How the Wizarding World of Harry Potter convinced Nintendo to work with Universal

Nintendo has long considered making theme-park rides, but it finally agreed to move ahead after seeing what Universal did with Harry Potter.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed today that he met with NBCUniversal, the media and entertainment company responsible for dozens of popular television and film properties, in April 2014. It was in that meeting that NBCUniversal proposed the idea of its theme-park division building attractions based on the Japanese video game company’s properties, like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Although Iwata didn’t say what else he discussed with the studio, he did explain how the conglomerate convinced Nintendo to move ahead with a partnership.