Super Nintendo World Japan will be a 'life-size, living video game'

Super Nintendo World is Nintendo's brand-new theme park opening at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan this year. The trailer for it looks wild. 

While we were probably expecting fun Nintendo-themed rides and a cool Mario Kart track, the trailer instead shows visitors running from Thwomps and swiping at virtual Super Mario-like coins. We don't really get a proper look at the park itself - just an idea of what it will look like. 

Fortunately, a press event for the theme park gave us a couple more juicy details.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI7SuhwbKLE[/embed]

Apparently, visitors will be given 'Power Up Bands', which work with a smartphone app that tracks their progress in the park.

As an example of how they might be used, Bloomberg journalist Kurumi Mori stated that the bands can be used to, "collect digital coins and compete with others."

Universal Parks & Resorts chief creative officer Thierry Coup boasted that the app would make the park feel like, "a life-size, living video game."

Universal Studios Japan Marketing Director Ayumu Yamamoto compared it to Disney's theme parks, saying that, "if Disney is the dreamworld then USJ is the wake world where we will energize you and make you feel alive."

Super Nintendo World will open before the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

[embed]https://twitter.com/rumireports/status/1216886644139151360[/embed]

There are plans for more Super Nintendo World branches to open in the US and Singapore - but no particular timeline has been given yet. Now you know when to plan that trip to Japan!

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.