At the Nintendo Museum, Mario and Luigi entertain the gallery

In this new museum located in Japan near Kyoto, video games are exhibited as works of art in their own right. The Japanese brand asserts its difference and, above all, its heritage. We were there.

AWhen it has just opened its doors in Ogura, the Nintendo museum is always full. Lost between rice fields and warehouses, this featureless town twenty minutes by train from Kyoto welcomes fifteen hundred visitors chosen at random every day and everything is already full until December. Why such enthusiasm? Because by developing the sagas of Mario, Luigi, Zelda, Yoshi and other Pokémon for more than forty years, the Japanese company has supported three generations of players around the world. Nine of the ten best-selling video games in history bear his logo, and most of his characters, led by Mario, have become icons of global pop culture, better known today by younger generations than Mickey and others. ! A reputation that goes far beyond the video game framework, as evidenced by the global success of the film Mario, in 2023, and Super Nintendo World, a popular thematic enclave since its opening three years ago in one of Japan’s largest amusement parks, Universal Studios in Osaka.

As you enter the museum grounds, the contrast is striking. Here, no rhinestones, sequins, or giant statues bearing the image of the house stars. Installed on two levels in one of the company’s historic factories, the premises are not an ephemeral display. Like the head office located not far away, everything is surprisingly white, sober, functional, discreet, almost anonymous. A Japanese aesthetic, certainly, but also the visceral desire of this company not to appear or be noticed.

XXL format controllers

On the first floor, the collection is a geek’s dream. Four decades of video games and consoles in their different versions are presented there, under display cases with an individual sound system. Wii, DS, GameBoy, FamiCom, Switch rub shoulders with the brand’s cult licenses. A big packet of madeleines, with real nuggets, like this space dedicated to console prototypes. If for around fifteen years video games have been regularly exhibited in prestigious places (MoMA, Grand Palais, Victoria & Albert Museum in London) – there is even a permanent collection in Berlin – they are rarely exhibited as works of art. art in its own right, which is the case here.

The ground floor is entirely devoted to games. In a funfair atmosphere, visitors can try out arcade machines and vintage video games, but also games of skill, like these missions to accomplish on a giant screen, by manipulating as best you can – and in tandem – with XXL format controllers. Contortions, shouting matches and laughter guaranteed. Surprisingly, the omnipresence of injured in the decor. These traditional playing cards, which feature months and seasonal flowers, are at the heart of the system. Visitors can even follow a workshop lasting almost an hour (!) to create them, with glue, colors and paper. A way to remind you that Nintendo is not a loser of the year.

Created in 1889 in Kyoto, the company with the cryptic name (“Let’s leave luck to the sky”) began by manufacturing cards, board games and toys of all kinds: telescopic arms, driving simulators on a board, racing circuits, launchers ping-pong ball… A diverse production, which shows that, from the outset, the company has been keen to create games accessible to all, to share with family or friends. A credo that is still valid today. “Unlike our competitors, we are not an electronics company, asserts Shigeru Miyamoto. Our DNA has always been gaming and entertainment. Whether it is cards, board games, arcade machines or video games, there are no real differences, the technologies are more sophisticated, but the principles remain the same. »

At 71 years old, the lively creator of Mario, Zelda, Link, Luigi and other Donkey Kong is an emblematic figure of video games, revered by the profession for his inventiveness and his gaming genius. If he is not the boss of Nintendo, Miyamoto is its most famous employee, its mentor and sometimes its spokesperson. An exception at the Japanese giant which, due to its culture of secrecy, encourages its almost seven thousand employees to remain silent outside and wear a blouse internally. Joining the firm in 1977 and today responsible for development, this great art lover participated closely in the design of the museum and supervised its installation. The museum is an idea that he has been carrying around for around ten years, but to make it happen, it took a combination of favorable circumstances. Archives and poorly stored products deteriorating, a historic factory on the verge of being demolished and above all the continued arrival of young employees. “Nintendo hires one to two hundred people every year, and since I’ve been there a long time, it’s up to me to explain to them what this company is. I admit that in the long run it is a bit tedious, and that having a place where they could see for themselves what we have done and how we are different seemed essential to me. Our identity is not to reproduce what has already been done, to always be at the forefront of creativity to create unique experiences. »

You have to know how to wait for the right moment, for the technology to hit the mark, and to take risks too.

Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong…

Words that take on meaning through the windows. Despite his apparent heaviness, “Big N”, as his fans call him, has always focused on technical innovation. His many discoveries on motion detection, connectivity, and the ergonomics of controllers have revolutionized the practice of video games and… greatly inspired the competition. Another singularity, tenacity, an iron faith in in-house ideas! Here, nothing is lost, everything is transformed: even if they did not “work” when they were released, characters and concepts from the first hour reappear over time, in a cyclical manner. “You know, everything is often a matter of timing, you have to know how to wait for the right moment, for the technology to hit the mark, and to take risks too. At our place, many employees have been there for a long time and have a real gaming culture. They remember products or ideas that Nintendo has released in the past and want to integrate them into current projects, which makes meaning to us. » The art of making something new out of something old, and above all, of passing it on. In this company where it is not uncommon to spend your entire career, seniors are not considered as burdens but as guarantors of memory and a certain coherence. A timeless model for many, which does not prevent the centenarian, while the global video game industry is going through an unprecedented crisis, from calmly staying the course and growing.