Nintendo Coming to Universal Parks
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- Sep 15, 2012
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Nintendo's E3 presentation was today. No announcements about mobile, consoles or theme parks. But there was two very interesting points to me.
Star Fox and Metroid have new games. This means these are still big franchises to Nintendo and could still have rides planned.
Animal Crossing is going the Mario route. 2 new games - both spinoffs. A Mario Party type game and a home designer. Could this prove that Animal Crossing is considered one of Nintendo's biggest franchises next to Mario and Pokemon? Those are the only two other franchises with core games and spinoffs. If so, AC may have a ride coming to Universal?
Star Fox and Metroid have new games. This means these are still big franchises to Nintendo and could still have rides planned.
Animal Crossing is going the Mario route. 2 new games - both spinoffs. A Mario Party type game and a home designer. Could this prove that Animal Crossing is considered one of Nintendo's biggest franchises next to Mario and Pokemon? Those are the only two other franchises with core games and spinoffs. If so, AC may have a ride coming to Universal?
All great franchises, and while I absolutely expect a subset of those three represented in some way, I seriously doubt they would get attractions of any kind.
I just found this ranking (via Video Games Sales Wiki):
The inclusion of properties will be roughly proportional to this, save for merchandise sales.
So basically Mario, Pokemon and some others mixed in..
BTW, What the heck is Brain Age?
- Mar 30, 2015
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It's a pair of brain training games for the DS. The science is nonsense, but the games are fun.
- Sep 2, 2012
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I keep thinking about a Mario Kart attraction and what I come up with is Toy Story Mania meets Test Track meets Universal. I can see a ride that starts out as an interactive dark ride with screens and ends with a wild thrill ride finale. The difference would be that the ride vehicles (karts) would also be motion based and also spin so that during the "thrill ride" portion not only would they be going at a decent speed but also spinning out of control. This type of ride would allow Universal to use a smaller piece of real estate because the dark ride portion would not have to be very big and the outdoor portion would not have to use a lot of track length due to spinning, props, and sound effects creating the effect of speed rather than a straight line ride like Test Track. Anyway......I bet whatever they come up with will be super fun!
You're looking at game announcements, but you're not looking at the types of games announced. The new Star Fox, for all intents and purposes, looks awful. It was also partially pawned off on an outside developer (Platinum Games) and it's clear Nintendo really isn't putting much of an effort behind it. The Metroid 3DS game is Metroid in name only. Samus isn't in it, it's a co-op only game, and really looks like a poor effort.
As for Animal Crossing, it has its dedicated fanbase, but there is absolutely no way to make a ride out of it.
Mario yes. Don't expect a big Pokémon presence outside of merch.
- Jun 29, 2013
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Nintendo also mentioned again about partnering with Universal on theme park attractions. Not that it means anything, but its cool that they mentioned it again.
Google Trends of Mario, Pokémon, Zelda, and Donkey Kong
You are definitely more knowledgable about Nintendo than I am, but outside of Mario, what else would they add if not Pokémon?
I can't go into what I've heard. Just saying you're not going to see a Pokémon ride.
That's a shame. I'd really like to see those animatronics. Pikachu with little fiber optic whiskers, sleeping Snorlax with an air bladder belly... it writes itself.
Just an FYI - Nintendo doesn't own Pokemon outright.
- Sep 15, 2012
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Nintendo is in an awkward spot at the moment. It's clear that console resources are being shifted to NX, and 3DS is merely getting a bunch of weird spin-offs. 2015 is pretty much a bust for the company. Metroid: Federation Force will live on in infamy.
Star Fox looks weak graphically, but apparently they're pushing 60FPS on two separate images for both the gamepad and television, so I can let it slide. Platinum is one of the most consistent developers in the industry, and I'm thrilled they're on the project. Not that the franchise has any relevance to the theme park (though I think it would be a big hit if given a chance).
Mario, DK, and Zelda as primary park franchises would be OK with me.
Yea the star fox reveal was pretty weak. Looked very rough visually to say the least, some of the additional footage outside of what was shown in the direct has looked somewhat better though. Nintendo was pretty clear in interviews that this is still in development, but if they're looking for a holiday release (likely mid-end November release I'd assume), they don't have too much time especially when they have to prepare it for a physical retail release. Hopefully will have more polish and visual consistency by time of release, but yea their e3 showing I think makes it pretty clear that they are moving on to NX.
Their booth for starfox looks pretty cool though.
Slap something like that on a coaster track (a coaster/dark ride hybrid), throw some rapid-fire lasers on it and some targets for me to shoot and we have ourselves a ride! If only was that simple
Their booth for starfox looks pretty cool though.
Slap something like that on a coaster track (a coaster/dark ride hybrid), throw some rapid-fire lasers on it and some targets for me to shoot and we have ourselves a ride! If only was that simple
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I don't know if this has been mentioned, but as far as ideas go Super Mario Galaxies lends itself perfectly to Space Fantasy. I've ridden it several times, and with the same ride tech and even nearly the same branding it's the type of SF that would lend itself well to American audiences like the theming and anime-like nature of the original lends itself to Japanese audiences well since unlike Tokyo Disney, USJ's attendance is heavily based on locals. If you wanted Space Fantasy in Orlando (which I've seen mentioned often), that's the best way I could see it added. Even animating Rosalina and her lumas instead of the princess and her starsprites. It lends itself to be a good way to not merely copy a ride, but to make it something creative and original.
I don't think it'll ever happen, just dreams from someone missing SF.
I don't think it'll ever happen, just dreams from someone missing SF.
I think Mario Galaxy is probably one of the most translatable ways to do Mario as a ride. When it comes to ride system I'm not really sure I can think of a specific one that would cover it well. Donkey Kong translates easy to a mine roller coaster though.
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