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Super Nintendo World Japan's Donkey Kong Country area opens this spring
Super Nintendo World Japan's Donkey Kong Country area is set to open this spring. The main attraction is a mine cart rollercoaster named after a level in the 1994 SNES classic, Donkey Kong Country.
Kris Holt12.05.2023
Super Nintendo World will open its US doors on February 17th
The Mario-themed attraction opens in Universal Studios Hollywood in time for the animated Mario movie.
Will Shanklin12.14.2022
Uncharted: The Movie: The Rollercoaster is coming to a Spanish theme park
The ride is scheduled to open at PortAventura World, which is around 90 minutes away from Barcelona, in 2023.
Kris Holt11.30.2022
Pokémon is coming to Universal Studios Japan next year
Universal Studios Japan has teamed up with the Pokémon Company to develop "groundbreaking" entertainment starting in 2022.
Steve Dent10.06.2021
Super Nintendo World Japan confirms Donkey Kong expansion for 2024
Nintendo has confirmed that it will expand its Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios Japan with a new Donkey Kong section.
Steve Dent09.28.2021
Disney World will let you use your phone instead of a MagicBand
Walt Disney World is rolling out a MagicMobile service that lets you use your phone or watch for theme park access instead of a MagicBand.
Jon Fingas03.12.2021
Orlando’s Super Nintendo World reportedly won't open until 2025
After a pandemic-related construction delay, Universal’s Epic Universe park in Orlando will miss its originally planned 2023 opening date.
Igor Bonifacic03.04.2021
Disney's decommissioned '20,000 Leagues' ride gets a second life in VR
A volunteer team has recreated Disney's old '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' ride in VR.
Jon Fingas01.08.2021
Shigeru Miyamoto gives a tour of the Super Nintendo World theme park
The promise of Super Nintendo World is especially tantalizing in a world where the pandemic is cutting into travel options, but now we’ve had a chance to experience the Universal Studios park without going to Japan or waiting for its doors to open in the spring.
Richard Lawler12.18.2020
Nintendo Direct will show off Super Nintendo World on Friday
A special Nintendo Direct will take viewers inside the Super Nintendo World theme park ahead of its opening next spring.
Richard Lawler12.17.2020
Super Nintendo Land will open in Japan on February 4th, 2021
Super Nintendo World, the much anticipated “life-size, living video game” theme park will open on February 4th in Osaka, Universal Studios Japan has announced.
Steve Dent11.30.2020
Super Nintendo World will open its doors in Japan next spring
Nintendo’s theme park was already supposed to be open ahead of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, but like the games themselves, that plan was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Super Nintendo World is set to open in the spring of 2021, again just before the re-scheduled Olympics, the gaming company has announced.
Steve Dent10.07.2020
Super Nintendo World theme park opening delayed due to COVID-19
Universal has indefinitely delayed the debut of its Super Nintendo World theme park section due to the pandemic.
Jon Fingas06.27.2020
Super Nintendo World won't open in Orlando until at least 2023
The first Super Nintendo World theme park attraction is set to open at Universal Studios Japan this summer. There have long been plans to open up similar areas at Universal Studios locations in Hollywood and Orlando, but you'll have to wait a while longer to explore the Mario-themed attractions stateside.
Kris Holt01.23.2020
Super Nintendo World theme park is a 'life-size, living video game'
As promised, Universal Studios Japan is on track to open its Super Nintendo World park this summer ahead of the Olympic Games. Now it's teasing the new area with a mostly-CG music video and song made by Galantis with Charlie XCX. If you were hoping for a glimpse inside the new area or some idea of what rides are in store, you won't see them. Instead there's a dance sequence and some dreamy segments showing how players go from hanging out at home with their Switch to enjoying an in-real-life experience. However, on a website that launched along with the video, it did mention the real-life Mario Kart experience we'd heard about, and says that families will be able to travel the park on Yoshi's back. Also, there's a "power up band" teased that appears to be your wearable park pass, while you traverse the world and encounter Mario-style blocks in real life. Bloomberg reports, based on a briefing with Universal Studios Japan CEO J.L. Bonnier, that the wearable and a smartphone app will allow visitors to battle bosses and collect coins. As it says at the end of the video, "Play in real world this summer." Update: On Twitter Bloomberg reporter Kurumi Mori has posted more images and information from a briefing event. There, Universal Studios Japan showed the Power Up Band that will track visitors progress in its "life-size, living video game," as well as a mention that future parks will come to Hollywood, Orlando and Singapore.
Richard Lawler01.13.2020
Disney’s 'Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance' ride opens December 5th
Disney's new Star Wars-theme park, Galaxy's Edge, will get its second ride before the year is up. Today, Disney Parks announced that "Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance" will arrive in Florida at Walt Disney World Resort on December 5th -- Walt Disney's birthday. Immediately after the ride debuts in Florida, the team will head to California, where they'll unveil it at Disneyland Resort on January 17th.
Christine Fisher07.11.2019
$350 million Nintendo land coming to Universal Japan's park
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.
Timothy J. Seppala03.05.2016
Nintendo rides are coming to Universal's theme parks
Over the years, Nintendo has crafted a diverse roster of beloved video game characters. They're colorful and instantly recognisable, so inevitably some fans have wondered whether a Disney-style theme park could be built around them. Well, wonder no more. Nintendo announced today that it's teaming up with Universal to build new rides in some of its theme parks. It's staying tight-lipped on the details, but says to expect "spectacular, dedicated experiences" based on Nintendo games, characters and worlds.
Nick Summers05.07.2015
Monster Hunter roars to life at Universal Studios Japan
Slaying giant beasts on your 3DS is all well and good, but if you want to meet the creatures of Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise face to face, you're going to need a plane ticket to Osaka. There, at Universal Studios Japan, you'll find a new Monster Hunter-themed attraction dubbed "Monster Hunter The Real." The event runs through May 11 and includes shops selling food and drink modeled after items found in the game, as well as a display where you can view real-world mockups of the game's various weapons and sets of armor. As you'd expect, the real draw of the exhibit is its gigantic beasts. That video you see above was captured by YouTube user "ExorcistPlexLife" during a 2012 incarnation of the event, and it depicts an animatronic Gold Rathian looking far more sedate than the last time he crushed you into a fine paste. More details on Monster Hunter The Real are available at 4Gamer, though if you don't read Japanese you'll have to settle for gawking at a few dozen recent images of the event. [Image: Capcom]
Earnest Cavalli02.03.2014
Dutch theme park taking advantage of iBeacons
During yesterday's Apple earnings call, CFO Peter Oppenheimer brought up the fact that Apple has installed iBeacon technology throughout a number of Apple Stores to provide customers with information on products and their location in the stores. Now iPhoned, a Dutch iPhone-centric website, says that a Dutch theme park will be using iBeacons starting in March to provide visitors with information. The theme park, Fluwel's Tulpenland (Tulip Land), specializes in displaying Dutch tulips. As the first theme park in Europe to use iBeacons to provide additional information to visitors, Fluwel's Tulpenland went to an Amsterdam startup, LabWerk, to implement the technology. The Fluwel's Tulip Land app will be available for the annual opening of the park on March 29. Relevant information about each section of the park is displayed on visitors' phones as they get near an iBeacon. Floris Boekel of LabWerk was interviewed by iPhoned and noted that the challenge of iBeacons lies with discovering the potential of the technology. "In addition to the future of iBeacons in retail, museums and theme parks, we see great potential (for example) in events and care." Thanks to Gijs Ettes of iPhoned.nl for the tip.
Steve Sande01.28.2014