After a year of pandemic life, many people need an escape. Thousands
in Japan found one in the fantasyland of the Mario Bros.
A theme park, Super Nintendo World, opened at Universal Studios
Japan in Osaka, ending months of delays and testing the proposition that people
will want to gather in large numbers while the coronavirus is circulating to
race in a Mario Kart or punch question mark blocks.
اضافة اعلان
The authorities said they were taking steps to prevent the
spread of infections. The park’s capacity is limited to 10,000 people. Guests
have their temperature taken upon entering, and they must wear a mask, wash
their hands frequently and maintain a distance from others.
The opening was the latest sign that the world is beginning to
creep out from behind the pandemic’s closed doors, either as vaccinations
increase and the virus is being subdued, or as people simply tire of forgoing
the usual pleasures of life.
Japan has been spared the worst of the virus’ effects, with
fewer than 9,000 reported deaths. But an inoculation campaign is barely
underway, so the Nintendo park faces months of operation before the population
reaches a level of herd immunity.
The park was originally set to open last summer, in time for the
Tokyo Olympic Games, but the date was pushed to February. (The Olympics, too,
were postponed.) The opening was again delayed after a rash of coronavirus
cases in the Osaka area prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency.
That declaration was lifted March 1.
Now, Mario fans can make their way through the familiar green warp
pipe at the park’s entrance and emerge into a realm of snapping Fire Piranha
Plants and hopping mushrooms, as the 8-bit anthem of the Super Mario Bros.
theme song ploinks in the background.
For now, the only visitors are those already in Japan. The country’s
borders have been closed to nonresidents for months.
“Once the pandemic subsides, I hope everyone around the world
will come and visit us. We are waiting for you,” Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator
of the Mario franchise and a game director at Nintendo, said during the opening,
donning the character’s signature red hat.
The opening of the park follows the introduction of The
Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a themed area inside the Universal Studios
parks in Japan, Florida and California. It is among the first permanent
attractions in the world to be based on a major video game franchise. Super
Nintendo World parks are also planned in the coming years in Singapore and the
United States.
Fans and gamers said that such a theme park was long overdue,
especially given the explosion of the gaming world in recent years. Global video
game sales reached nearly $180 billion last year, more than the US film and
sports industries combined. The new park also capitalizes on the success of the
Nintendo Switch, a video game console released in 2017. About 80 million units
have been sold.
“Because it’s coming straight from the imagination of Shigeru
Miyamoto, it really brings the atmosphere of Super Mario Brothers into the real
world,” said Robert Sephazon, a game developer based in Japan who has visited
the park.
“Although it’s a bit of escapism, and it does really work,” he
added, the pandemic never fully disappears, with masks and hand sanitizing to
ensure that shared touch screens do not present a danger.
Inside the giant playground, visitors can explore Princess Peach’s
castle and eat burgers inside a giant mushroom, served by people dressed like
Toad. The attractions are currently Mario-centric, although some have
speculated that a locked door with a familiar design could be a clue that the
site will expand to include a Donkey Kong world.
“I couldn’t tell which world I was in, a virtual or a real, as
it’s so well created,” said Moe Ueura, a 31-year-old high school teacher from
Hyogo Prefecture who attended the opening ceremony.
While fans rushed through the site Thursday, others, both overseas
and in Japan, expressed sadness that it might be some time before they, too,
could escape into the world of Mario.
“I want to visit the Nintendo World when COVID is over,” wrote
one person on Twitter. “But I wonder when the day will be.”
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