Universal to offer Nintendo rides in Japanese theme park

Universal Studios Japan will be clearing part of its amusement park to offer Nintendo-themed rides. In 2020, the first attractions should be accessible in the amusement park in the Japanese city of Osaka.

Yahoo’s Japanese branch reported the plans based on a local Japanese newspaper. A map shows which part of the Universal Studios amusement park will be equipped with Nintendo attractions, which shows that it concerns a relatively large part of the park, namely the red-shaded part. The construction cost is approximately 320 million euros. Around 2020, the first customers should be able to use the Nintendo attractions.

With the contribution to the amusement park, Nintendo probably hopes to tap into an extra source of income: it is the first time such amusement park attractions are planned. Nintendo had already indicated in previous years that it was considering licensing its game content for theme parks, but there were no concrete plans for a long time.

Last year, plans were first announced for Nintendo rides at one of Universal Studios’ theme parks. However, nothing had been released about which theme park would be populated first with Nintendo-themed attractions. Universal Studios also has theme parks in the United States, and is also planning to build an amusement park in Europe.