2024-10-01 08:08:26
“Super Mario”, “Donkey Kong”, “The Legend of Zelda” – just the sound of these names makes the hearts of millions of video game fans all over the world overflow. Entire generations have grown up with the heroes from the Japanese video game developer Nintendo. From October 2nd, fans can admire how it all began and how Nintendo managed to become a global video game giant in the world’s only Nintendo Museum near Japan’s ancient imperial city of Kyoto.
The nostalgic journey through the company’s 135-year history is a mixture of product exhibition and interactive play paradise – from the beginning in the 19th century to today – and begins with an escalator on the 1st floor. What immediately catches the eye are oversized consoles from various Nintendo eras hanging from the ceiling. From the Family Computer or Famicom from 1983 (marketed overseas in a different case as the Nintendo Entertainment System) to the Game Boy to the current Nintendo Switch.
The visitor immediately awakens memories of their own past. The idea was to create a place where three generations of a family could look back with joy on their own video game experiences and visitors could exchange ideas, says Nintendo’s legendary video game developer Shigeru Miyamoto. The Japanese, who originally wanted to become a manga artist, became one of the most successful video game designers of all time with series such as “Super Mario”, “Donkey Kong”, “The Legend of Zelda” and “Pikmin”.
“Every person can have their own place here where they can reminisce about beautiful memories,” says Miyamoto, describing the concept in an interview with selected foreign journalists. The individual consoles, including accessories and the associated games, are presented in their original packaging. The respective games can be seen in action on monitors above and heard over loudspeakers. “It’s also very surprising to me to know that all of these characters are more than 20 years old,” says Miyamoto. Fans will also find out how the graphics of the Nintendo consoles developed.
The circular exhibition ranges from Hanafuda playing cards, with which Nintendo’s company history began in 1889, to board games and other toys from the 1950s to 1970s and video game consoles. Initially the concept was to show Nintendo’s products. “But when I put myself in the perspective of the visitors, I would like to at least look a little behind the scenes, something that we have not made possible so far,” says Miyamoto. That’s why there is also an area with prototypes in which, for example, various concepts of the Wii Balance Board are shown.
But what would a Nintendo Museum be if you weren’t allowed to play there? After the tour through the many exhibits, eight games await visitors on the ground floor, depicting the diversity of the Nintendo world and at the same time creating new experiences. In a modern twist on the Game & Watch, the first portable, pocket-sized console released by Nintendo in the 1980s, visitors interact with a game projected on the wall using the shadows of their arms. There are two games for this: “Ball”, the first Game & Watch game at the time, and “Manhole”.
In a kind of digital version of the traditional card game Hanafuda, visitors can also use smart devices to search for motifs projected onto the floor. A blast is Zapper & Scope, a light-based shooting game that is intended to be reminiscent of the bowling alleys that Nintendo converted into shooting ranges in the 1970s. On a huge, cinema-like screen you can shoot at Mario’s opponents with Zapper and Super Scope and compete with other visitors. Things get really nostalgic in the Nintendo Classics area, where visitors – for a limited time – can try out more than 80 NES, Super NES or Nintendo 64 games on consoles, almost like in the old days, including “Mario Kart”, ” Donkey Kong” and “The Legend of Zelda”.
But be careful: each entry ticket is loaded with only ten digital coins. They get lost quickly. There is no option to buy coins in the museum. If you want to play more, you have to register for a new ticket on another day. These are only available by lottery on the museum’s official website. It is said that no more than 1,500 to 2,000 visitors should be allowed in per day.
The museum building, located just a few minutes’ walk from the Ogura train station in the city of Uji, is part of Nintendo’s history. The traditional company, founded in 1889 as a manufacturer of playing cards, initially used the Uji Ogura factory, which was built in 1969, to produce playing cards and from 2016 also as a warehouse before deciding to set up a museum there. The area in front of the museum building is now amusingly paved with 8-bit motifs from “Super Mario” games.
The aim of the museum is to express “that we are, first and foremost, an entertainment company,” says Miyamoto. And not just a video game manufacturer. Every year new employees come to Nintendo, between 100 and 200. “And every year I give this lecture about what Nintendo is,” said Miyamoto. He talks there for two hours or even longer. “And after doing it for 20 years, I somehow don’t want to do it anymore,” he explains with a laugh, another motivation for the museum.
At the same time, the museum content should continue to develop. Revising, changing and correcting is “exactly the same as with video games,” says the famous developer about the preparations. Even a few days before the opening, changes were made. “And as Nintendo develops new games and hardware, this museum will grow with that development,” reveals Miyamoto. The current exhibits in the exhibition would be expanded accordingly. But only there. No more museums are planned.
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