Nintendo to Launch Pokemon Theme Park

TOKYO (IOL) – Japan's Nintendo will launch a traveling amusement park later this year with rides based on Pokemon characters, starting in Taiwan, a report said Saturday. The Pokemon theme park will open in Taipei for a three-month run from June, aiming to draw a total of one million visitors, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said in its evening edition. The Nintendo group is considering moving the park later to the United States, Europe and Shanghai, the economic daily added. The ubiquitous Pokemon characters, originally developed by Nintendo for its "Game Boy" machine, have been made into a television animation series aired in 70 countries and regions. The Pokemon park was temporarily built last year in the central Japa-nese city of Nagoya to coincide with the World Exposition held for six months to September. It drew 4.5 million visitors during its half-year run. Nintendo officials could not be reached to confirm the report.