North America

How Nintendo Named The Iconic ‘Mario’

Mario - A True Gaming Icon

We have all known Mario and his rescue efforts since childhood. Despite its deep-rooted admiration and fame, it is reasonable that an average person may not likely associate with the eponymous gaming icon from the classic Mario franchise of platform games, though it’s very unlikely that no one would even recognize this iconic mascot even if they aren’t gaming. There are distinctive features to its figure which cannot be missed like the red t-shirt, the blue overalls with yellow buttons, an unmistakable moustache, and to (literally) top it up, the most recognized signature symbol…yup, I’m talking about his red cap with the ‘M’ logo. He’s playful, joyful with a cute pretence for an actual plumber, Super Mario was a significant part of my growing up era and being popular with my generation, he instantly became synonymous with the activity of gaming itself. Glad to experience those moments once again on my Nintendo Classic but that apart, I was able to discover a small piece of history behind the culmination of its name and it was mind-boggling!

In the early 80s, Nintendo had rented warehouses in New York for establishing its US headquarters and the owner of the business park was visiting the warehouse to collect overdue rent when he started berating Minoru Arakawa, President of Nintendo of America in front of employees. At the time, Nintendo was developing the famous arcade platform game Donkey Kong which had a character called ‘Jumpman’ who must dodge and jump over obstacles to rescue a damsel in distress called Pauline. After this rather discourteous display of temper, Arakawa and the developers decided to rename ‘Jumpman’ after the landlord who was called Mario Segale, also because the character itself resembled the suspenders-wearing Italian-American. If there was an instance of killing someone with kindness this one takes the trophy!

Original Donkey Kong arcade gameplay with Mario saving Pauline.
Mindhunter

Mindhunter Is A Lesson In Criminal Psychology

My obsession for retro is well-known, and it’s a particularly gratifying experience being in North America to observe the nuances of this geography from the 70s in a web TV series. The fashion, the architecture, the make of the classic cars, and the means of communications (obviously no mobile phones in the 70s) is a revelation of sorts & a journey back in time. It was fascinating to watch ‘Halt and Catch Fire’ in the backdrop of the 80s more specifically for its anecdotes related to the pre-PC era. Then again, the CNN series on the 60s, 70s, and the 80s which took me on a nostalgic history of North America. And a couple of days ago I binged watched ‘Mindhunter’ on Netflix, a crime psychological thriller from David Fincher and Charlize Theron.

Set in 1977-79 years the series is based on the book ‘Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit’ by authors John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker following the adventure of FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff), and a seasoned agent named Bill Tench (characterized by Holt McCallany). Ford and Tench are FBI agents from the Behavioral Science Unit interviewing a bunch of serious killers (not “serial” killers) incarcerated for their gruesome crimes in an attempt to understand their attitudes which made them commit those heinous acts! The entire Season 1 was a fun nostalgic ride back into the 70s (I can’t wait for Season 2), it’s unlike any other TV series or movie you may have watched in the detective/murder mystery genres, it’s engrossing, and without question it introduces a new narrative about criminal psychology.

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