suited for the business, as Sony is all about multimedia tech, Microsoft is all about all-in-one living room/office experiences, and Nintendo is and has always been about fun family experiences. Seemed like a no-brainer the theme park business would be suited for them.

 

But also the video-gamer side of me feels like it's going to eventually be disappointed with the way the ride theming will be handled, as many times character themes are just half-heartely thrown onto rides whether they fit them or not. I don't really want to ride the Kirby, Earthbound, or Yoshi roller coaster, nor a Donkey Kong Safari game and Star Fox Bumper Karts; I want to ride an F-Zero​ roller coaster, a Kid Icarus safari ride, and a Mario Kart - or if you're getting wild with rules, Smash Brothers - Bumper Kart ride.

 

Plus there's always the posibillity of this being just a small scale reskinning, so keeping my expectations a bit lower for that, as well.

 

 

Still, here's hoping this will be good!

 

 

 

 

Edit: Oh yeah, and a huge Metroid Blast world is a must, as well. Love me some Laser Tag, and I've always dreamed of playing it in a Metroid setting.

[Tails spin]

I'm wondering were it would fit though. I have been to City Walk only and I'm reserving going to the parks for later. But they might close down an area for it. I say close down Hogwarts and turn it to Peach's castle.

I also for years have been wondering what a Nintendo theme park would be like

[...]

I'm wondering were it would fit though. I have been to City Walk only and I'm reserving going to the parks for later. But they might close down an area for it. I say close down Hogwarts and turn it to Peach's castle.

I also for years have been wondering what a Nintendo theme park would be like

[Solly]

I'm wondering were it would fit though. I have been to City Walk only and I'm reserving going to the parks for later. But they might close down an area for it. I say close down Hogwarts and turn it to Peach's castle.

I also for years have been wondering what a Nintendo theme park would be like

[Boomer]

We don't know if they're building out, demolishing something old, or even if it's going to be at Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios.

[Tails spin]

Sarcasm my friends sarcasm

[Marcello]

We don't even know if it'll even in Florida, it might just be in Osaka for all we know.

[Solly]

Both of them are listed in the first sentence and they talk about theme parks.

[Nexthehedgehog]

Josh Thomas (The Bit Block) initial reaction to the announcement

He's fucking excited

[-Robin-]

Metroid Laser Tag set in an environment designed like Red Brinstar/Norfair/Maridia. You can fire regular shots, or keep a shot charged up and fire for more points or more stun, but the shot will backfire if you hold the charge for too long and you can't shoot again for a little while.

Starfox roller coaster.

I'd love to see a Fire Emblem-themed attraction, but I dunno how'd they go about it.

This is actually pretty cool. Neato.

[scourgeandfionafan123]

Amiibo Pit: a pit, where you dive in to fetch amiibos with your team's color on the box. The winner gets a random amiibo that the park manager has in their hands.