If there is any video game character that is iconic, it's Mario. The fat, mustachiod plumber is virtually synonimous with the medium itself. Even people who have never played a video game seem to recognize Mario. I don't doubt that some people worship at the alter of Mario, build shrines to him, buy every single game he is in and call them works of art. In fact, he is often integrated into art. In short, he is everything wonderful and great about video games.
Sorry to disagree, but I really could not care less about Mario and his games. Who died and made him a virtual god?
I may very well be missing the point, as I'm sure others will angrily attest to. I just have never understood what is so 'alluring' about the Mario character, and there is not one game that he is in that have ever liked. And that icludes Donkey Kong, when Mario is known as 'Jumpman.'
I have not played every Mario game, granted. I have played Super Mario and it's two sequels, and Super Mario 64. I have found most of these games far too hard, and thus aggrevating, as well as just plain boring to me. The only game I kinda-sorta liked is Super Mario 2, and that is not even a true Mario game! As for the others, I just usually give up in disgust, never to play the game again.
Plus it annoys me that Mario is whored out so badly by Nintendo. He's been in games of every sport imaginable, kart racing, RPGs (ok, I have played and enjoyed Mario and Luigi:Super Star Saga and Paper Mario:The Thousand Year Door. I will admit that.), educational games, dancing games(!), puzzle games, the list goes on and on. Most of these games are gobbled up by the gaming public, so of course Nintendo whores Mario out some more.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Mario. He is a likable character. I just don't understand how he is so bloody popular. Then again, I still don't know why Hana Montana/Miley Sirus is so popular, with literally thousands of products on the market. The girl seems nice enough, and she can sing, but how is she so popular? And why?
The only answer I can think of is age difference. I am 41, and was in my early to mid teens when the first Super Mario game came out and kick-started the video game industry after the crash of '83. Now there may be part of the answer:this game, and by proxy Nintendo, helped revive an all-but-dead-industry. That is a good thing, of course, but that was close to 25 years ago, and Mario is still, if not more so, as popular as he ever was. One could say that of Nintendo, who has been leaning on the 'we saved video gaming!' crutch for a very long time, and have been arrogant ever since. (Since Mario is pretty much representative of Nintendo, I had to put that jab in. Yeah, I'm not a big lover of the company right now.)
Anway, the age difference:a lot of people who were pretty young at the time played Super Mario as their first game (it did help that the game was a pack in with the NES.) As their first game, it had a big influence on them as budding video game enthusiasts. It was a fun and enjoyable experience for them, and so Mario became ingrained in their memory as a happy time in their young life. The ingredient of that magic called nostalgia, which I am certainly not immune to.
But I cut my teeth on the Atari 2600, before the crash, and gaming on that system formed the foundation of my nostalgic memories. Atari never had an official mascot or defining game, unless maybe it was Pac-Man (and everyone knows how badly that game turned out on the system.)
So can anyone explain to me why Mario and his games are so popular? I'm not trying to be a hate magnet here, I really don't get it. What am I missing? And does anyone agree with me, or am I alone in this?
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