Masaya Nakamura believed in the power of play. He founded his company in 1955, and made kiddie rides for Japanese department stores. In the ‘60s he made electromechanical games for a young company called SEGA. In the ‘70s he saw the future of play, and begged banks for a loan to start up a video game business. In the ‘80s Pac-Man, DigDug, Pole Position, Galaga, and many more arcade hits made him an industry icon. By the ‘90s Namco was a billion dollar company. Before the end of the century he wanted to build the first video game theme park. He ended up building two: Wonder Eggs, and the Egg Empire. They were a grand experiment in play. They also predicted the future of theme park attractions by years, if not decades. There was nothing in the world like Wonder Eggs, and there would never be another park like it. Namco taught the world that play was crucial to society. So what was the legacy of the parks? How were they remembered?
Shortly after closing the park Namco curated its own exhibit celebrating the legacy of Wonder Eggs. A number of park items, specifically those featuring the Pyrallis were on display at
Namjatown. The exhibit ran for a number of years. The company was proud of what they had accomplished in the decade of the ‘90s. They had every right to be. The lineup of attractions, and shops at the end of Wonder Eggs 3 was far more impressive than how it started.
Wonder Eggs 3: Final attraction lineup
1. The Wedding Judge
2. Future Colosseum
3. Carnival Arcade
4. Galaxian³
5. Zombie Coffin
6. Phantomers
7. Cyber Station
8. Tower of Druaga
9. Hotel Murder House
10. Möbius Creek
11. The Star Audition
12. Laperopter
13. Oracle of Pyrallis
14. Pyrallis Carousel
15. Virtual Vehicle
16. Italian Tomato Sweets Sweetie (Dessert House)
17. Hatch Batch Pot (Fast Food)
18. Greedy Moon (Hamburger Shop)
19. Italian Tomato (Pasta Shop)
20. Wonder Market (Souvenir Shop)
21. Wonder Chapel (Memorial Shop)
22. Wonder Caricature (Portrait Shop)
The sister park started off with a lot of promise, but fizzled out with its collection of off-the-shelf attractions. It was still an important lesson in theme park design, and operations. When both parks opened they had a combined 23 rides, and shops. When they closed they had over 30.
Here was the Egg Empire: Final attraction lineup:
23. Funhouse Express
24. Drift King
25. Q-Zar Arena / The Mummy
26. Cyber Station II
27. Fighter Camp
28. Tomato Empire Kitchen
29. Wonder Pitching
30. Virtual Coaster - Max Flight VR2002
31. SFX Movie Ride - Venturer: Featuring Space Race, Alien Encounter, The Snowman the Ride
Audiences never forgot the urban theme park. As they got older they shared stories with their kids about the magical Laperot village which used to be on the outskirts of Tokyo.
On February 29, 2020 the former employees, and fans got together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the closing of Wonder Eggs. The event opening team members Yoshitaka Sadakata, and Hisako Shimizu hosted the presentation. The special guest was Mamoru Ikezawa, the former head of Namco’s Theme Park Division. They brought memorabilia from the park. Signs, stamps, employee uniforms, standees, and the like. Other employees brought in the items they had managed to secure in the closing days of the park. It was a packed turnout with many fans in attendance, including one
that showed up in a homemade Pyrallis costume.
Futakotamagawa Garden amusement park ran from 1956 to 1985, and then Wonder Eggs was built on a corner of the park from 1992 to 2000. When Namco decided to close down them down they sent a few attractions to other parks, zoos, and play centers. Sadly by 2024 any physical trace of either park was long gone. A shopping complex was built on the path that used to separate Wonder Eggs, and the Egg Empire. There was a high-rise apartment complex standing approximately where the Pyrallis Carousel once turned. I was kind of surprised that there was no memorial plaque or statue honoring what used to be there. When I started this series I wanted to talk about the designs featured in a few Namco games. Researching them lead me to discover the art of Shigeki Toyama. The more I read about Mr. Toyama the more I learned how forward-thinking his boss was.
Play was not only an essential need for individuals, it was also a critical element of society. That realization allowed Mr. Nakamura to grow, and defend his business. As the chairman of JAMMA, he helped get arcade manufacturers to standardize technology, giving them all a boost. The lawsuits he brought against piracy defended not just Namco, but his contemporaries as well. In 2002 Mr. Nakamura stepped down as CEO, and in 2005 his company merged with Bandai. He was given an honorary role as the President of the video game division. Mr. Nakamura forever changed the landscape of gaming at home, and in the arcade. His lesser known contribution was how he created the templates for interactive theme park attractions.
Masaya Nakamura earned many accolades in his illustrious career, and left a huge void after his passing. He succeeded in life because he believed in the power of play. As we got older many of us forgot how play shaped our lives, shaped our friendships, and shaped our identity. Mr. Nakamura never forgot. Play allowed his mechanical horse to jump over the moon, and take us all along for the ride. In his memory we should never stop playing.
I hope you enjoyed this part of Namco’s history. Did you have a favorite entry in the series, or Wonder Eggs attraction you wanted to try? Please tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me
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