Believe it or not, Nintendo is a company that has been going since the late 1800s, and today, the company is still thriving with mega-brands like Pokemon and Super Mario.
Though Nintendo is notoriously strict about adhering to its own methods, senior game designer Shigeru Miyamoto has said that one recent project from the company is probably one of the most off-brand things the studio has done in its century-long history.
Kyoto’s Nintendo Museum
In a recent feature from IGN, Miyamoto shares that he believes that the former president of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi, wouldn’t be too excited about making a Nintendo Museum. “You could say that we’re doing something we’re not supposed to do,” says Miyamoto, “If [ex-president of Nintendo Hiroshi] Yamauchi would hear this, I think he would tell us to stop immediately!”
According to Miyamoto, Yamauchi wasn’t a huge fan of advertising the company. Nintendo has mostly been talking about popular brands like Pokemon and Mario. With the Nintendo Museum, though, the company takes a look inward and celebrates the entire 100-year history of Nintendo, even before they started working on video games.
“Nintendo is a company that connects with its consumers through products. We do not promote the company itself, only the products. We might be talking about how old Mario has turned, but we don’t talk about how many units of a certain game has sold. That’s what Nintendo has traditionally been doing, but the environment has changed, and we started to revisit that thought.”
More Like a Theme Park than a Museum
The Nintendo Museum in Kyoto is said to be built around a site that used to be a Nintendo factory (Kyoto was where the company was first founded). When the company realized it wanted to preserve its rich history, it decided to repurpose the factory into a museum that people could visit. Several old Nintendo artifacts are on display, and many interactive features and games to keep fans engaged.
While the display at the museum is a certain way now, Miyamoto has confirmed that there are plans to keep evolving the museum, with several different Nintendo artifacts still in storage. The company also pumps out new entries to IP, such as The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario, every year, so fans should expect those displays to get updated occasionally.
There are also rumors that the Nintendo Switch will finally get the upgrade fans have been waiting for. Once it's officially out of commission, the console could get its own section. Even Miyamoto himself has said that he’s very partial to the success and story of the Wii.
The Nintendo Museum in Kyoto is currently open for visitors but has no plans to expand to other locations.