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I spent time inside living Mario and Donkey Kong attractions at Super Nintendo World in Orlando's Epic Universe theme park last year, wondering when Pokemon might appear in the parks too. News from Universal Studios now confirms that Pokemon are also on their way, starting in Japan. Orlando will get them next, but we don't yet know what the Pokemon experiences will be.
Nintendo's been exploring real-life overlaps with its games in toys and theme parks for a while, going all the way back to Pokemon Go. But in a theme park, the ideas could go a lot further. The latest Pokemon game on the Switch even made me wonder how it could cross over into something location-based in a park.
According to the announcement from Universal Studios Japan released today, the details are still vague. The immersive Pokemon experiences don't sound exactly like a ride, but they're also unlikely to be a parade or show, since the press release already mentions shows that featured Pokemon in the past.
Expectations for some sort of Pokemon theme park experience have been high for a while, ever since Nintendo unveiled Super Nintendo World with Universal in 2020.
Since Pokemon Go still exists and Universal already has interactive toys in-park like tappable Power-Up bands and wizard wands, it also makes me wonder if some sort of interactive toy will be part of what's in store. After all, Nintendo's been getting into making more immersive home products, too. More details are coming in the future, so I'm curious.
