If we’re being honest here, there are very few gaming companies in the world right now that would deserve a full-on museum. A vast majority aren’t old enough to have one or are tied to other companies so much that they wouldn’t likely be able to do one on their own. Of the three main publishers, Xbox arguably doesn’t have enough to show for multiple reasons; Sony is “getting there” but likely won’t do one, and that’s why the Nintendo Museum stands above them all. The place honoring The Big N was opened in Japan last year and was created to be a place where people could not only reminisce about the journey that Nintendo has had, but also bring in young people to be inspired by the work that has been done over the company’s long tenure.
Oh, and there are also lots of game stations that you can have fun at and a gift shop where you can buy souvenirs! See? Fun times all around. Anyway, the museum itself is pretty awesome, and many people have visited it since its opening. However, now, the museum is going through a unique expansion. Specifically, the second floor of the Nintendo Museum will now become…an art gallery:
At first, that might seem like an odd thing, but you need to remember that art is an intrinsic part of the video game development process, and more than that, the many stages of art throughout the game development process can help shape a game into what it eventually ends up being. Thus, this museum can see things like the concept art for characters like Mario, Link, Samus Aran, Kirby, and more, and see what the “first thoughts” of what the characters should look like were, and then how they ended up.
We’ll also get to see some of the promotional artwork that has come out over the decades to showcase why gamers were excited about the titles. These promo pieces were often given to magazines and similar publications to build up hype, and artists often went full tilt to make them look great.
As Stealth himself even noted in a follow-up tweet, this could be yet another part of the museum that will help inspire the next generation of creators, as they can see what was made before and then seek to be the one who makes the next great art piece that’ll eventually end up in this museum.
