Nintendo today opens a store for his gaming equipment in San Francisco. I went to see it early during a press visit. And although I am too cynical to be the biggest Nintendo fan on the planet, I left merchandise with around $ 90.35. (Hoping that my wife will not read this).
This is only the second store that the Japanese company opened the first in the US, in Rockefeller Center in New York, in November 2001, just after 9/11. For San Francisco this is a blessing to open a new store because the crowds have stayed away and the stores have been closed since the pandemic.
It is not a huge store – about 9,000 square feet over two floors – but it is in the iconic Union Square, only diagonally about the park from the huge store of Apple. And what the two stores share is that they are filled with products where you can see that they pay a lot of attention to detail.
This store is symbolic for Gamer Fandom, which has become a large part of the mass culture. Game Culture, or Nintendo Culture, is in fact so big with things like Mario Kart and the Super Mario Bros. – Film (which did $ 1.4 billion at the cash register) that people want to deal with it in every lifetime – including in stores.
PJ Sadler, a 13-year-old veteran in Nintendo Store from New York, came out for the opening. The senior manager told me: “For all of you who said when we open an on the west coast, it’s finally here.” And on 5 June the store will be filled with the new Nintendo Switch 2 Hybrid gameconsoles that are for sale that day. Trip Hawkins, who was defeated by Nintendo and Sony while he was at 3DO, believes that the Switch 2 will sell more than 100 million units.
Sadler said: “We wanted Nintendo San Francisco to be more than just a store. We want to immerse you with our characters, with our worlds. We are going to do that through compelling experiences and all the unique products around you.”
The store in San Francisco has many merchandos that is only available in the store, such as the Nintendo San Francisco T-shirt that I bought and parapernalia based on all Nintendo characters that are in the windows of the store and march the front door. All franchises are represented, such as Zelda, Splatoon, Mario Kart, Pikmin, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Pokémon, Princess Peach, Animal Crossing and more. Some of those franchises will have merch that debuted in Japan and comes to the US for the first time.
I expect that the Switch 2 acceleration in the area will be downstairs, which has a few large screens for gamedemos and a huge gaming wall screen if you want to show your skills for everyone in the store. You will also find the Zelda, Splatoon, Pokémon and Pikmin equipment under the decks. There is even a puzzle where you have to find 12 Pikmin characters in the store.
“My favorite thing is just the detail and the width of products that are available for all the different IP -that we have,” said Sadler. “We are overjoyed to be here at Union Square, with tourism, the local community.”
Sadler even got the Jaded Press Corps of San Francisco, which has been defeated and reduced over the years by fired, to shout: “Here we go!” Like in a Mario game. Then, inspired by the words of Sadler, I went to my $ 25 coffee mug and more. I am proud that I opposed the temptation to buy a golden box with a question mark on it.