First hint of Nintendo’s theme park shows work may soon be underway

We’ve gotten our first tease of Super Nintendo World, Nintendo’s upcoming amusement park attraction. Visitors to Universal Studios Japan, where the first one will live, have caught a glimpse of a themed stage apparently set for an imminent groundbreaking ceremony.

A tweet from an account that tracks developments at Universal Studios Japan shows the first sign of life for Super Nintendo World. The pictures don’t show any rides yet; they’re just of a media stage set up in a fairly empty spot of the theme park.

It’s hard to mistake this setup as anything but Nintendo-related. Piranha plants jutting out of pipes surround a familiar brick wall, with a Universal Studios logo attached. The Super Mario theme is obvious, but don’t assume that this is how the theme park itself will look just yet.

A recent video from an English-speaking visitor to Universal Studios Japan, located in Osaka, suggests that a groundbreaking ceremony will soon be held. It checks out that this Nintendo-adorned stage will be used for a Nintendo-centric event, although the company has yet to announce anything on that front. We’ve reached out and will update when we know more.

Super Nintendo World is set to open in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It will later expand to further Universal Studios locations — namely those in Hollywood, California and Orlando, Florida.