Universal Japan getting first crack at Nintendo Properties, is the U.S. next?

Last May, Nintendo and Universal Studios announced a partnership with plans to bring the world of Nintendo to life at Universal Theme Parks. Not many details were revealed including where this would happen, other than to say they would be "... creating spectacular, dedicated experiences based on Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters and worlds."

While many gamers may have been hoping that the U.S. would get first crack, it appears that the Universal Studios Japan (per the Sankei (Japanese) site) will take the honors. That isn’t much of a surprise with Nintendo being a Japanese company and having such a strong foothold along with the expected opening of the "Mario Area" expansion to coincide with Tokyo hosting the Summer Olympics in 2020.

The next question will likely be, which park in the U.S. will get the next Nintendo makeover: Universal Studios Hollywood, or Universal Studios Orlando? While I personally would be pulling for Orlando, my gut tells me it would be Hollywood due to the proximity of Nintendo America and general perception that the gaming industry has a much stronger foothold on the West Coast. Not to mention, the Hollywood location actually has more undeveloped land within the park boundaries than the landlocked Orlando parks. Either way, if Nintendo brings their products to a Universal park near you, it is still a win for everyone.

I have attached a couple of images showing where the expansion will take place at Universal Japan.

May 7th, 2015
KYOTO, Japan & ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nintendo and Universal Parks & Resorts today announced plans to bring the world of Nintendo to life at Universal theme parks – creating spectacular, dedicated experiences based on Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters and worlds.

The agreement brings two icons of entertainment together and represents a significant partnership for Nintendo as it expands the reach and popularity of its characters and intellectual property.

Universal theme parks offer incredibly popular, innovative themed family entertainment experiences based on compelling stories and characters – using powerful storytelling and innovative technology. Nintendo has created remarkable and imaginative worlds filled with captivating stories and beloved characters. Now, for the first time, those stories and characters will be brought to life in entirely new ways – only at Universal theme parks.

The immersive experiences will include major attractions at Universal’s theme parks and will feature Nintendo’s most famous characters and games. More details will be announced in the future, as the Nintendo and Universal creative teams work to create specific concepts.