The horse jumped over the moon, the story of Namco, part 10

In 1992 Namco had created an urban theme park in Futakotamagawa, Setagaya-ku; one of the Tokyo wards. Wonder Eggs was an experiment in play. For all intents and purposes it was also the world’s first video game theme park. The idea of an attraction based on a video game was not new. In fact there was a ride based on a pinball from the short lived World of Sid & Marty Krofft indoor amusement park. That concept extended back to November 1976, but it was riders inside a giant pinball machine, not quite the same thing as a video game, however it did reflect the changing themes in entertainment.

The next stab at a video game attraction came in February 1983. Jim Reilly was with a company called Meeting Planners. He wanted to launch the Electronic Circus, and the World’s Largest Arcade. The Electronic Circus was a traveling show that would visit big, and small towns across the country. He wanted to have the greatest players of certain games compete against local legends. It sounded like a fun spectacle but turned out to be a miserable idea. It lasted just five days. This was covered in the documentary Chasing Ghosts as well as in The Golden Age Arcade Historian Blog.

Many long-time video game fans might think that Sega was responsible for the first video game theme park. In fact I assumed it to be true for decades before researching this series. Joypolis was a chain of indoor amusement parks created by Sega and run by CA Sega Joypolis. It opened on July 20, 1994 with the original location in Yokohama, Japan. Joypolis opened in several cities in Japan and later China. The parks feature arcade games and amusement rides based on Sega's intellectual properties, original themes, and licensed franchises. Alongside the predecessor Galbo venues and the overseas spin-offs SegaWorld London and Sega World Sydney. Sega coined the term "Amusement Theme Park" or "ATP"  in the '90s. Eleven Joypolis theme parks opened, but as of 2021, five parks remain operational; two in Japan (Tokyo and a Sports Center in Sendai) and three in China (Qingdao, Shanghai and Guangzhou); the failure of many of the parks has largely been attributed to poor visitor numbers, managerial problems, and cost-cutting measures. The majority of the closures happened during Sega's global losses during the early 2000s.

I had mentioned some of the most fantastic Sega, and Namco game-meets-theme park rides previously on the blog. Including the Ghost Hunter games featured in Joypolis. There certainly were some amazing attractions that should be studied by amusement fans, but I want to focus on the actual first video game theme park. Wonder Eggs had a lot more riding on it than any other project Namco had undertaken. At the same time they did not plan on putting all their chips on theme park operations. The goal was to make an urban park that lasted just four years, 50 months to be precise. It was about the amount of time between a World Cup, Olympics, or World’s Expo. This span of time also covered the technology leap that would occur in arcades, and even home consoles. If the largest attractions were going to have video game elements then Namco did not want their park to look or feel dated (Toy Story Midway Mania, I am looking right at you!).

This perception of an aging game park could have tarnished their reputation with the growing middle class. Namco was a large company, but they certainly didn’t have a Disney budget. They did not have access to Imagineers with a portfolio of rides, and themed lands ready to go. Nor could they keep buying more land, and expand their footprint. Disney, and the Oriental Land Company (OLC) had that luxury. They were not only able to build Tokyo Disneyland, but they owned almost all the hotels surrounding the property. They were able to host their guests, and cater to their every need so that they never even had to leave the area. The OLC was so successful that they eventually built a second gate with Tokyo Disney Sea. Namco had a smaller, and more modest park by comparison. It was easily accessible by rail line, but did not warrant a hotel for visitors. It did not mean that the park wouldn’t be special.

Wonder Eggs turned out to be a hit with attendees. Namco referred to their customers as “Dreamers” which was important to the story of the park. In fact the entire park had an overall concept, and a series of smaller themed areas within. Making it a true theme park, and not simply an amusement park. Wonder Eggs lasted much longer than anticipated, and would get a refresh every few years. These evolutions were known as Wonder Eggs 2, and Wonder Eggs 3. Here was a summary of Wonder Eggs written by Namco, with additional notes by me.

Namco Wonder Egg brief chronology (8-year trajectory) This is an imaginary park filled with Namco’s original “play.” A number of participatory story attractions where you can experience dreams, adventure, and the future. 

1992 - February 29, A limited-time urban theme park “Namco Wonder Egg” opens. 

1993 - Dreamers (customers) exceed 1 million.

1994 - July, The alchemy nation of play Tamago Teikoku aka the “Egg Empire” opens (from this time it becomes a twin park).

1995 - Dreamers exceed 3 million people.

1996 - July 20, Reopened as "Namco Wonder Egg 2", a media park of love and success.

1997 - Dreamers exceed 5 million people.

1997 - Tomomi Nishimura and Takumi Nishio host the wedding party contest.

1999 - The year of the finals of “Wedding Party” and “Super Big Audition”.

1999 - April 3, The countdown park of dreams and romance has been reopened as "Namco Wonder Egg 3." A "bridge of time and space" has been built that connects Wonder Egg and the Egg Empire. 

1999 - Dreamers exceeds 6 million people.

2000 - December 31, “Namco Wonder Egg 3” is finally counting down to the 20th century.

There was a tremendous amount of work that went into each version of Wonder Eggs. I will highlight each iteration in detail over the next few blogs. I’ll be sharing content that had not previously been translated into English from Namco history books, Namco Graffiti magazine, and various Japanese blogs. I hope to see you back for that! Were there any rare theme parks, or amusement parks that you visited? Were they any fun? Please tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Wonder Eggs, and Egg Empire research collected from: Wonder Eggs Guide Map, Namco Graffiti magazine, the book “All About Namco II", NOURS magazine, The Namco Museum, Namco Wiki, Ge-Yume Area 51 Shigeki Toyama Collection, mcSister magazine, first person attraction details from Yoshiki. Event details from Hole in the Socks