This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the opening of the first Nintendo Store outside of Japan, at Rockefeller Plaza, in New York City. This store is a 2-story shop featuring Nintendo games, consoles, and lots of plush toys and merchandise. This June, the store was crowded with visitors hoping to try the newly released Switch2 console.
Category Archives: Geek Out
Off-topic or out of the ordinary
Kung-Fu Panda Adventure
The Kung Fu Panda Adventure is a motion-simulated 4D, animated theatrical experience ride in Universal Studios Hollywood. This attraction combines animated sequences with physical movement to create an immersive experience. The pre-ride queue includes a presentation with other Dreamworks franchise characters such as Shrek and the animals of Madagascar.
Guests sit in the Dreamworks theatre, whose seats have been upgraded as mini 3D motion simulators. The riders feel motion during the climactic action sequences they see on stage. The designers eventually utilized most of the theatre’s walls, the extent of which isn’t obvious at the start of the experience. The Kung Fu Panda Adventure offers a blend of entertainment and technology, providing a unique and memorable experience for visitors to the park.
Nintendo Store San Francisco
It came as a bit of a surprise when I heard that Nintendo would be opening a new store at Union Square, in downtown San Francisco. When you mention downtown San Francisco nowadays, the image that comes to mind are shuttered retail stores and fentanyl addicts. But in May of 2025, a month ahead of the Switch 2 launch, Nintendo opened only its second store in the USA.
Nintendo’s first store was at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. I’ve visited there regularly since it opened over a decade ago. The San Francisco store has attracted a line of fans and tourists since its opening. Because of its popularity (and possibly to reduce the risk of theft), the store security has limited the number to 100 customers who can enter the store at a time. When I got there, the line was about a half block long, and it took about 20 minutes in queue before I got in.
The store has two levels. The street level has most of the San Francisco labeled Nintendo Store merchandise, and you will also find sections dedicated to the Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and Animal Crossing. Downstairs are sections with merch for Splatoon, Pokémon, Pikman, Zelda, and the new Switch 2 console and games.
Whilst the San Francisco store is physically smaller than the New York Store, its design feels more like a boutique for a fashion brand than a retail game store. The San Francisco store offers a wider selection of products, apparel, and merchandise from a wider range of Nintendo franchises. Even if you’ve been the New York store, it’s well worth visiting the San Francisco store for a different experience.
Let’s Play: Alto’s Adventure
Alto’s Adventure is a free-to-play sports/action game for Android and iPhone, released in 2015. In this game, you play as a snowboarder in the Andes. You start the game playing as Alto. You can unlock additional snowboarders with modified abilities like faster top speeds.
The developers wanted to create a game that captured the “flow” state feeling when carving down a slope on a snowboard. They’ve succeeded. This game is one of the most beautiful games I’ve played. Both in the design of its graphics as well as its atmospheric procedurally generated soundtrack.
During the game, you constantly ski “downhill” from left to right on procedurally created terrain. You can jump or back-flip by tapping or pressing on the screen. As you play, the time-of-day, lighting conditions, weather, and visibility can change.
As you ski, you can spank llamas you pass, pick up glowing coins, and power-ups such as feathers and magnets. Alto must avoid random chasams, rocks, campfires, and “Elders” who chase you down to punish you for spooking llamas. You can grind on aqueducts and decorative bunting draped on poles.
Just in case you’re wondering, this is a legit review of the game. But this video was an April Fools. But if you do want to see more Lets Play videos, let me know and I might start creating content.
Pervy Yoda Plush
They could have placed the activation button a little higher on the body of this mini-plush.
Kinokuya NYC
Kinokuya is a chain of book stores that started in Shinjuku, Tokyo. In the 1980’s they opened up locations world wide providing Japanese language books to the Japanese business and ex-patriot community. Today they serve American Otakus.
Kinokuya occupies 3 of the lowest floors of the office building. In the basement you’ll find stationary, office supplies, and oddly enough their Studio Ghibli toys. On street level, you’ll find their books (many English language/Western travel books too). On the 2nd floor, are all of their manga, anime toys, Gunpla, and their café.
When I used to work on Madison Ave., my favorite lunch were bento boxes of chicken katsu from take-out shops on 40th St. I would carry them across the street and eating them on the benches around Bryant Park. On less busy days, I’d stroll over to Kinokuya just across the street from the western side of the park. I don’t quite remember as much of a manga or Gunpla is there is today, but I’m glad for it.
Nintendo Store NYC
While out on the East Coast to produce OP: Bad Blood 2022, I stop in to my old stomping grounds in Midtown-Manhattan to visit the Nintendo Store in Rockefeller Center.
Shot Show 2022: Vaultek
You gotta be a fan of the Fallout video game series to get this joke. But I hear Amazon is creating a stream series based on the franchise so all you filthy casuals may eventually get in on this joke.
Anniversary of The 2017 Great American Eclipse
Blood Orange Skies in San Francisco
This morning we woke up to a blood orange sky due to the wildfires around the Bay Area, north in Sonoma County, south in the Santa Cruz mountains, and far east the huge Creek Fire complex. Or maybe Elon Musk secretly transported his Mars colony here.
