Wonder Eggs[a] was an amusement park located in the Niko Tamagawa Park in Tokyo, Japan. The park was constructed by Namco on February 29, 1992, and is the first amusement park operated by a video game company.[1][2] The park was renovated in 1996 as Wonder Eggs 2 and later in 1999 as Wonder Eggs 3. The park was closed permanently on December 31, 2000 and demolished a year later.[3] The park featured a large carousal, several dark rides, and game centers with a comical theme, as well as a special version of the arcade game Galaxian 3 that seated 28 players.[4][5][6]
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| Location | Futakotamagawa Time Spark, Setagaya, Tokyo |
|---|---|
| Status | Defunct |
| Opened | February 29, 1992 |
| Closed | December 31, 2000 |
| Owner | Namco |
| Website | www.namco.co.jp/tp/we2 |
The Wonder Eggs was built off of leased land and intended to last for five years, however, the park's popularity allowed Namco to continue operating it for many more years.[7] Namco created the park out of its interest in designing a Disneyland-inspired theme park that featured the same kind of stories and characters present in its games.[1][8] Wonder Eggs saw regularly high attendance numbers;[5] 500,000 visitors attended in its first few months of operation and over one million by the end of the year.[9][10] By the park's closing, it had amassed six million visitors.[11] Wonder Eggs contributed to Namco's 34% increase in revenue by December 1992.[12]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Koyama, Nobuyuki (June 9, 2005). 遊びのチカラ ナムコの高付加価値戦略 [The Power of Play: Namco's High Value-Added Strategy] (in Japanese). Nikkei BP Planning. ISBN 978-4861301018.
- ^ "もう一度だけ行きたい―― 重苦しい90年代を支えた大人の遊び場「ナムコ・ワンダーエッグ」の思い出". Yahoo! News (in Japanese). Yahoo!. February 3, 2021. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ "ナムコのワンダーエッグ3が12月31日で閉園". SoftBank News (in Japanese). ITMedia. 4 December 2000. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ "Namco Plans To Top High-Tec Theme Park" (PDF). No. 418. Japan: Amusement Press. Game Machine. January 15, 1992. p. 38. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
- ^ a b "Wonder Egg?". No. 90. Imagine Publishing. Ultra Game Players. November 1996. p. 87. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ "Japanese Arcade News - That's Entertainment". No. 2. Dennis Publishing. Sega Zone. December 1992. p. 10. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ "Arcade Of Tomorrow?". Vol. 18, no. 1. RePlay. October 1992. pp. 184–189. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ Burkett, Stephen; Greening, Chris (18 September 2016). "Hiroyuki Kawada Interview: Namco Sounds in the 1980s". VGMOnline. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ "History of Wonder Eggs - 1992" (in Japanese). Namco. 2001. Archived from the original on August 16, 2002. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ "The History of Wonder Eggs - 1993" (in Japanese). Namco. 2001. Archived from the original on October 2, 2002. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ Hara, Takehiko (24 May 1999). "「ナムコ・ワンダーエッグ3」が 通算入園者数600万人を突破" ["Namco Wonder Egg 3" surpasses 6 million visitors in total]. SoftBank News (in Japanese). ITMedia. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ ""St. Fighter II" Has Big Effect On Results" (PDF). No. 440. Japan: Amusement Press. Game Machine. December 15, 1992. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 22, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.