Talk about a strange piece of news to wake up to this morning, but Nintendo and Comcast have announced a new agreement that will see the worlds and characters from Nintendo video games brought to the Universal Parks & Resorts in both America and in Japan. While they have no details of how this may be realized, or what park may get it first, they did say that Universal will create “spectacular, dedicated experiences based on Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters and worlds.”
So while adding some kind of Nintendo game themed attraction or land to Universal Studios Japan is almost a no-brainer, how to add them to the US parks may be a bit more tricky. The Hollywood park is fairly land-locked and has been moving heaven and earth (literally) to bring the world’s of The Simpsons, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Fast & Furious to life, all within the same general time-frame, which means Hollywood may be the last stop for Mario and friends to land.
Meanwhile, strange new rumors have been rising from Orlando regarding possible replacement themes being considered for the existing Marvel Super Hero Island section of that park, except for the Amazing Spiderman ride, which makes me wonder if there is a connection between the two stories. Time will tell… but what Nintendo theme would you place on existing rides like The Incredible Hulk coaster, StormForce or Dr. Doom’s FearFall?
If not Marvel, perhaps it could replace Toon Town, through it would seem a bit odd to have Donkey Kong living so close to King Kong, wouldn’t it? Of course the Nintendo theme could serve as a replacement to the current KidZone offerings, replacing the old Barney show, Woody Woodpecker, the Fieval Playland and Curious George areas.
