Summary
In an official announcement during the recent Nintendo Direct,Nintendohas finally confirmed the opening of its own museum in Japan. The gaming giant is taking a significant step forward, addressing a crucial issue that the industry is beginning to face: the preservation of video games.
In 2021,Nintendohad announced its plans to open a museum in Japan in the future, with the aim of sharing its “product development history and philosophy with the public.” Now those plans have materialized.
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Duringthe Nintendo Direct on September 14th, Sinya Takahashi, the General Manager of the Entertainment Planning & Development Division of Nintendo confirmed that Nintendo will open its own museum in Uji-city, Kyoto. The announcement began with an aerial shot of the gallery that will house the museum, where a huge “Question Block,” the iconicSuper Mario Bros. box, is painted on the roof.
The official name of this Nintendo gallery will be the “Nintendo Museum,” and according to Takahashi, “a widevariety of Nintendo products fromthe company’s history will be displayed.” While there is no specific opening date confirmed, Takahashi stated that the museum’s construction is progressing very well, with an estimated completion date in March 2024, and that they will share more details at another time.
Nintendo, through its popular console, the Nintendo Switch, has already taken responsibility for bringing back and keeping certain old titles alive by allowing access to the official emulation ofold consoles like the NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, and more through the Nintendo Switch Online service.
However, the opening of a museum could represent an even bigger step inthe issue of game preservation, offering the general public the possibility of first-hand access not only to classic games that have shaped the history of video games but also to the original consoles that hosted them in the first place, ensuring that a significant part of history is not lost. The fact that a company like Nintendo is taking such a step could set the course for other renowned companies to do the same, thus ensuring that the classics that gave birth to this medium remain alive in the future.
