Nintendo Video Game Attractions Coming to Universal Theme Parks, Resorts Following DeNA Collaboration

On Thursday morning Universal Parks and Resorts announced they are moving forward with an idea that pays tribute to the inner child in all of us. The famed theme park said they are collaborating with Nintendo and they will soon have characters and worlds based on the video games all around their park. The sudden announcement is huge news for the always-expanding Nintendo Empire after the word of the new collaboration with DeNA came out.

"Now, for the first time, those stories and characters will be brought to life in entirely new ways – only at Universal theme parks," Universal announced Thursday. "The immersive experiences will include major attractions at Universal's theme parks and will feature Nintendo's most famous characters and games."

The Universal news is one of several big announcements from Nintendo this year. Their new strategy is to go from a successful gaming console company to an even more successful worldwide brand. According to Nintendo's President Iwata, their main focus in terms of expansion will be North America, Europe and of course Japan.

"It is true that not only those in Japan and the other developed countries in North America and Europe but also those in several countries with rapid economic development can afford more entertainment than before," Iwata said during a Nintendo.com Q and A. "It is vital for our basic strategy of 'gaming population expansion' that more people in such countries as well as in Japan, North America and Europe, enjoy our video games and feel convinced to pay for them."

The biggest news coming out of Nintendo's camp this year was their collaboration with the mobile gaming company DeNA. This will finally bring Super Mario, Link, Star Fox and every other Nintendo game to the IPhone and Android devices. Mobile gaming might be a bigger cash crop for the company than the Wii and Nintendo DS ever was for them.

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In the spring I like to sit outside and play my old Game Boy games. Natural sunlight was always the best for them. #pokemon #gameboy #nintendo

A photo posted by @nintendo on Apr 23, 2015 at 1:03pm PDT