Universal Studios Adding ‘Super Nintendo World’ to Japanese Theme Park

Move over, Mickey. In 2020, Nintendo’s famous plumber is going to have a magic kingdom all his own.

“Super Nintendo World” is a theme park collaboration between Universal Studios and Nintendo in Japan, with a price tag in the vicinity of $434 million. The park will be an offshoot similar to Universal’s “Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” with roughly the same budget. They’re spending about 10 billion yen more than they’d originally planned, but Mario’s never more than a big green pipeline away from rooms full of money, so the budgeting is probably less of a concern.

Indeed, a multi-story warp pipe seems to be in the cards, as well as renditions of both Princess Peach and Bowser’s respective castles. Nothing’s been officially announced, however. It remains to be seen what ideas will make it from concept to production.

Universal is also planning to add Super Nintendo World to their other existing parks as well, stiffening competition with the ever expanding repertoire of the House of Mouse. Both Harry Potter and The Walking Dead have proven exceptionally successful in this regard, the latter increasing their traffic five times over.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft is planning their own 10,000 square meter, gaming-centric theme park for its debut in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. No word yet on whether you will need to parkour to the top of several dozen towers to see the whole thing, but you’ll probably need to join at least three promotional clubs to enter.

Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.