I've always written about the intersection of games and real life – that's where the interesting stories are often found – but rarely do I get the opportunity to do so quite so literally as I have this week. Yesterday I visited the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, where the world of Mario has been reconstructed in the real world. You walk through a green warp pipe and, when you come out the other side, through Princess Peach's castle, you emerge into a primary-coloured, crowded Mario-scape, all green grass, yellow blocks and brown brick, with critters moving back and forth across banks of question-mark blocks and the yawning maw of Bowser's Castle across the way. I've been dying to see this Nintendo theme park since it opened, but I wasn't prepared for how impactful it would be to walk into a physical manifestation of my eight-year-old self's dreams. Super Mario World is constructed in such a way that you can't see the outside world when you're in there, helping you to disappear into the fantasy.

I'm about to take a bite from a slice of Key lime pie at the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium when a host named Jacques stops by. He looks at my plate and tells me it's a good thing the desserts weren't made to his specifications. If it had been up to him, my pie would be filled with mini metal keys. That's because Jacques is a robot. Or, rather, an actor playing a robot in a costume made of random clamps, clasps and metal hands, with leather overalls in various shades of cocoa and a bowler cap.

The Nintendo theme park experience is headed to the US. Universal Studios Hollywood announced Super Nintendo World -- a ride and interactive area in the style of the Super Mario game series -- will debut at the California theme park in 2023. Nintendo's debut park in Osaka was delayed by nearly a year due to the pandemic, opening to limited numbers in March 2021. For the US spin, fans can expect an interactive area, a special themed ride and themed shopping and dining -- because the park has to make money, right? Like the Osaka iteration, Super Nintendo World will be an expansion of the current Universal Studios Hollywood, marking the first major expansion of the Hollywood park since the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was added in 2016.

In 1977, Shigeru Miyamoto joined Nintendo, a company then known for selling toys, playing cards, and trivial novelties. Miyamoto was twenty-four, fresh out of art school. His employer, inspired by the success of a California company named Atari, was hoping to expand into video games. Miyamoto began tinkering with a story about a carpenter, a damsel in distress, and a giant ape. Four years later, Miyamoto had turned the carpenter into a plumber; Mario, and the Super Mario Bros. franchise, had arrived.

Nintendo Co. fell the most in nine months after it missed estimates for quarterly profit and forecast full-year earnings that were short of expectations, raising concern about demand for its Switch game console. The shares fell as much as 4.7 percent in early trading in Tokyo on Friday, the biggest intraday drop since April 26. A day earlier, Nintendo reported operating income of ¥168.7 billion ($1.5 billion) in the three months ended December, but that underwhelmed versus the ¥175.4 billion average projection. The lackluster results may fuel worries about the Switch console's longevity, especially in a year when Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. are preparing to launch new machines for the holidays. Nintendo released a lower-cost Switch Lite in the fall, reaching out to more mainstream users, and that console has sold 5.19 million units to date, the company reported.

Nintendo Co. fans will soon be able to enjoy a life-sized video-game experience at a new attraction at Universal Studios Japan. Super Nintendo World is slated to open this summer in Osaka, featuring a Power Up Band wearable that lets visitors collect coins and battle bosses while exploring a physical environment. Users will track their progress via a smartphone app, according to the theme park operator, which is owned by NBCUniversal LLC. "Super Nintendo World will provide an experience you cannot have anywhere else," USJ Chief Executive Officer J.L. Bonnier said at a briefing in Osaka on Tuesday. He wouldn't divulge further details about rides or other digital offerings, or when they would be available.