We’re talking about Mario, of course –the hero plumber with a big bushy mustache. Nintendo’s iconic mascot has appeared in over 200 video games since his 1981 debut, and the games he stars in have sold more than 210 million copies worldwide.
Having Mario on their team gives Nintendo a neat advantage over competing video game publishers. No other company owns such an iconic character. Sure, Microsoft has Halo’s Master Chief, and Sony has Metal Gear’s Solid Snake, but neither of those super-soldiers has the same broad recognition and sheer star power as Mario. Other publishers don’t even come close: Would the average man on the street recognize Altaïr ibn-La’Ahad from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise, or Commander Shepard from Electronic Arts’ Mass Effect trilogy?
Created in 1981 by Nintendo’s legendary video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario was initially known as “Jumpman,” the nondescript hero of arcade hit Donkey Kong. But before the American release of the game, the character was re-christened in honor of Mario Segale, landlord of a warehouse owned by Nintendo America, to whom he reportedly bore a physical similarity.
Mario got his big break four years later when the Nintendo Entertainment System was launched. It quickly became one of the most successful game consoles in history, and Mario –star of Super Mario Brothers, which came bundled with many of those consoles– was assured his place in history.
This week, Mario appears in a brand new game, New Super Mario Bros. U, his first for the new Wii U system. To mark the occasion, we put together this look back at some of his different looks and biggest hits over the last thirty years.
Want to know how a pen-and-paper game helped create the modern video game industry? Pre-order my book, Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It. You can also follow me on Twitter, Facebook orGoogle +.
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