The video game character Mario was originally created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the main mascot for Nintendo, and has appeared in over 200 video games to date. Games featuring Mario are said to be the best-selling games of all time, with over 210 million units being sold worldwide.
Mario was created when Miyamoto was working on the platform game Donkey Kong. He was originally called Jumpman, and then “Mr. Video”, when he came into his own as a more popular character. When Mario Segale, the landlord of the warehouse that Nintendo of America was working out of went to the President, Minoru Arakawa, demanding back rent, he was assured that he would be paid and the character was then named after him.
Mario started out as a carpenter in the Donkey Kong game, because it was set in a factory. In Mario Bros., he became a plumber due to the game being set mostly underground with pipes. Mario was made into an Italian plumber in New York to make people relate to him. As he was not meant to be a popular character with his own games, he was merely called “Mr. Video”, and Miyamoto considered him a character that could easily be added to nearly any game that they were working on.
Mario may have started out in Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., but he came to the forefront in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. . The other titles he has been featured in are too numerous to list, yet they range from 3 Super Mario Bros. games, to the ever popular Super Mario World, to several games for the Nintendo 64 (Super Mario 64 being the debut). In 2007, Mario ventured into space with Princess Toadstool in Super Mario Galaxy. For the Gamecube system, there was Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. There even has been Wii games created for the Mario enthusiast, such as Mario Sports Mix and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Mario has made many appearances in media, including his own show, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! . There was a live-action film created titled Super Mario Bros., and he was featured in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out! game, as a referee. Nintendo Adventure Books and The Nintendo Comics System were a great addition to this wonderful franchise.
Throughout the past four decades, with Mario’s early beginnings in 1981 and steady rise to the top he has certainly brought joy to many video game fans. The Nintendo franchise has made him into a cultural icon that will always have a place in history. Mario is sure to be a character that will continue to appear all over for many more years.
