【2009 Archives】

Great news009 Archives Mario fans: an IRL version of the Mushroom Kingdom is on its way.

A new theme park called Super Nintendo World, a collaboration with Universal Parks & Resorts, will open in Osaka, Japan in 2020 — just in time for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Universal confirmed the target date in an announcement Monday.

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We'd heard hints of this before. Spec plans for the park were leaked by a Japanese publication back in March, which was when the 2020 opening was first teased.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Details about what will actually show up in Super Nintendo World have been scant. There was a juicy teaser with Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto and Universal Creative President Mark Woodbury riffing on the potentials of Nintendo additions to Universal parks last month, but it was low on details.

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According to the release, the parks will feature "globally renowned characters and game worlds from Nintendo" and will be "comprised of expansive and multilevel environments filled with unprecedented, state-of-the-art rides, interactive areas, shops and restaurants."

Like Universal's mega-popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter, everything in the park will be tailored to fit the fictional world.

The project has an estimated 50 billion yen (around $433 million) development cost. But Super Nintendo World will likely act like one of Mario's mega mushrooms on the Japanese economy. Professor Emeritus Katsuhiro Miyamoto of Kansai University estimates that Universal Studios Japan's addition of Super Nintendo World will result in economic benefits of 11.7 trillion yen (approximately $101 billion) for the country, along with 1.1 million jobs within a decade of its opening.

With Nintendo-themed expansions planned for Universal Studios parks in Hollywood and Orlando close behind, it looks like Mario is poised to join Mickey Mouse as the top mascots in the theme park game. Hopefully, the development process won't run into any trouble from Bowser.

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