By the end of 2002, some Blockbusters in the States were giving away copies for a dollar. No matter the market, Theme Parks Adventure was one of the earliest third-party titles for the shiny, new Nintendo GameCube. That’s probably why Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure was released abroad at all, reaching North American shelves a week before Christmas 2001 and PAL regions in May of the following year. One unnamed authority admitted their worries to The Japan Times: “Osaka isn’t a major tourist destination and, with all major media based in Toyko, constantly promoting Universal Studios Japan will be difficult.” More difficult still for overseas audiences, which supposed to account for every third spin of the turnstiles. Not good enough for some park officials at the time. Not bad for the company’s first scratch-built international project. By the end of the year, over 11 million guests passed under the studio arches, hitting the 10-million mark faster than any other theme park in history. Early projections clocked the first year’s attendance around 8 million. On March 31st, 2001, Universal Studios Japan opened to record-breaking crowds. Considering Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure was designed as a playable travelogue, that’s not necessarily an unfair conclusion. IGN managed to work that into their review before the first full paragraph. “If the real Universal Studios is anything like this game, we don’t ever, ever want to go.”
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