It’s me, Mario! You may find it interesting to know that on March 10th the first three letters of the name of the month and the date form the name Mario (MAR10).
The holiday Mario Day was originally meant to be a holiday for anyone named Mario, but Nintendo’s favorite plumber seems to be the center of attention on this day.
Before he was Mario
It’s not hard to see why. Mario has been a huge part of gaming history for many years, and because of that is certainly the most memorable Mario.
In honor of Mario Day & the plumber, let’s reflect on Super Mario history.
Mario was created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.
Shigeru was originally just a gaming artist for the Nintendo Company until the president of the company, Hiroshi Yamauchi, asked him to design a new game.
The Nintendo Company was having difficulty entering the market of Arcade Games and had tried to manufacture games previously, but all attempts to popularize and sell their games were marked failures.
After Shigeru designed a game for Nintendo’s Cabinets, the company hired Ikegami Tsushinki to program it.
After the game was designed and programd it was released as Donkey Kong in 1981.
It was in Donkey Kong that Mario made his first appearance as the protagonist, Jumpman.
It was the first game of its kind at that time, having a background story and a playable character that could move side to side climb and Jump.
Donkey Kong sold really well and Miyamoto went on to design more games with his Jumpman character.
Jumpman’s name eventually changed when the owner of Nintendo’s Warehouse Headquarters came by to demand past due rent and as luck would have it, the owner’s name was Mario.
The staff then jokingly nicknamed Miyamoto’s character Mario, after the owner of the warehouse.
Getting a real name
After a long time of calling Jumpman, Mario, eventually it became the character’s actual name.
Two years later in 1983, the first Mario Bros. game was released featuring Mario and his brother Luigi. By the year 1985 Super Mario Brothers was released and Mario became increasingly popular from then on.
Other sequels followed such as Super Mario Bros. 2, which had released a Japanese and an American version, plus Super Mario Bros. 3 and 4.
Other than the famous Super Mario there have been other remarkable Mario’s in the world.
Such as Mario Lopez a film actor who played in the American Sitcom, George Lopez and even had a role as A.C. Slater in the teen show Saved By the Bell.
Even the Mafia has even had its share of Mario’s. Mario Gigante, known for being physically violent with the police and being involved in Loansharking, is the brother of the late Vincent “the chin” Gigante.
Mario Day is a great opportunity to celebrate all things Mario.
Whether you’re watching George Lopez, watching some Gangster movies, eating mushrooms with your dinner, or just relaxing playing some old school Nintendo there are plenty of ways to make March 10 a Mario-tastic day!
