Mario and Nintendo chat from the original thread at 'Beyond Big Thunder Mountain' Blue Sky concept revealed for Magic Kingdom

[J4546]

I love Mario a lot and really wish universal had built a better mariokart ride but hopefully the small dk coaster is good

 

[celluloid]

I love Mario a lot and really wish universal had built a better mariokart ride but hopefully the small dk coaster is good

That is fair. I think the Yoshi ride should have been more immersive and the Mario Kart ride could have had a slight more thrill to it, but admittedly I have been on neither. The DK coaster I think is going to be a big hit and provide the thrill, thus a big issue with me and Mario Kart is if that ride is the calmer one, I wish the restraints could have been accommodating to a bit lower Height Requirement as that is something Universal has moved away from the last decade and a half.

 

[Alanzo]

Cultural Zeitgeist. Someone has owned or played on one of those systems. They are the most sold video game characters and systems of all time.

It also has had cartoon series and spin offs including a movie(that likely becomes a series)that is about to be a big hit for Universal.

I agree it is a different sort of property emotionally as humans tend not to connect the same way with it as the allegories in Star Wars or Potter.

It is in fact a zeitgeist on the level of The Mickey Mouse Cartoons featured in MRR, which can only be seen if you have The Disney Channel or Disney Plus. Mario and his world is a pop culture phenom going on 40 years old, in that sense, similar to that character.

Universal benefits as a brand enhancing as people now know they knock their own expectations out of the park.

I loved Nintendo so much as a kid in the 80s and 90s but kind of moved on from their IPs once I became a teen. I kind of wonder if they are targeting elder millenials with kids like myself but I have no idea how other generations view Nintendo as a theme park IP. Me, personally? I have attachment to the games (i.e. from playing them) but don't really care about the world. Like, I haven't really sat around wondering what it'd be like to actually drive a Mario Kart.

In other words, it's definitely part of the zeitgeist I experienced but it is one asset that I wasn't that curious about beyond playing the games. I could be in the extreme minority for my cohort though.

 

[celluloid]

I loved Nintendo so much as a kid in the 80s and 90s but kind of moved on from their IPs once I became a teen. I kind of wonder if they are targeting elder millenials with kids like myself but I have no idea how other generations view Nintendo as a theme park IP. Me, personally? I have attachment to the games (i.e. from playing them) but don't really care about the world. Like, I haven't really sat around wondering what it'd be like to actually drive a Mario Kart.

In other words, it's definitely part of the zeitgest I experienced but it is one asset that I wasn't that curious about beyond playing the games. I could be in the extreme minority for my cohort though.

Makes sense. I feel the same way. I don't think it honestly translates as a world as much as anything else Universal has ever done, well better than The Simpsons, but that show had a lot of food and merch within its decades of airing) The land is going to be fun. It is more akin to Seuss Landing or Toontown/Toon Lagoon with the gimmick of the world. But I don't even think it is as much as that.
It will be a hit much in the same way as Suess Landing and The Simpsons Springfield is, but with a broader appeal. A majority maybe ever wanted to live in Springfield or live in Toontown, but they definitely find the visuals and gags fun on various levels.

Its enough to be a hit theme park land though. Probably fair to say more than a lot of other properties could get revenue from.

 

[Bill Cipher]

The numbers I used were from the perspective of a media franchise, so I guess they didn’t include video game sales. Regardless, I think it’s a pretty solid argument that Mario does not hold the same weight as a franchise as others mentioned here

You do recognize that video games are a form of media, correct? Sure, it may be a younger and less traditional medium, but still equally as viable and important for storytelling in the modern era.

 

[fgmnt]

You do recognize that video games are a form of media, correct? Sure, it may be a younger and less traditional medium, but still equally as viable and important for storytelling in the modern era.

Not considering about how important of a media division gaming is, is the kind of thinking why Disney doesn't have a games studio anymore.

 

[Touchdown]

I think there is a huge divide on Mario, it fits pretty evenly among generational lines, if you are a boomer or Gen X Mario doesn’t mean much to you, but trust me he is a cherished part of most millennials and zoomers childhood. It makes sense, as while he was in earlier games, Mario didn’t become Mario until 1985 (the year Super Mario Bros debuted.)

You older people can’t really comprehend it as video games weren’t a thing in your childhood, but they are essentially a new media, and Mario is essentially the Mickey Mouse of it. He might not be your favorite or most consumed game, but it’s highly likely he was your introduction to video games and remains a stalwart with pretty consistent fantastic games staring him. He’s video game comfort food. Just wait till his movie debuts in a few months, that film is going to print money so long as the movie strikes the tone of every trailer released. It’s a love letter to the character and is not only accessible to kids but striking all the right notes to get adults to see it too.

 

[Alanzo]

I think there is a huge divide on Mario, it fits pretty evenly among generational lines, if you are a boomer or Gen X Mario doesn’t mean much to you, but trust me he is a cherished part of most millennials and zoomers childhood. It makes sense, as while he was in earlier games, Mario didn’t become Mario until 1985 (the year Super Mario Bros debuted.)

You older people can’t really comprehend it as video games weren’t a thing in your childhood, but they are essentially a new media, and Mario is essentially the Mickey Mouse of it. He might not be your favorite or most consumed game, but it’s highly likely he was your introduction to video games and remains a stalwart with pretty consistent fantastic games staring him. He’s video game comfort food. Just wait till his movie debuts in a few months, that film is going to print money so long as the movie strikes the tone of every trailer released. It’s a love letter to the character and is not only accessible to kids but striking all the right notes to get adults to see it too.

Ouch, this hurts. Mario was my gateway drug to gaming and now I don't even smoke him in the slightest. I almost feel bad about it, almost.

I blame PC gaming in the 90s for kicking him out of my house and telling him to stop dealing to me.

 

[UNCgolf]

I think there is a huge divide on Mario, it fits pretty evenly among generational lines, if you are a boomer or Gen X Mario doesn’t mean much to you, but trust me he is a cherished part of most millennials and zoomers childhood. It makes sense, as while he was in earlier games, Mario didn’t become Mario until 1985 (the year Super Mario Bros debuted.)

You older people can’t really comprehend it as video games weren’t a thing in your childhood, but they are essentially a new media, and Mario is essentially the Mickey Mouse of it. He might not be your favorite or most consumed game, but it’s highly likely he was your introduction to video games and remains a stalwart with pretty consistent fantastic games staring him. He’s video game comfort food. Just wait till his movie debuts in a few months, that film is going to print money so long as the movie strikes the tone of every trailer released. It’s a love letter to the character and is not only accessible to kids but striking all the right notes to get adults to see it too.

I don't think it's really on generational lines -- of course that's part of it, but it's not everything. I'm a millennial who grew up with an NES (I then had a Genesis instead of an SNES, but I played the SNES plenty at friends' houses). I just think people who really love Mario don't quite grasp that he's not as big a deal as they think, even among people who have played and enjoyed Mario games. That's a standard reaction, really -- people have a tendency to assume things they and their friends enjoy have more widespread popularity than they actually do (not that Mario doesn't have relatively widespread popularity).

As I said above, Mario often functions more as a signifier of Nintendo quality than a character beloved on his own; I think this is especially true for Mario Kart. Of course there are people that love Mario specifically, but I'd wager it's a minority of people who have played Mario games -- they love the gameplay and game design, but they don't necessarily have an incredibly strong affinity for Mario as a character the way people do for other IPs. Which makes sense, because Mario doesn't have much definition as a character anyways.

I also think Mario is less important for current kids/teens than he was for millennials. They care more about Minecraft, Fortnite, etc. than they do Mario in the video game sphere. Plus I get the impression the land at Universal is aimed more towards millennials than kids anyways, as it leans pretty heavily into the SNES era aesthetic.

Anyways, the Mario land will almost certainly be very successful, as will the movie. I just don't think it's quite as big a franchise as some seem to. I also agree that Mario is similar to Mickey Mouse in that he functions as kind of a catchall for Nintendo the way Mickey Mouse does for Disney.

 

[James Alucobond]

I do think Mario has a larger cultural footprint than many here believe, but I also think that, as a theme park land, it’s not nearly as compelling as Harry Potter simply because the Mushroom Kingdom doesn’t have a great sense of place that makes you want to explore. Sure, Peach’s Castle is iconic, but it’s hardly ever depicted as much more than a large, generic antechamber. Everything else feels about as tangible as the parallax backgrounds that scroll by behind you. There’s very little sense of actual placemaking in the games.

It’s kind of why I think Zelda is the more interesting Nintendo IP for a theme park. Hyrule actually has established geography and more than one iconic structure.

 

[Touchdown]

It’s kind of why I think Zelda is the more interesting Nintendo IP for a theme park. Hyrule actually has established geography and more than one iconic structure.

Agree, also I think the real crown jewel is the highest grossing franchise of all time Pokémon.

besides that franchises like Metroid, Splatoon and Kirby could support a ride but probably not a land.

 

[Tha Realest]

I think Universal might be chasing this lightning in a bottle too. Harry Potter as an IP was a friggin' cultural phenomenom that we may never see again.

Maybe Lord of the Rings? Or has that ship sailed. IDK.

Mario and the extended Nintendo universe shows no slowdown in terms of popularity. And I’d trust the current slate of Dreamworks/Illumination properties over whatever Pixar’s cooking up right now.

 

[UNCgolf]

Agree, also I think the real crown jewel is the highest grossing franchise of all time Pokémon.

besides that franchises like Metroid, Splatoon and Kirby could support a ride but probably not a land.

I'm a little surprised they didn't do Pokemon first.

I don't think it's quite as big culturally as Harry Potter and Star Wars (or Marvel at this point), but it's an absolutely massive multimedia franchise. Mario is, for the most part, a video game IP (they're obviously trying to change that with the Mario film, though).

EDIT: Well I guess they didn't do it first because they didn't get Pokemon rights until last year.

 

[Tha Realest]

I think there is a huge divide on Mario, it fits pretty evenly among generational lines, if you are a boomer or Gen X Mario doesn’t mean much to you, but trust me he is a cherished part of most millennials and zoomers childhood. It makes sense, as while he was in earlier games, Mario didn’t become Mario until 1985 (the year Super Mario Bros debuted.)

You older people can’t really comprehend it as video games weren’t a thing in your childhood, but they are essentially a new media, and Mario is essentially the Mickey Mouse of it. He might not be your favorite or most consumed game, but it’s highly likely he was your introduction to video games and remains a stalwart with pretty consistent fantastic games staring him. He’s video game comfort food. Just wait till his movie debuts in a few months, that film is going to print money so long as the movie strikes the tone of every trailer released. It’s a love letter to the character and is not only accessible to kids but striking all the right notes to get adults to see it too.

If you’re Gen X, you like had a NES or a friend that did. Mario was a huge gaming presence for almost 40 years. So, it’s a big reference point for mid-40’s parents down to their elementary school aged children, and in between. Boomers May not know much of him, but people my age and younger do.

And that movie’s about to make like a billion and a half dollars WW. Heck, they may be coming out with a sequel by the time the EU land opens in 2025.

 

[lazyboy97o]

One of my questions/thoughts about Mario but aren't those games limited to only Nintendo gaming systems? Not everyone has a Switch or Wii, etc even among gamers. A lot of people might only have Playstations or XBox and unlikely games made for all platforms, this would limit exposure to Mario for many folks.

The Switch is Nintendo’s third best selling console behind the GameBoy (and GameBoy Color) and the DS. Mario also appears in a number of series beyond the mainline Mario games.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm a little surprised they didn't do Pokemon first.

I don't think it's quite as big culturally as Harry Potter and Star Wars (or Marvel at this point), but it's an absolutely massive multimedia franchise. Mario is, for the most part, a video game IP (they're obviously trying to change that with the Mario film, though).

EDIT: Well I guess they didn't do it first because they didn't get Pokemon rights until last year.

Before Epic Universe was moved up to 2023 (which was then pushed back due to the pandemic), Legend of Zelda and Pokémon were going to open before Mario in Florida.

 

[the_rich]

If you’re Gen X, you like had a NES or a friend that did. Mario was a huge gaming presence for almost 40 years. So, it’s a big reference point for mid-40’s parents down to their elementary school aged children, and in between. Boomers May not know much of him, but people my age and younger do.

And that movie’s about to make like a billion and a half dollars WW. Heck, they may be coming out with a sequel by the time the EU land opens in 2025.

I'll eat my hat if it makes a billion ww.

 

[celluloid]

Not considering about how important of a media division gaming is, is the kind of thinking why Disney doesn't have a games studio anymore.

Disney was not very good at it.

Even without the games, the merch alone makes billions a year. I think Uni and Nintendo have a good deal.
illumination is about to have their next Minions or close to it.

 

[Touchdown]

I'll eat my hat if it makes a billion ww.

I’m not ready to call a billion but I do believe it will be the highest grossing animated movie of 2023.

 

[the_rich]

I’m not ready to call a billion but I do believe it will be the highest grossing animated movie of 2023.

That is definitely possible but it isn't doing a billion.