SAN FRANCISCO — Generations of people around the world grew up playing or are still playing Nintendo games, so it’s not surprising that almost everyone Kelsi Thorud spoke to in Union Square was excited to hear the company was planning to to open a store in the area.
“I started playing when I was little, about six years old, and then I just continued with the consoles and stuff,” said Tracy Turnbull.
Tracy Turnbull is visiting from Germany. She said if the store was open now, she would be there in a minute.
“Yes, the nostalgia of the games they have, just look around and see what’s going on, yes,” Turnbull said.
Christian González agrees. He’s visiting San Francisco from Miami and wouldn’t just go to the store, he thinks thousands of people from across the country and even around the world would do the same.
“I mean, they’re a very well-known name and I think, for example, the Pokemon centers and things like that, you know, they have a big fan base, and Nintendo has a big fan base. So I think this will help to attract those people here,” Gonzalez said.
But not everyone is optimistic about that possibility. Ernesto Novoa is from the Bay Area, and he’s not so sure the Nintendo store will bring in the kind of business needed to completely revitalize the city.
“Because a lot of the people here who live here are professionals, they live in the city, they do finance or technology and I don’t know if that demographic has time to play video games,” Novoa said.
Ernesto says the city needs to take a broader approach to attract more people here.
“It’s going to depend on the stigma of the city itself, like people are going to randomly end up here, right? Either they’re going to hear about it because they hear about San Francisco or they have to come to San Francisco. I think it is.” about changing the atmosphere of San Francisco and making it generally safer,” Novoa said.
But tourists like Christian say this Nintendo store could go a long way in boosting the city’s image and he looks forward to coming back to check out the store when it opens.
“I’m a big Switch fan, so I’d like to check out their offerings and see if I can pick up a game or two or three,” Gonzalez said.
Gamers will have to wait a little longer until the store arrives. Nintendo says the store won’t open until 2025, and it’s still unclear where exactly the store will be located in Union Square.
