Everyone's favorite mustachioed Italian plumber is springing up in a warp pipe in our own backyard.
Nintendo has dropped a few details about its themed areas coming to Universal Studios parks in Orlando and Japan, as well as here at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Specific plans for any of the parks have yet to be released, but Nintendo promises we'll be hearing more about each individually "soon." Until then, we simply know that the amusement park add-on will create an "expansive, immersive and interactive" world of Nintendo heroes and villains, with multiple game-themed attractions, shops and restaurants. Creative work is already underway, and the area is expected to open at some point in the next couple of years.
Though the Nintendo world is crammed with recognizable characters—Link, Zelda, Kirby, Pikachu, Samus—the latest news hints at a mostly Mario-inspired world. In the announcement video below, you can catch a glimpse of spinning coins, question mark blocks and familiar power-ups as Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto talks about the project.
The partnership between the two companies was first announced in May of 2015, but the typically tight-lipped Nintendo has been quiet ever since. Even with this latest announcement, we're left with more questions than answers. Where will the land fit in at that tightly-packed theme park? Will we see more of a Springfield-like tableau of recognizable characters? Or a massive, immersive land like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?
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