Nintendo has opened a shop at the Times Square Toys R Us. I was fortunate to work with Nintendo, Toys R Us and the design and build team at FITCH. It is a thousand prime square feet in the best retail location in the world: Times Square. It has a dedicated window on the Broadway side and is directly opposite the entrance, second only to the three-story Ferris wheel.
The shop features the Wii and DS platforms and the fun of playing together. There is plenty of room to try the games and there is an interactive portrait wall highlighting Nintendo's characters, history and plenty of Miis.
The design is decidedly different from anything else in the store or what Nintendo has done in their other dedicated spaces. The designers gave it a home-y feel, a comfortable place turned up a couple of notches where kids can show Mom, Dad and Grandparents the fun of gaming. Sort of what Mario's den would look like. Visitors are greeted with an 8-station DS bar loaded with plenty of the latest titles. At the center of the shop is the portrait wall with digital screens scrolling images of games, characters and Miis. The big fun is in the Wii Theater that boasts two 9-screen 10-foot high play areas where guests can play together and watch from all over the store.
Kudos to all who worked on it: Heather, Melissa, Laura, Tom, Amy, Jennifer, Dave D, Bri, Killian Great job all! It looks great. I'll buy you a cold one, next time we're together. You deserve it.We'd all love to see more pictures, so when you are there next, check it out, submit pix and let us know what you think. Here's a link to the official news release http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/IgohHKLbtt8Ztwr7aIYwvZF0NKadK5MI and here's a link to Wired's coverage http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/12/times-square-to.html?cid=144588006#comment-144588006.
