(L-R) Mario, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, and Gov. Chris Gregoire, apparently distracted by something Luigi said.

Nintendo of America's new headquarters building in Redmond is loaded with environmentally friendly features -- including 75,000 square feet of plants blanketing the roof, a drainage system that filters pollutants out of the rainwater and seven electric-vehicle recharging stations in the parking garage, to name a few.

But this is a video-game company, after all, and most of the fun stuff is on the inside. There's an employees-only Nintendo World store, a new Cafe Mario employee restaurant, and a directional system that divides the building into color-coded quadrants named after Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi and Wario.

Not to mention a gigantic top-floor conference room named the "Master Sword," a reference that Legend of Zelda fans will appreciate. It's like something out of a movie, with big chairs surrounding a long table, and clocks on the wall displaying the time in Remond, Kyoto and New York.

The building also houses its own energy-efficient data center and network operations center. Outside is an amphitheater, and across the way is a new four-story parking garage.

In short, it's a major upgrade from the outdated space that the company has been occupying next door.

"Hopefully this new building will help (employees) to be even more creative and productive, and continue to put smiles on the faces of our consumers," said Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's president, who flew in from Japan for the opening ceremony, attended by Gov. Chris Gregoire and other dignitaries, including Mario and Luigi.

I toured the new headquarters along with other attendees after the ceremony, but the company wouldn't allow photos or video inside, citing security concerns. The exterior shots below are from Nintendo.

Nintendo of America has been located in Redmond since 1982, and the new headquarters signals its intention to remain in the region, and the city, despite the fact that Microsoft has been literally surrounding the company with new buildings of its own. The new headquarters building is just south of Nintendo's existing structures, one of which will be demolished to create an open area and ballfields in the midst of what will then be a three-building campus.

The new building is three full stories topped by a partial fourth floor with conference rooms and gathering spaces, plus an internal auditorium with stadium-style bench seats extending down to the third floor. The building, at 300,000 square feet, houses about 650 employees.

Photos: Benjamin Benschneider

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