It seems as though not even Nintendo is immune to the ongoing challenges of retail business in the not-quite-post-pandemic world, as the much-loved Nintendo Experience that once lived at the EB Games on Melbourne CBD’s Swanston Street is now no more.
Where once stood a dedicated retail space for everything Nintendo games and collectibles above the EB’s main shop floor, as well as a demo and play space packed with Nintendo consoles for shoppers to try out, there now stands bare shelves and near-total darkness blocked off with a handwritten sign that simply reads “Staff Only”.
Many Nintendo fans will remember the Experience not just for its wall-to-wall Nintendo loot or the upper-level communal area but for many an event and midnight launch. Now, it’s a space that only Luigi himself would dare to venture with his Poltergust 5000, haunted by the ghosts of Australia’s collective 3DS Streetpass Miis.
EB Games has yet to address the future of the space or whether there’s hope the Nintendo Experience might return.
Our friends at Vooks have shared a ton of images of the Nintendo Experience which you can check out here.
(Image courtesy of Vooks)
