Nintendo Opens a Museum

Visitors can learn about the company’s history and play games with giant controllers.

The Nintendo Museum is located in an old Nintendo factory near Kyoto, Japan.

If the names Zelda and Super Mario Bros. mean anything to you, you’re probably a Nintendo fan. Now, the video game company that has entertained generations of gamers has opened the Nintendo Museum.

The museum opened on October 2 in Uji, Japan, in the building complex once occupied by the company’s factory. Visitors can learn about Nintendo’s long history, which began in 1889 when the company made playing cards, and see displays of nearly all the company’s products. In addition to massive hits like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong, Nintendo shows off prototypes (models) of products that never made it to stores. Visitors also get to see what Nintendo’s famous games from decades ago would be like if they were made using modern technology.

Nintendo Museum visitors play Super Mario World, a game from the 1990s, using giant video game controllers.

But a video game museum wouldn’t be very notable if visitors didn’t get to play games. The museum offers several gaming experiences, some of which use brand-new games. In one experience, visitors get to go back in time, in a sense, when they try playing games using older consoles. In another, visitors get to play classic games using controllers so large they require two people to work together.

Visitors to the Nintendo Museum play Super Mario 64 using a giant controller.

It’s tempting to think about spending all day playing games at the Nintendo Museum. But that won’t be possible. Each visitor gets 10 digital coins they can use to play the games, and it’s not possible to buy additional coins. That means visitors will need to make some tough decisions about what they’d like to play.

If you get a chance to go to Japan and you’re interested in visiting the museum, be sure to plan ahead. Visitors need to go to the museum website and enter a lottery to get in—and it can take months to be chosen for admission. So far, though, the reviews of the museum have been positive. It might just be worth the wait.

Did You Know?

Gamers are getting older. In 2004, the average age of a player was 29. In 2024, the average age was 36.

Cool Museums

Different versions of Cup Noodles packaging are in a display case on which different years are labeled. — The Cup Noodles Museum covers the long history of a snack that’s popular in Japan and many other countries.

An artist’s conception of three aliens standing on Earth below a lit-up UFO. — Have aliens landed on Earth? The International UFO Museum and Research Center explores this question and more.

A painting of a woman in a daisy field next to a painting of actor Fred MacMurray with three suns. — Two paintings, *Lucy in the Field with Flowers* and *My Three Suns* (featuring actor Fred MacMurray, who starred in a TV show called *My Three Sons*) are both on display at Museum Of Bad Art.

A man shows a wooden toilet throne to a group of visitors in a room full of unusual toilets. — U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Rahul Verma (left) and the founder of the Indian sanitation charity Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathakat (center) see some unusual toilets at the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets.

A diver swims past an underwater sculpture of a Volkswagen Beetle. — The Isla Mujeres Underwater Museum of Art features more than 500 life-sized sculptures. This sculpture is a representation of a Volkswagen Beetle.

Guilhem Vellut (CC BY 2.0); Dan (twiga-swala) (CC BY-SA 2.0); “Lucy in the Field with Flowers”, Museum Of Bad Art, www.MuseumOfBadArt.org; “My Three Suns”, Museum Of Bad Art, © Lane Turner—The Boston Globe/Getty Images; © Money Sharma—AFP/Getty Images; © Donald Miralle/Getty Images Entertainment

Have you ever been to a museum? You might know about art, history, or science museums. But a museum can be about anything, as long as it contains interesting objects.

Here’s a list of some unusual museums you might want to explore. The slideshow above features a photo of each one!

Cup Noodles Museum
Yokohama, Japan

It’s easy to make Cup Noodles instant ramen. You just add boiling water to the dried noodles and seasoning in the cup. Visitors to the Cup Noodles Museum get to learn the secrets to the company’s success. There’s also a tasting room!

International UFO Museum and Research Center
Roswell, New Mexico

In 1947, a flying object crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. Though the object was later identified as a military aircraft, some people believe it actually came from outer space—and may have been occupied by aliens. Visitors to the museum can explore the possibilities.

Museum Of Bad Art (MOBA)
Dorchester, Massachusetts

Most art museums have art that’s good—or, at least, good enough for experts to think it deserved to be displayed. This Dorchester, Massachusetts, museum celebrates art that most museums would reject.

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets
Sulabh, India

Toilets didn’t always exist—and early toilets were very different from what we have today. So how did people take care of business? The Museum of Toilets is dedicated to exploring this question.

Isla Mujeres Underwater Museum of Art
Cancun, Mexico

Located in the waters off the coast of Cancun, this underwater museum is not that easy to reach. Visitors need to board a glass-bottom boat or put on scuba or snorkeling gear and dive in. The museum’s hundreds of life-sized sculptures are worth the trip.

Amazing Anime

The anime TV series Dragon Ball Z led to books, movies, and video games.

In addition to being a video game pioneer, Japan also invented a style of animation called anime. You can read more about the history of anime at Britannica.

WORD OF THE DAY

diversion

PART OF SPEECH:

noun

Definition:

: something that people do because it is enjoyable, entertaining, or pleasant

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