Augmented reality may not be as widely discussed as virtual reality, but the ubiquitous filter universe of social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat makes AR’s position in the digital world, distinct. The video gaming industry is booming rapidly and is estimated to surpass $321 billion by 2026, as per a PwC report.
As one of the best-cultured Japanese company, video game giant Nintendo first began in 1889 in Kyoto, Japan where craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi began with the humble hand-drawn hanafuda playing cards. It was only in 1977 when the first console, Color TV Game was released marking the venerable entertainment company’s ingress into the video gaming market. The roaring success of consoles in Japan beckoned America’s interest to bring Nintendo to the United States.
In 1983, with the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super NES (1990), the organization pivoted the decline of home video game sales in North America. The consoles sold over 100 million units in the 1980s and 1990s. The wild popularity of iconic characters like Super Mario, Luigi, and Zelda in games designed with adventures manifested to be the golden goose of Nintendo.
Nintendo’s native magic of using nostalgia has always worked wonders with the company and has reinvigorated classic franchises over the decades. The 2016 decision of relaunching a limited number of the vintage NES Classic consoles brought back attention to the company, which was lost under the rubble of outgrowing tech advancements. Through August 2018, the Nintendo Switch platform sold 19.6 million units, surpassing competitor Xbox One sales.
In 2015, Nintendo diversified its operations with the global theme park partnership with Comcast’s Universal Studios. With dwindling video streaming subscribers and increasing costs, theme Parks have been one of the most successful ventures in the aftermath of Covid-19 with entertainment houses like Disney and Comcast investing more into ultra-profitable theme parks.
Nintendo had always echoed Disney’s dignity for family entertainment, and there had not been an equivalent to Disney’s nostalgic supremacy over physical theme parks until 2021.
Osaka’s Universal Studios Japan opened the first Super Nintendo World in 2021 as the literal iteration of childhood dreams. Japan’s Universal Studios bet over $550 million (60 billion Yen) on the Super Nintendo World segment while Universal’s new theme park in Orlando at Epic Universe is under construction and slated to open in 2025.
The immersive splendid experience featuring architectural ingenuity of vibrancy and Disney-esque detail to enchanting charm came to America on February 17, 2023, with the opening of the newest-themed section of Los Angeles’s Universal Studios Hollywood – Super Nintendo World.
This marks the first major expansion of Universal Studios Hollywood since the 2016 debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, reportedly spending $578 million on the Nintendo segment.
The efficacy of this opening is bound to be proliferative for Nintendo as well, who knows how to consent to people’s hearts by forgetting the product and milking the emotion.
Comcast’s Universal theme parks division earned a revenue of $7.5 billion in 2022 with an estimate of a sharp 49.3 percent year-on-year revenue boost.
Super Nintendo World: Universal Studios Hollywood
Here’s a peek into the newest addition to the interactive theme park. Visitors are guided through a green warp pipe at the entrance of the Super Nintendo World, which leads to cartoonish topography, the iconic Super Mario music blaring with the scenic Mushroom Kingdom. The experience lies in the details – from the moment you step into the park, you are transported to Mario World with Bowser’s Castle, Peach’s Castle, rotating coins, and even a sneaky Yoshi running under a berry tree. There’s also a trio of Pikmin attempting to steal Mario’s coins too.
Power-Up Bands
As a quintessential part of the Mario potion of the park, the power-up band is required to be purchased separately ($40 per person), which uses a ‘slap bracelet’ style mechanism. The fundamental purpose of the band is designed to be scanned by almost everything throughout, like doorways, and secret panels – a digital allegiance that showcases your character’s earned coins on a leaderboard.
Mario Kart: The Ride
The centerpiece of attraction at the Super Nintendo World is the “Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge” which is the only full-fledged motion attraction of this section. The combination of the ride and augmented-reality game is irresistible.
In the two parts of the AR game, a player would first be handed a visor that symbolizes Super Mario’s red hat. Secondly, the visor magnetically attaches to the AR display while staying tethered to the kart. One can view the highly scripted interactive images of karts, boxes, and flying enemies, albeit decidedly low resolution, and the position of the AR items remains stable.
In a convincing play of the alternative reality ride, interactive mini-games make way such as responding to the prompt of an arrow when seen in the peripheral vision and a virtual shooting gallery where players can launch AR shells that interact with the real dynamics of walls and ceilings. The game takes a course on a Mario Kart that has all the feels of “Rainbow Road” with castles, airships, and underwater sequences. The winner is decided on the higher quantum of coins collected which are also traceable if the player owns the Power-up band.
Bowser Jr.’s Challenge
Some mini-games earn a player a minimum of 3 separate keys which give access to Bowser Jr. ‘s Challenge. These mini-games include hitting POW blocks, turning a crank up to keep a goomba on a cylindrical treadmill, flipping blue tiles, and running to hit flashing red clocks.
The Bowser Jr.’s challenge is a two-minute experience with 15 other participants in front of a huge screen demonstrating your silhouette. The game includes swatting away Bob-ombs, hurling fireballs at enemies with a ‘punch’, and ducking to escape Bullet Bills.
Toadstool Cafe
The sole restaurant at Super Nintendo World is decorated with mushrooms and fun theming. The presentation of Instagram-ready plates is appealing and delectable too. The restaurant faces long wait queues and can serve up to 250 meals per hour as per park representatives. The palatable food includes a standard theme-park menu with burgers, chicken, spaghetti, garlic knots, and desserts. The creativity oozes with elements of piranha plant-shaped salads, boba-like balls in drinks, and tiramisu presented in a cube of cookies shaped like a question block.
AR In Theme Parks
Augmented reality has become a mainstay in theme parks in the U.S. and around the world and Universal Studios is pulling all-stops with Super Nintendo World by advertising wristbands and interactive binoculars that document digital coins and battle virtual characters.
Nostalgia has been a prevalent component of advertising campaigns and people are built to realize the value of the moment after it’s passed. With the classics of the 80s and 90s paving their way back into people’s hearts, Nintendo and Universal are proving to be worthy competitors to Disney’s theme parks.
