Nintendo New York
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- "Nintendo World" redirects here. For the theme park area at Universal Studios, see Super Nintendo World.
Nintendo New York (sometimes written Nintendo NY; previously known as Nintendo World and The Pokémon Center) is an official store of Nintendo located in New York City at Rockefeller Center. The store was opened on November 16, 2001 as The Pokémon Center and on May 14, 2005 as Nintendo World. Visitors can purchase Super Mario and Nintendo merchandise. Additionally, visitors can play Super Mario games on the Nintendo New York's Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch systems. On February 19, 2016, the store was reopened after a one month renovation and had its name changed to "Nintendo New York".
Upstairs, there is a museum section, though the items on show often change. The second floor also contains a Pokémon section, where a lot of Pokémon plush toys are sold.
Nintendo New York often sells exclusive or rare Nintendo items, as it is the only official Nintendo store in the United States. They also give out special Nintendo shopping bags at checkout, with various character illustrations on them. The store often changes its décor, based on what games have recently been released. They also broadcast live presentations from Nintendo, primarily Nintendo Directs, for crowds of people to watch.
In May 2012, Nintendo opened their second retail store at the Al Faisaliah Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; the store is operated by Shas Samurai, Nintendo's Saudi representative.[1] In 2019, Nintendo opened two additional stores: one at the Shibuya Parco in Tokyo, Japan[2] and another at the Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, the latter as part of a newly cut distribution deal with TorGaming Ltd.[3] Another sister location in Union Square, San Francisco, California is planned to open in 2025.[4]
In March 2020, Nintendo New York briefly closed its doors due to lockdowns imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; upon reopening the following August, it implemented tighter regulations to reduce the spread of the disease and required visitors to book reservations in advance. During its closure, the store was also one of many buildings that were vandalized by rioters during the George Floyd protests in New York City. Unlike many other affected locations, the damage was limited to smashed windows; the store was temporarily placed under police surveillance as a result.[5]
Activities[edit]
For some time around January 2010, visitors could go to the store from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM and talk to Charles Martinet, the voice actor of Mario, Luigi, and other characters from the Super Mario franchise. On November 7, 2010, on the 25th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros., Shigeru Miyamoto was among the guest visitors.
Visitors can frequently take part in tournaments and can chat with a screen with Mario or Luigi on it.
Whenever a live Nintendo presentation is set for broadcast (such as a Nintendo Direct or Mr. Sakurai Presents), a big screen is always set with a crowd of fans watching together, though this had been paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as Nintendo's lack of pre-announced live presentations during this time.
Launch events[edit]
- This section is a stub. You can help the Super Mario Wiki by expanding it. Reason: Add the missing launch events
Throughout the years, the store has held many launch day events for new game releases, with one of the first major events being for the launch of Super Mario Galaxy on November 12, 2007.
Other notable launch events include:
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii: This game had a temporary museum exhibit outside the store for its launch event, featuring a collection of Super Mario memorabilia from over the years.[6]
- Super Mario 3D Land: This game had one of the largest events of any release at the store, having an entire segment of New York's Times Square made into an explorable playground based on the game.[7]
- Mario & Luigi: Dream Team: This game had its launch themed around a pajama party, and had exclusive memorabilia themed to sleeping.[8]
- Paper Mario: Color Splash: This game's launch had an activity where store guests could take custom-made cutouts of Toads to draw and paint their own designs onto that they could then take home.[9]
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder: This game had an event featuring an interactive physical segment of the Piranha Plants on Parade course from the game outside the store.[10]
- Princess Peach: Showtime!: This game's launch event rethemed a significant portion of the store's second floor into the Sparkle Theater from the game.[11]
Other products besides video games have also been showcased or given special launch events over the years, such as the launch of K'NEX Mario Kart Wii building sets in 2011,[12] the release of Super Mario amiibo figures in 2015,[13] and celebrating Mario Day with events themed around the then upcoming release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023.[14]
Locations[edit]
Gallery[edit]
Nintendo World[edit]
A computer drawing of a red van promoting the Nintendo World store and Super Mario 3D Land, originally posted on Nintendo's Facebook in October 2011
A computer drawing of a red van promoting the Nintendo World store and Mario Kart 7, originally posted on Nintendo's Facebook in October 2011
Photo of a diorama based on Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Photo of a diorama based on Yoshi's Woolly World
Nintendo New York[edit]
Mario, Luigi, Charles Martinet and the NOA executives during the opening of the renovated Nintendo New York.
Mario's maquette found in the store and Shigeru Miyamoto's sketch congratulating the store on its opening.
Original planning sheets of Super Mario Bros. exhibited on the top floor of the store.
Merchandise[edit]
A shirt with artwork of Mario over an image of real-life New York City
A pillow shaped like a ? Block, and a blue blanket with various Mario entities on it
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ أحمد بن محفوظ (May 16, 2012). جولة داخل متجر Nintendo الرسمي في الرياض. TrueGaming (Arabic). Retrieved September 26, 2024. (Archived January 29, 2024, 19:37:49 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Kevin Webb (November 19, 2019). Nintendo's first store in Japan opens this Friday, and it looks like a Nintendo-lover's paradise — here's what it's like inside. Business Insider (English). Retrieved September 26, 2024. (Archived October 6, 2023, 08:57:01 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Shany Moses (June 25, 2019). Nintendo 2nd worldwide store opens in Israel. Globes (English). Retrieved September 26, 2024. (Archived April 29, 2023, 12:56:57 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Emma Roth (May 24, 2024). Nintendo is opening its second US store in San Francisco. The Verge (English). Retrieved September 26, 2024. (Archived August 27, 2024, 23:10:09 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Austin Voigt (June 2, 2020). Nintendo New York Store Windows Smashed During Riots In Manhattan. Nintendo Life (English). Retrieved September 26, 2024. (Archived June 3, 2024, 13:47:54 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Ronaghan, Neal (November 15, 2009). "New Super Mario Bros. Wii Launch Event".
- ^ Nintendo of America (December 13, 2011). "Nintendo - Super Mario 3D Land Takes Over Times Square".
- ^ KirbyGCN17 (August 11, 2013). "Mario & Luigi Dream Team Launch Event (Pajama Party) at Nintendo World".
- ^ Nintendo NY (October 8, 2016). "Paper Mario: Color Splash Launch Event Social Media Post".
- ^ Stan Yeung (October 20, 2023). "Super Mario Bros. Wonder launch event report from Nintendo NY".
- ^ GoNintendo (March 22, 2024). "Princess Peach: Showtime! makes its grand debut at Nintendo NY".
- ^ KirbyGCN17 (July 22, 2012). "Mario Kart Wii K'NEX Launch Party at Nintendo World Store".
- ^ KirbyGCN17 (March 20, 2015). "Mario Party 10 and Super Mario Amiibo Series Launch Line at Nintendo World".
- ^ The Super Mario Bros. Movie "X" Account (March 10, 2023). "We have boots on the ground in NYC".