Nintendo New York: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:55, November 30, 2024

It has been suggested that this page be split into the following: List of official Nintendo stores. (discuss)

"Nintendo World" redirects here. For the theme park area at Universal Studios, see Super Nintendo World.

The Nintendo New York store

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

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

It has been requested that this section be rewritten and expanded to include more information. 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 Galaxy 2: This game's launch had several large decorations around the store including Lubba, Baby Luma, and Cloud Mario. Additionally, Charles Martinet was featured during this event signing autographs and taking photos.^[7]
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.^[8]
Mario Kart 7: This game's launch featured a life-size replica of the Standard Kart from this game. A tournament for the game was also held in the store, with the first-place winner receiving a custom trophy, and those in second and third receiving medals.^[9]
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team: This game had its launch themed around a pajama party, and had exclusive memorabilia themed to sleeping.^[10]
Mario Golf: World Tour: This game's launch event had a Golf Putting Station on the second floor, essentially being a mini-golf course themed to stages such as Peach Gardens (golf course) and Wiggler Park. Notably, this game launched the same day as Kirby Triple Deluxe, with that game's launch event activities happening on the first floor. ^[11]
Super Mario Maker: The launch event for this game was fairly significant, with massive prop replicas of various Mario items and objects placed throughout the store. Additionally, hard hats based off of Builder Mario were given to customers, and wall banners within the store showcased the history of the series up to that point. This launch event was the last to be held before the month-long renovations to the store began on January 19, 2016. ^[12]
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games: This game's launch event featured patriotic decorations in celebration of the Olympics. Additionally, footage of the actual Rio 2016 Olympic Games was streamed on the then recently installed screen on the second floor. ^[13]
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.^[14]
Mario Party Superstars: This game's launch event featured cutouts of the playable characters, and postcards themed to the classic game boards. ^[15]
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope: This game's launch event was another massive one, with Grant Kirkhope and David Soliani doing a Q&A on the game, signing autographs, and showcasing the game itself. Additionally, there were giveaways of exclusive merch based on the Starburst Spark, and the second floor the store was transformed into the Winter Palace from the game. ^[16]
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.^[17]
Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch): This game's launch event was less extravagant than most, only featuring a few banners around the store and some keychains and posters of the game's five party members. ^[18]
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.^[19]
Mario & Luigi: Brothership: This game's launch event had activities themed around the brotherly bonds of Mario & Luigi, such as making friendship bracelets. ^[20]

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,^[21] the release of Super Mario amiibo figures in 2015,^[22] and celebrating Mario Day with events themed around the then upcoming release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023.^[23]

Locations

Location	Current name	Date of opening	Operator
New York City, New York	Nintendo New York	November 16, 2001	Nintendo of America
Riyadh	Nintendo World Store	May 2012	Shas Samurai
Tel Aviv	Nintendo Israel	June 2019	TorGaming, Ltd.
Tokyo	Nintendo Tokyo	November 22, 2019	Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Hong Kong	NSEW	March 2020	Nintendo (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Osaka	Nintendo Osaka	November 2022	Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Kyoto	Nintendo Tokyo	October 17, 2023	Nintendo Co., Ltd.
San Francisco, California	Nintendo San Francisco	2025 (planned)	Nintendo of America

Gallery

Nintendo World

Store logo
Inside the Nintendo World store
Old interior
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
The cake celebrating Mario's 25th anniversary.