Over the past several weeks, we’ve been discovering all sorts of facts about Mario. Shigeru Miyamoto recently shared an additional nugget regarding the plumber’s origins at the Nintendo World Store event for Super Mario Bros.’s 25th anniversary. Have you ever wondered why Mario is Italian? Well, according to Miyamoto, the idea came from his interest in foreign comics, as well as the fact that Mario Bros. was set underground.
“As a kid, I was a big comic fan and I liked foreign comics as well. So I drew some characters that had more western type features with a little bigger noses and what not. Now with Mario, I think with Mario Bros. we had a setting of course that was underground, so I just decided Mario is a plumber. Let’s put him in New York and he can be Italian. There was really no other deep thought other than that.”
Videos
Donkey Kong Country Returns Trailer 3
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-land Mayhem! Trailer 1
Ultimate Wii Challenge Metroid: Other M #1
FlingSmash Trailer
New Carnival Games Info Video
Gods vs. Humans Info Video
Mix Superstar Info Video
Discolight Info Video
Go Series: Pinball Attack Info Video
Adventure in Vegas: Slot Machine Info Video
Pirate Blast (Wii) – E10+
Jam City Rollergirls (Wii) – E10+
EJ Puzzles: Hooked (DSi) – E
FAST – Racing League (Wii) – E
Mahjongg Mysteries: Ancient Egypt (DS) – E
Treasure Hunter X (DSi) – E
Dino Strike (Wii) – E
Heathcliff Fast and the Furriest (Wii) – E
JumpStart Get Moving Family Fitness Sports Edition (Wii) – E
Magical Drop II (Wii) – T
Remington Super Slam Hunting: Africa (Wii) – T
101-in-1 Sports Party Megamix (Wii) – E10+
Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 – From the Abyss – (DSi) – E10+
Digging for Dinosaurs (DS) – E
Disney Tron: Evolution + DGamer (DS) – E10+
Hidden Photo (DSi) – E
My Amusement Park (DS) – E
Tron Evolution – Battle Grids (Wii) – E10+
Petz Bunnyz Bunch (DS) – E
Riser’s Step Up! (Wii) – E
The Biggest Loser Challenge (Wii) – E
Art of Ink (DSi) – E10+
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters (DS) – E10+
Deadliest Catch: Sea of Chaos (Wii) – E10+
Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp (DSi) – T
DreamWorks’ Megamind: Mega Team Unite (Wii) – E10+
Karaoke Revolution Glee (Wii) – E10+
Machinarium (Wii) – E10+
Spot the Differences (Wii) – E
uDraw Studio (Wii) – E
Labyrinth (DS) – E
Mr. Bean (Wii) – E
My Little Baby (Wii) E
Scotland Yard (DS) – E
Trackmania: Build to Race (Wii) – E
Puzzles To Go – Diddl (DSi) – E
Reversi (Wii) – E
Silly Bandz: Play the Crazy (DS0 – E
Hellokids Volume 1 (DSi) – E
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 (Wii) – T
Pac-Man Party (Wii) – E10+
The Seller (DSi) – E
This information comes from a Donkey Kong Country Returns IGN preview…
“There’s one last feature up Retro’s sleeve and that’s the Super Guide. Essentially the ‘win’ button, if you die eight times in a level your friendly checkpoint pig will pop up and suggest using this function. Designed for levels that are really, really, ridiculously hard for you to conquer, the Super Guide will have Super Kong, a white version of Donkey Kong, play through the level for you. The catch is that none of the bananas, banana coins, puzzle pieces or KONG letters will be added to your collection. You don’t just have to watch though — once Super Kong passes the area you’ve been having problems with you can jump in and play as him to finish off the level.”
Hmm… That’s really interesting. The Super Guide is making it into a game that isn’t directly developed by Nintendo. I wonder what other titles we’ll see the feature make an appearance in.
Individual formats
– 1 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2011 PC SEGA SEGA
1 2 FABLE III XB360 MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
2 3 JUST DANCE 2 WII UBISOFT UBISOFT
3 4 PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE LOST FUTURE DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
17 5 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
5 6 FIFA 11 XB360 EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
8 7 FIFA 11 PS3 EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
9 8 WII PARTY WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
– 9 GOLDENEYE 007 WII ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
4 10 FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS XB360 BETHESDA SOFTWORKS BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
14 11 WII SPORTS RESORT WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
7 12 MEDAL OF HONOR XB360 EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
6 13 STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED II XB360 LUCASARTS LUCASARTS
22 14 WII FIT PLUS WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
13 15 MEDAL OF HONOR PS3 EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
11 16 STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED II PS3 LUCASARTS LUCASARTS
25 17 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
10 18 FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS PS3 BETHESDA SOFTWORKS BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
12 19 WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2011 XB360 THQ THQ
23 20 JUST DANCE WII UBISOFT UBISOFT
20 21 THE SIMS 3 XB360 EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
19 22 FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 XB360 MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
15 23 WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2011 PS3 THQ THQ
21 24 HALO: REACH XB360 MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
16 25 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2011 PS3 KONAMI KONAMI
24 26 THE SIMS 3 PS3 EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
33 27 MARIO KART WII WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
34 28 SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 WII NINTENDO NINTENDO
18 29 THE SIMS 3: LATE NIGHT PC EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
– 30 THE X FACTOR WII DEEP SILVER KOCH MEDIA
– 31 007: BLOOD STONE PS3 ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
27 32 F1 2010 XB360 CODEMASTERS CODEMASTERS
– 33 007: BLOOD STONE XB360 ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
39 34 SPORTS CHAMPIONS PS3 SONY COMPUTER ENT. SONY COMPUTER ENT.
28 35 F1 2010 PS3 CODEMASTERS CODEMASTERS
26 36 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2011 XB360 KONAMI KONAMI
38 37 FIFA 11 WII EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
– 38 TOY STORY 3 DS DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
– 39 THE SIMS 3 DS EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
– 40 ART ACADEMY DS NINTENDO NINTENDO
All formats
– 1 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2011 SPORTS INTERACTIVE SEGA SEGA
2 2 FIFA 11 EA CANADA EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
1 3 FABLE III LIONHEAD STUDIOS MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
4 4 JUST DANCE 2 UBISOFT (FRANCE) UBISOFT UBISOFT
8 5 PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE LOST FUTURE LEVEL 5 NINTENDO NINTENDO
13 6 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
3 7 FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS OBSIDIAN ENTERTAINMENT BETHESDA SOFTWORKS BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
6 8 MEDAL OF HONOR DANGER CLOSE/DICE EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
5 9 STAR WARS: THE FORCE UNLEASHED II LUCASARTS LUCASARTS LUCASARTS
9 10 THE SIMS 3 THE SIMS STUDIO / EDGE OF REALITY EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
7 11 WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2011 YUKE’S THQ THQ
11 12 WII PARTY ND CUBE NINTENDO NINTENDO
– 13 GOLDENEYE 007 EUROCOM ENTERTAINMENT ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
10 14 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2011 KONAMI DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT KONAMI KONAMI
12 15 WII SPORTS RESORT NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
20 16 WII FIT PLUS NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
23 17 NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
– 18 007: BLOOD STONE BIZARRE CREATIONS ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
21 19 JUST DANCE UBISOFT (FRANCE) UBISOFT UBISOFT
14 20 F1 2010 CODEMASTERS BIRMINGHAM CODEMASTERS CODEMASTERS
24 21 TOY STORY 3 N-SPACE DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
37 22 THE X FACTOR HYDRAVISION DEEP SILVER KOCH MEDIA
16 23 FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 TURN 10 STUDIOS MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
19 24 HALO: REACH BUNGIE MICROSOFT MICROSOFT
17 25 RED DEAD REDEMPTION ROCKSTAR SAN DIEGO ROCKSTAR TAKE 2
27 26 GUITAR HERO: WARRIORS OF ROCK NEVERSOFT REDOCTANE ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
25 27 LEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 1-4 TRAVELLER’S TALES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
30 28 MARIO KART WII NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
31 29 SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
34 30 ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY TO THE WEST NINJA THEORY NAMCO BANDAI GAMES NAMCO BANDAI GAMES
22 31 DEAD RISING 2 BLUE CASTLE GAMES CAPCOM CAPCOM
15 32 THE SIMS 3: LATE NIGHT THE SIMS STUDIO EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
– 33 LEGO BATMAN: THE VIDEOGAME TRAVELLER’S TALES WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
36 34 SPORTS CHAMPIONS ZINDAGI GAMES SONY COMPUTER ENT. SONY COMPUTER ENT.
38 35 ART ACADEMY HEADSTRONG GAMES NINTENDO NINTENDO
– 36 BLUR BIZARRE CREATIONS ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
33 37 SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL SORA LTD NINTENDO NINTENDO
– 38 TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 11 TIBURON ENTERTAINMENT EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
32 39 UFC 2010: UNDISPUTED YUKE’S THQ THQ
18 40 CASTLEVANIA: LORDS OF SHADOW MERCURYSTEAM KONAMI KONAMI
“The content we provide on our handheld gaming is far in advance of what you can pick up for a five minute, ten-minute fix on a mobile phone. To some extent, you’ve seen there have been games [on mobiles] for ages and ages. In our industry there’s always been talk about apps and things coming on… I think it’s grown and there’s so many of them, but the actual business model is yet to be proven to some extent. I know a lot of software developers, when they look at their sales on the mobile phone side [they see] it’s probably at this stage very marginal.” – Nintendo of Europe boss David Yarnton
Nintendo has yet to see an impact on sales from mobile gaming, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it got to that in the distant future. He’s right though: most mobile (phone) gaming is for those quick 5 or 10 minute fixes while you’re waiting somewhere or on a bus to work or something. I know I’ve never played a mobile game for more than a few minutes at a time! Can’t say the same about my DS though.
Over the weekend, the Nintendo World Store hosted a party for the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. Shigeru Miyamoto was in attendance, as was Andrew Gardikis, a fan who has previously executed successful speed runs for the game. Gardikis once again attempted a speed run on Sunday, though there was, naturally, more pressure this time around. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete it, but at least it seems everyone has a great time! You can check out more pictures from the event here.
