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$350 million Nintendo land coming to Universal Japan's park

The new attraction is set to open by 2020 and will focus on Mario.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

When Nintendo announced it was granting Universal Studios the rights to some of its properties for theme park rides, it was anyone's guess where they'd show up first. Now we know that they'll debut in the gaming juggernaut's back yard: Japan. Regional news outlet Sankei (Japanese) reports that the attraction is scheduled for completion by 2020, the year Tokyo is slated to host the Olympics.

And lest you think this will be a simple statue of Princess Peach and a Mario Kart-themed go-kart track, the publication says this should be on par with the likes of Universal's Harry Potter-themed zone but focused entirely on everyone's favorite Italian plumber. Hell, it could even be called "Super Mario World." Crazier things have happened!

Need more evidence for how serious of a deal this is? Universal is putting up ¥40 billion ($351,509,200) -- given Nintendo's current financial woes, the company is probably happy someone else is footing the bill. For that amount, maybe we'll see a full scale version of the entire Mushroom Kingdom in a few years.