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Before Super Nintendo World decided on its Mario theme, there was apparently some discussion within the Japanese video game giant and Universal Studios about "other" Nintendo-themed IP being incorporated into the park.
Speaking to Polygon, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto mentioned how Splatoon was one of the series considered outside of the company's key franchise, Super Mario. Nintendo instead decided to make this new venture "easier" by narrowing focus on its lead mascot:
Shigeru Miyamoto: “There was discussion about adding other IPs in there, like Splatoon. But instead of having our focus scattered, we thought it would be easier to start with something focused. That’s why we ended up starting with Mario."
Although the focus is mostly on the Super Mario series right now, Miyamoto also teased "some other IP" sprinkled throughout Super Nintendo World in the backdrop. Pikmin is one of the more notable sightings so far.
Nintendo has previously announced it will expand the park with a Donkey Kong expansion as well, set to open in 2024. Considering DK is also in the upcoming Super Mario Movie, and is one of the oldest Nintendo characters, this makes a lot of sense. This particular part of the park will allow guests to walk through "lush" jungles where Donkey Kong and his friends live. There will also be a roller coaster, interactive experiences, and lots of themed merchandise and food.
Beyond Donkey Kong, what IP would you like to see Nintendo feature at its Universal theme parks? How about Zelda or a series like Animal Crossing? Leave your thoughts below.
[source polygon.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 47
It only makes sense to focus on Mario first, but I would love to see a Splatoon area. They can sort of recreate Wahoo World, have stores based on ones throughout the series that sell real-world clothing of the in-game gear, and maybe it could host Nintendo Live concerts outside of Japan. I’d go for the stores alone. It would be a nightmare for my money but how cool would it be to own some of that headgear, clothing, and shoes?
@Dev9417 What if it's just an aquarium
Mario by far has the most potential for being a satisfying theme park. I hope eventually Nintendo can branch out to something outside of Mario fandom, but I don’t see it happening, unless the rumoured Zelda movie is true and it does incredibly well. Even then, Hollywood doesn’t have much space to work with without having to tear something down in the process, so I can’t see further expansion there and it will probably be “just Mario” for a long time.
Please bring ARMS to Super Nintendo World so peoples will more appreciate Boxing sports. 🥊
Hopefully the park branches out to all sorts of nintendo IP down the line, it's a little dull how its ALL mario so far but that's understandable - it is their largest IP after all. Once they add a few more varied IP themed areas then it will live up to the nintendo world name.
(Please somehow add a xenoblade area)
I'll go bananas when they have the DK expansion.
Imagine if health and safety wasn't a thing and they could go all out on a splatoon attraction.
They could use the AR headsets to make a real life turf war game. You could see your ink. They could attach you to a cable, if you get splatted youre raised into the air and brought back to the spawn point. Would be so cool.
If youre in enemy ink they could raise the tension on the cable to make it harder for you to move.
They could make the room pretty dark so in squid form people cant see you.
I mean they could do it without the cable and make you run back to the spawn point every time youre splatted to restart.
Will never happen but they definetly have the tech to make a cool AR splatoon attraction.
Splatoon should have a separate water park.
I want a Zelda park for the most. I liked Majora's mask, Ocarina of times and Skyward sword the most. It is not my kind of a game it is very difficult for me the puzzles but thanks to the last trailer from the new Zelda game I have little hope it will be very good game. The last trailer was better than other trailers and I love Splatoon serie to. Splatoon park is possible. Thanks to Splatoon 3. F-zero is possible. Mario kart is possible. Donkey Kong is possible.
@Uncle_Franklin Tell me you don't play Splatoon without saying "I haven't played Splatoon."
Why do I feel Nintendo wants to go in order for adding their top franchises to Nintendo World? You know the character selection in Smash Ultimate? It goes Mario first, then Donkey Kong, then Link, then Samus, etc. Call me crazy, but Zelda is easily Nintendo’s second biggest franchise. And Metroid has seen a renaissance on the switch recently. They will possibly add the biggest franchises first, with little cameos from their smaller franchises here and there like the little Pikmin you see there already.
I’m enjoying splatoon 3 but I think outside of Japan the game is not that massive.
Mario of course with platform and Mario Kart is seriously massive.
Not sure what is next maybe Zelda.
Also about time DK had some gaming love Nintendo.
Surely an Animal Crossing theme park must be on their minds? That could be fantastic. The Town Hall, with Isabelle on reception... the Museum with Blathers... the cafe is sorted thanks to Brewster... and Nook can run the shop, of course, and Nintendo would have a "game world" reason for charging ten times the normal amount for things! Wins all round...
splatoon- each set of idols take turns every 2 hours telling what the activity is via the watch. modes- ride the tower shooting characters along the way, carry the rainmaker through an obstacle course. also collecting clams could be a thing. not sure on turf or zones.
star fox- a "moving seat" with yoke(for moving reticle) and buttons lets you interact with the mission on screen.
pikmin-"throw" pikmin to collect treasures in a mega crane game.
AC-Tom and Isabelle's souvenir shop. disappointing but this is how Tom Nook makes money.
Mkart/Fzero(yeah right)-go carts.
Mario's mini golf.
Mario's party board.
Zelda-escape room shrine/mini dungeon edition? solve puzzles, beat enemies(?) to get out.
Pokémon-Go. too easy.
Wario...greed or weird/disgusting challenges? got the show Double Dare for Wario Ware inspiration.
Sadly, i think i will be dead by the time they get to Metroid, ither dead or too old to go in a ride 😵💫
Slightly disappointed that we got Toad's Cafe over Kirby's Cafe.
@IronMan30 Get out 😅
@Kyloctopus
Nintendo will probably branch out with Zelda since it is their biggest IP next to Mario regardless if there will be a movie. It will be awhile if the park is successful enough to expand anymore. It also depends on the structure of the park as well.
Splatoon is nice and all, but if there are NOT eventual replicas of Alcamoth and Torigoth, don't even try to invite me.
I just want to visit Hyrule IRL, to be honest
It's sad that they only went for Mario, a Splatoon paintball attraction would be fantastic.
Splashdown Mountain. Think Disney would sue?
A Splatoon area can easily be turned into a paint ball area. Especially in Nintendo Land in America. I know a lot of paint ball lovers who would love that. Also it can introduce Splatoon loving kids and teens into paintball.
A Pikmin area can be turned into a greenhouse, but that seems a little too expensive and would require employees with expert level plant caring experience.
I think we can take all of Nintendo's sci-fi IPs (Starfox, Metroid, F-Zero, etc) and turn it into a huge barcade. It can have arcade machines like that Luigi's Mansion arcade shooter and that F-Zero AX booth. Maybe SEGA can throw in some of their arcade cabinets to fill the empty spaces.
An Animal Crossing area can easily be full of cute souvenir shops and actual clothing stores that matches clothes from New Horizons games. Also a Brewster coffee shop is absolutely perfect to buy some real coffee.
@mauhlin12
Disney are renaming and retheming Splash Mountain so maybe they would not. Not that I am expecting it to happen.
@NatiaAdamo Who’s gonna tell ‘em?
the very thing that makes it so unappealing to me is that focus on just 1 ip and that's it
Not to be the wet blanket, just realistic expectations, but people saying they should do "Pokemon, Metroid, Splatoon, Zelda, ect" next will probably not get what they want.
Or at least not in the way they want it (not that it would be bad)
Universal Hollywood is WAY low on space, which is why they can not do a complete SNL. The Yoshi ride had to be axed because of it. So direct expansion to that park could be limited and its no guarantee that they will get the DK coaster (which would be years away)
Universal Florida has two parks already, but like Hollywood they are also pretty landlocked with limited expansion room. They ALMOST got SNL but it was moved to the new park (more on that in a second) and the room where it would be at is not earmarked for something different. They do have an underused land called Lost Continent that would work for Zelda, but do not expect a fully brand new land as much as a heavy retheme and reworking of what they have with a brand new ride.
Which brings us to Epic Universe what will be the newest Florida Universal park. This is the one with the full SNL like Japan has. And it even has a expansion area. But it is not big, maybe 1 ride and it is not something I could see branching out into a fully new IP (probably Mario related in some way to keep continuity.
So a Splatoon/Metroid/AC land would most likely be relegated to the near future FOURTH Universal Florida park which is a decade away realistically.
I hope to be wrong, that maybe they have extensive plans to use the IPs. But when you count not only space, but time (got to let each park and land breath before you go add more) and expansions in other Universal areas, what we have is what we will be having for a while, not counting small updates and maybe something like Pokemon Go intergration or similar.
I would love to see a Splatoon themed area! The main game/attraction could be a paint ball arena based on one of the maps from the game!
It's a shame. I'd love to go if they added other IPs, but I've no interest in the Mario franchise.
A Pikmin themed restaurant would've been awesome, like how in Pikmin 2, Louie would make his own logbook of the enemies and how he would cook them. Yeah, most enemies in that series are bugs, but still. xD
Would be cool if they expanded with a few other bigger IPs, and maybe had a smaller section or even just the store show some love to all the IPs, even if it’s a Fire Emblem water bottle
Really any IP, but Zelda, Metroid, and maybe Xenoblade. Pokémon would be awesome too, but I’m. Not sure how that would work out.
@TheBigBlue Metroid and Pikmin are cool, but if they're going in order of popularity they need to have Spocco Square or Wuhu Island from Switch Sports, that series always sells way more than any Metroid, Pikmin, F-Zero, Donkey Kong, etc. Actually so do their Fit games (Ring Fit Adventure, Wii Fit).
That is a fair argument to make. More people know what a Mii is than a “Metroid”. Imo, I don’t think it’s just about the game sales for a theme park. They could throw anything in there. They could throw in a giant statue of Mr. Game And Watch for all they care. I think it’s about their storied history. Nintendo has been in one of the top video game spots for almost 50 years. They don’t have to limit their attractions to just top selling franchises. Pikmin sales aren’t great, they never have been, but Miyamoto is fond of them; he created the franchise. So he placed little pikmin all over the theme park. They’ve already announced Donkey Kong is getting his own little themed section of Nintendo World. They will definitely add more franchises. Miyamoto also created The Legend Of Zelda. I think that’s next. And who knows? Nintendo’s backlog of franchises is HUGE. They could add lots of little references and nods to their smaller franchises like the Pikmin in Nintendo World, even if they don’t necessarily get their own section of the theme park.
They'll need to do something. I'd like to go, but if I did, I can't imagine wanting to go back again and again. Just like video games, it's going to need some replay-ability, or it will be short lived.
I am sure other franchises will come if their Super Mario exhibit is a resounding success. I can only imagine the fun that could be had while exploring other franchises like Metroid, Donkey Kong, and the like.
How much fun would that be, if they had a paintball area?
You mean more profitable.
Pokemon is by far the most well known Nintendo franchise, outside gaming. Its been so successful on other mediums like smartphones, tv, movies for decades. There will be a separate park Pokemon World with Pokemon Safari or what?
I wouldn't just say it was easier to concentrate on mario, I'd say it was obvious too.
Makes sense to focus on Mario first, but I really do hope they expand into more IP over the years. DK is a great start, but he's so linked to Mario it kind of feels like a Mario extension.
Honestly for me there are a few no-brainers for where to go next. A Hyrue castle ride just going through scenes from Zelda games (like PotC at Disney). An AC themed chill area. A Luigi's Mansion ride about catching ghosts and collecting coins (though again very Mario-adjacent). Even just a retro arcade area with replica arcade machines to play on.
Splatoon would be perfect for at least a paintball (like @Wheatly suggested first) or, even better in my opinion, an AR shooting attraction (like @Sidon_ZoraPrince said, although I think AR is doable if less cooler even while keeping health and safety in mind).
The idea of @Dev9417 is also pretty cool, especially having a concert area!
Love to see so many good concepts for other IPs in the comments, too!
Yeah, as much as I love Mario I'd much prefer an actual "Super Nintendo World", i.e. a theme park that has attractions based on various Nintendo IPs instead of a single one.
@TheBigBlue They're definitely considering bigger franchises first, which is why I'm not surprised to hear they also considered Splatoon since it's relatively big despite being young (of course way more so in Japan, but that's beside the point since that's where they obviously opened it and most certainly will open more first).
I think Splatton will work really well and I'm sure we'll see a Splatoon addition before long, some time after they finish Donkey Kong segment. Speaking of which WHEN ARE WE GETTING ANOTHER DONKEY KONG GAME.
I'd love to see a Zelda and Metroid expansion in the future. Don't care about Splatoon. Mario is obviously the best choice to start with.
@Anti-Matter ARMS has some awesome design and would make for a great theme park. Just not sure if the IP is dead for now from Nintendo’s viewpoint. Not sure if there will be an ARMS 2.
@graviton
It's sad to see peoples until this time still have less appreciation with boxing sport.
Boxing games can be fun for kids with the right design and direction.
I can’t see them doing anything huge beyond Mario, maybe small things. Certainly not a ‘Zelda world’ or ‘splatoon world’. Mario is an iconic cultural figure recognised by most people, and the other IPs just don’t have quite the same scale of recognition. Except Pokémon perhaps.
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