Nintendo New York
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nintendo New York (previously known as Nintendo World and The Pokémon Center) is the flagship specialty store of
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
corporation Nintendo. Located in
10 Rockefeller Plaza 10 Rockefeller Plaza (formerly the Eastern Air Lines Building and Holland House) is a 16-story building located on Rockefeller Plaza between 48th and 49th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Completed in 1940, the building is part of Ro ...
, at
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, the two-story, store opened on May 14, 2005. The store sells a wide variety of Nintendo video games and merchandise, including apparel, hardware, and accessories that are exclusive to the store, such as Japanese
Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...
character
plushies A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...
, and special guides to a wide variety of Nintendo games. The store includes a dedicated Pokémon section. On the second level of the store, there are kiosks with various Nintendo Switch games running, allowing anyone to play. The second story also serves as a museum featuring past Nintendo game systems and peripherals. Notable items include the
Power Glove The Power Glove is a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Power Glove gained public attention due to its early virtual reality mechanics and significant marketing. However, its two games did not sell well, as it was ...
, an original Nintendo Entertainment System, a
Nintendo Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
from Japan, and a still-working
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
that was damaged in a bombing during the
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
. Nintendo New York regularly holds tournaments and shows for new games, giving early releases and prizes to winners. In addition, they have held screenings for multiple official Nintendo broadcasts, most commonly Nintendo's annual main E3 presentation.


History

The space was formerly called The Pokémon Center, which opened on November 16, 2001. It ran until January 2005, when it closed for remodeling, reopening as the Nintendo World store 4 months later. On September 25, 2005, developer Shigeru Miyamoto visited the Nintendo World store to commemorate the release of
Nintendogs is a real-time pet simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console. It was released in Japan, and was later released in: North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and other regions. ...
and the 20th anniversary of ''
Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...
'' On July 10, 2010, '' Dragon Quest'' creator
Yuji Horii (also written as Yuuji Horii; born January 6, 1954) is a Japanese video game designer and scenario writer best known as the creator of the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing games, supervising and writing the scenario for ''Chrono Trigger' ...
visited the Nintendo World store to commemorate the release of '' Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies''. On November 1, 2010, the Nintendo World store re-opened after a three-week makeover that included various upgrades, including the addition of new Nintendo DSi systems, adjusted lighting, and an expanded museum area. Part of the makeover included getting ready for the 25th anniversary celebration of ''Super Mario Bros.'' on November 7, 2010. Guests to the celebration included Nintendo of America President
Reggie Fils-Aimé Reginald Fils-Aimé ( ; born March 25, 1961) is an American businessman best known for being the president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, the North American division of the Japanese video game company Nintendo, from 2006 ...
and Shigeru Miyamoto. On November 17, 2012, the Nintendo World store had a big launch event for the Wii U, with hundreds of people in attendance. Reggie Fils-Aimé (who grew up in the NY area) made an appearance at the event. From November 21, 2014 until January 15, 2015, anyone with a copy of ''
Pokémon Omega Ruby (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of what each of those c ...
'' or '' Alpha Sapphire'' could receive an Eon ticket for their individual game to have an in-game encounter with Latias or Latios, depending on their version of the game. Once the Eon ticket had been obtained, it could be passed on to other players with a copy of the game for free via StreetPass. On January 19, 2016, the Nintendo World store was closed for renovation and re-opened its doors on February 19, 2016, with new features in the store. On its re-opening, the store was renamed "Nintendo New York." On March 14, 2020, Nintendo NY shortened their hours open to the public. Two days later, on March 16, 2020, they announced on Twitter that they would be officially on full closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. On August 5, 2020, Nintendo NY announced they would be reopening the store on August 8. However, visitors must follow the correct guidelines during the pandemic and if they want to enter the store they must book a reservation online. On June 1, 2020, the store's windows were vandalized during a riot in wake of the
George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...
.


Sister locations

On November 22, 2019, Nintendo opened their first sister location in Japan called Nintendo Tokyo. The new flagship store is located inside a newly constructed building named Shibuya Parco.
The Pokémon Company The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン, ''Kabushiki gaisha Pokemon'') is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the '' Pokémon'' franchise, which consists of video game ...
later announced a new Pokémon Center store opening adjacent to Nintendo Tokyo in late November 2019, the same day as Shibuya Parco's opening date. Nintendo announced on November 5, 2021 that they would open another sister location in Japan called Nintendo Osaka, by the end of 2022. Nintendo Osaka opened in November 2022. It is located on the thirteenth floor of the Daimaru Umeda department store in Kita-ku, as a
store-within-a-store A store-within-a-store, also referred to as shop-in-shop, is an agreement in which a retailer rents a part of the retail space to be used by a different company to run another, independent shop. Origins In the early days of cellular telephone gr ...
. The
Nintendo of America is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing card ...
headquarters in Redmond, Washington has a private store for employees.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine


Licensed

In May 2012, Shas Samurai, Nintendo's official representative in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, opened a "Nintendo World Store" at Al Faisaliah Mall in
Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...
. In June 2019, Nintendo's official
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i distributor TorGaming Ltd. launched a licensed Nintendo retail store at
Dizengoff Center Dizengoff Center ( he, דיזנגוף סנטר) is a shopping mall at the intersection of Dizengoff Street and King George Street in Tel Aviv, Israel. The mall is named for Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv. History Dizengoff Center, ...
in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
. The store was Dizengoff Center's second largest launch. In March 2020, a store dedicated to the Nintendo Switch called "NSEW" has opened in Hong Kong in cooperation with Nintendo.


References


External links

* * * {{Rockefeller Center 2005 establishments in New York City Commercial buildings in Manhattan Nintendo Rockefeller Center Shops in New York City Video game retailers of the United States