The Origins of Mario

Everyone has heard of Mario before, and this will be true even for people who do not call themselves gamers. This is partly because the video game character was introduced so early on in the industry’s life, in 1981 he first appeared in the legendary Donkey Kong. There is no doubt that everyone has had some experience with the loveable Italian plumber at some point in their lives, and to say he has permeated into popular culture would be an understatement.

Over the years, Mario has undergone many design changes, and the same is true for the games themselves. As Mario is a Nintendo property, gamers can expect the legendary games company to experiment with their games in fascinating ways, dependent on the level of technology that is available at the time. In New Super Mario Bros, players can even gamble in Picture Poker, a mini-game that simulates real-life poker. In recent years, the gambling industry has grown immensely and players should find it possible to access a casino without registration easily if they want to play their favourite casino games.

Looking back at the long history Mario has attained, it could prove useful for new players who have had no experience with the franchise to get a good understanding of how Mario was created.

The creator of Mario is Shigeru Miyamoto who was is a legend of the gaming industry.  The purpose behind creating Mario was to make a smash hit game that would build on the failures of previous Nintendo games at the time, such as Sheriff. The reason for Mario’s design is as simple as it is less work to animate; the reason why he wears a hat at all is that animating his hair would be harder work than just designing the character to wear a hat. The same is true for his moustache, which saves the trouble of animating Mario’s mouth.

After the design phase was complete, Miyamoto named the character Mr Video, but this was a name that obviously wouldn’t stick. After being renamed Mario, after the landlord that owned Nintendo’s Warehouse in America, the character was placed into Donkey Kong as a carpenter, which may surprise some as they may know him as a plumber. After the success of this game, Mario got his own game in 1983 with Mario Bros, and from here, the popularity of the character only increased.

Mario is one of the biggest characters in gaming, and those who have never heard of the character before or are new to the gaming community might now understand why Mario is loved by so many.