Japanese video game company Nintendo has opened its first museum in a repurposed factory building in Kyoto.
The new museum showcases Nintendo’s history through interactive exhibits. In one area, guests can play Super Mario and Donkey Kong video games on a giant console. In another, guests can create their own Hanafuda playing cards.
Early models of Nintendo’s gaming consoles, from the Famicom to the SNES, are on display. Also on view are products from before the company started making video games, including board games, a baby stroller and a copy machine.
Exhibits include a look at how the Question Block has changed over time. Another explores the evolution of graphics for series like The Legend of Zelda on different gaming systems.
In addition, the Nintendo Museum includes a cafe and a shop selling exclusive merchandise.
“I had never created a museum so it was quite a different experience for me,” Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario Bros. and other iconic Nintendo titles, told IGN.
“But from the midway point we were constantly making iterations and fixes, which felt very similar to making video games.”
Interactive exhibits and giant consoles
Like Nintendo, the museum will evolve over the years. Miyamoto told the publication: “We are currently in the process of planning next steps in what to include for the future.
“Initially the museum was based on the fact that we were only going to exhibit products. But when I put myself in the customer’s perspective, I do want to see at least a little bit of stuff from behind the curtains.”
Nintendo first announced its plan to repurpose an old factory building (Nintendo Uji Ogura Plant) and its surrounding land for a museum in 2021.
Tickets for the museum, priced at ¥3,300 ($23) for adults, are already sold out for October and November, the Japan Times reports.
Images courtesy of Nintendo
