Slashdot Mirror
How Nintendo's Mario Got His Name
harrymcc writes "In 1981, tiny Nintendo of America was getting ready to release Donkey Kong. When the company's landlord, Mario Segale, demanded back rent, Nintendo staffers named the game's barrel-jumping protagonist after him. Almost thirty years later, neither Nintendo — which continues to crank out Mario games — nor Segale — now a wealthy, secretive Washington State real estate developer — like to talk about how one of video games' iconic characters got his name and Italian heritage. Technologizer's Benj Edwards has researched the story for years and provides the most detailed account to date."
the coin obsession... never met a landlord yet who wasn't in it for the shines
the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
It explains the constant need for coins.
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
The game designers had a few beers, then turned the M upside down.
Same with Luigi and "Princess Peach". Peach in Japanese is "momo", but upside down that is "wowo". Hence "Luigi".
Speaking as an American of Italian heritage who also used to be a plumber, not only am I not offended by Mario, I hold him up as a role model. I mean, I lost count of the number of times I had to chase some damned monkey through the pipes. Happened all the time.
This ain't rocket surgery.
What about the backstory behind the real unsung hero of the series: Weegee?
So if I develop a video game, you can be sure the protagonist will be named:"that B@#ch in apartment 1-A"
For those who don't want to the read full article, here's the summary: "Mario is named after Nintendo of America's former warehouse landlord Mario Segale." It's curious how the article spans three pages, seems to be well researched yet has no new information.
Freedom is drinking a beer in the park when you're supposed to be at work.
This guy did research for YEARS to publish this article ? I like Nintendo/Mario as much as the next person, but somewhere between year 1 and 2 you think he would have thought "Damn, maybe this isn't really all that important..."
At least that I know of.
But it's ok. At least he's not in the Mafia.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
what about Luigi?!
Of all the things I've lost; I miss my mind the most. - Mark Twain
I've heard of many landlords doing their own plumbing/repairs for their tenants instead of hiring somebody (usually residential). It's just so funny that Mario actually was a landlord. I wonder if he fixed Nintendo's pipes or if Nintendo just pulled that whole idea out of their a**. Either way, it's always fascinating to hear about the origins of such classic/iconic/well-known things.
J.D. Salinger, Thomas Pynchon, and Mario Segale were hanging out together at a bar. Salinger says, "I'm sick and tired of these ambitious news people harassing me because I wrote a book." Pynchon replies, "Tell me about it, I just want to be left alone." Segale nods, downs his limoncello in one gulp, and says, "Mama mia! Vito, break-a these-a-guys' thumbs!"
--I'm so big, my sig has its own sig.
-- See?
I always thought it was just some Japanese Nintendo worker's idea of a typical Caucasian name.
Nowadays, such practical joke would lead to cease and desist letters, followed by a lawsuit for $4,000,000,000 of compensation, damages and libel, and finally royalties for licensing the use of his first name in videogames, tv, cinema, songs, or any other media.
It doesn't explain how Donkey Kong wasn't named Monkey Kong.
War isn't about who's right. It's about who's left.
They are starting a huge (500-acre) development near SeaTac... and they haven't been idle all these years: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011460764_segale28.html
A:Conhece o Mário?
B:Que Mário?
A:Aquele que te comeu atrás do armário!
Before that he was trading off roles with Donkey Kong, first trying to rescue Pauline, then carrying a whip and sending snapjaws after Donkey Kong Jr. trying to free his daddy, and then shooting bug spray up Donkey Kong's butt.)
That wasn't Mario shooting bug spray up DK's butt - That was Stanley
Seeing how when "Donkey Kong" first came out, the character was called "Jumpman" and not Mario (and by the way was a carpenter, not a plumber), I doubt it had anything to do with their landlord when they were readying it for release.
A nice segment of the book Game Over: Press Start To Continue by David Sheff covered this story about the naming of Mario, as well as the naming of Donkey Kong. It's actually quite a good read for anyone into gaming from around 1975-1990. I've read it twice so far myself.
He lost his fingers...he has 5 children to feed, his wife "Incess Bitch" died, and has no health insurance. Would you sell *shrooms to help save his fingers by raising enough money to pay for the surgery?
No article on Mario would be complete without this.
There was a movie made in 1953 "Le salaire de la peur" with a hero named "Mario" who had a best friend "Luigi"
Take a look at this still and see if it make you think of Mario!
Well, the thing is that they don't have a separate sound for R & L. They have a set of five sounds (usually transliterated as ra / re / ri / ro / ru) that are roughly half-way in between L and R in terms of sound. The tongue further back in the mouth (like the R and unlike the L sound), but the tongue also touches the roof of the mouth (which is just the opposite of before; being like the L sound and unlike the R sound). So you can think of it as half-and-half because it has one trait from both the R sound and the L sound.
But you're right that both those names sound like they contain the "warui" (bad) when pronounced the Japanese way.
> From what I've heard, Wa in Japanese means opposite.
I think you've been misinformed. Depending on the exact form used, wa means "harmony", "sum", "total", can be combined with other words to indicate things of Japanese origin, is the reading of the "ha" hiragana when it's used as the subject particle, can be added to the end of a sentence to make the speaker sound more feminine and for emphasis, used to draw contrast or compare things, can indicate a limit, and can even be used as a counter for birds and rabbits, but I don't believe it means "opposite" (or if it does, it's not in any of my dictionaries).
The words I can find for "opposite" are "hantai no" (as in "go in the opposite direction"), "hantaigawa no" (as in "the other side" of something), "gyaku no koto" (as in "I thought the opposite thing"), and "no mukaigawa ni" (as in "the house opposite mine"), none of which really work in a context like this. If they went that route, they'd be more likely to use the word "ura" (which has meanings like "reverse", "back/rear", "wrong side" and "shady side").
Instead, of course, they used a pun on the word "warui" (bad), as a poster above explained.