Nintendo has opened its first showroom in a renovated factory in Kyoto, showcasing Japan’s long history of video games, from playing cards to Super Mario.
The company began life in 1889 producing Japanese cards called hanafuda as well as Western cards. Nintendo released its first home video game consoles in 1977.
Many of the exhibits at Kyoto’s Uji Town Museum are interactive, including a space where two people can play Mario and Donkey Kong together on a giant controller. Other areas are covered in vintage Nintendo products. For example, there is a digital version of an old Japanese poetry game and a company that allows fans to create their own hanafuda cards. Tickets, priced at 3,300 yen for adults and less for children, are already sold out for the months of October and November.
Visitors can learn more about Nintendo’s involvement in creating a game that uses music to play at the beginning, said Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario and other games, in a video in August. The Super Mario game was released in 1985, two years after the company began selling the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
The museum is part of Nintendo’s efforts to expand the visibility of its brand, including a music video last year featuring the Italian swimmer and his colorful staff. The company also built the Super Nintendo World area at the Universal Studios Japan theme park, complete with the Mario Kart series and the real Bowser’s Castle.
A similar area is expected to open at the expanding Orlando campus next year. Nintendo first announced its flagship project in 2021.
Kensaku Namera, an analyst at Nomura Securities, told AFP that the museum fits Nintendo’s strategy as a place where people can interact with its game franchise. He said, using the old factory built in 1969, which Nintendo used to produce game cards and later repair consoles, is also a wise idea.
This is a good use of resources by Nintendo, Namera said.
