Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2013 15:05:25 GMT -8
To celebrate the Museum of Mario, IGN wrote up an article regarding some of their editors and some people in the industry regarding Mario games.
I have that page framed in my home and I'm still proud of it to this day!
When I'd go home, I'd think about Mario's cape. When I'd close my eyes, I'd see question mark blocks. The breakdown was inevitable, and one day I packed up some SEGA junk, headed to FuncoLand, and came back with an SNES and Mario.
Here's where my Mario memory actually begins. See, I'd play Super Mario World over and over again, but I did so listening to Weezer's Pinkerton album over and over again in the comfort of my home. "Pink Triangle," another 1-UP. "Tired of Sex," Mario leaping across treetops. "Across the Sea," that beautiful hub world. It was a peanut butter and jelly combination the likes of which my gaming days had never seen.
To this day, I can't play Super Mario World or listen to Pinkerton without thinking back to that yellowing, used SNES that captivated me with a little Italian plumber.
When I was little, like 5 or 6 years old, I'd play Super Mario Bros. (the first one) on the NES while my mom sat in a recliner in the room with me and would do sewing or cross-stitch. And, like little kids do, I'd get to a part with a tricky jump and say "Mom, watch me do this part!!" and then proudly nail the jump. Of course looking back on it I'm fully aware she would probably just continue sewing without looking up, then say "Nice work, honey." But at the time, well, kids aren't so perceptive.
Anyway, when Super Mario 2 came out it wasn't near my birthday or anything, but I wanted the game so bad, and all I had to go on was the coverage in Nintendo Power Magazine. I was going bonkers over it, reading and re-reading the SMB2 articles, drawing pictures of the maps with colored pencil in my notebooks, talking about it all the time while out with my mom at the grocery store, playing SMB1 but imagining it was 2, etc. After weeks (months?) of this, I came home from school one day, and when I walked in the front door my mom said, "Hey, could you show me that one part in Super Mario again?" Excitedly, I ran upstairs-- mom actually wanted to see me be good at Mario!-- plopped down, and turned on the NES... and to my shock, amazement and wonder, what shows up on the TV screen isn't the familiar Super Mario Bros. logo, but instead the title image for Super Mario Bros 2. I couldn't believe it. I never saw it coming. As noted: kids, not so perceptive.
So, that's stuck with me for something like 25 years. Sometimes a surprise like that can really stick with you... and I think it's those kinds of memories that lead to becoming a lifelong gamer.
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Cliff Bleszinski (Co-creator of Gears of War) said:
I have always loved videogames from the first time I saw the Atari 2600 and Space Invaders. However, I, much like most of the world, fell out of love with them briefly after the big video game crash in the 80's. It was when I saw the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario Bros in particular that that love was re-ignited. I couldn't believe the graphical fidelity of the NES and the scrolling screens on Mario as well as the fantastic design of the entire experience. (A whole generation of mothers were tortured with the music whereas a generation of gamers wax nostalgic about it.) I eventually got so good at the game that I was able to max out the scoreboard at 9,999,950 and I took a Polaroid (the original Instagram!) and mailed it to Nintendo who then printed my name in the Nintendo Fun Club and then eventually in the very first issue of Nintendo Power.I have that page framed in my home and I'm still proud of it to this day!
Greg Miller (IGN Host and Producer) said:
I don't play games over and over again. Ever. It's just not my thing. However, Super Mario World is one of those rare exceptions. I was a SEGA kid. I made the mistake early of getting hooked up with a Master System, and I never looked back. But in one of those sticky Chicago summers, I found myself in Matt Noel's basement on a daily basis playing Super Mario World. Over and over again.When I'd go home, I'd think about Mario's cape. When I'd close my eyes, I'd see question mark blocks. The breakdown was inevitable, and one day I packed up some SEGA junk, headed to FuncoLand, and came back with an SNES and Mario.
Here's where my Mario memory actually begins. See, I'd play Super Mario World over and over again, but I did so listening to Weezer's Pinkerton album over and over again in the comfort of my home. "Pink Triangle," another 1-UP. "Tired of Sex," Mario leaping across treetops. "Across the Sea," that beautiful hub world. It was a peanut butter and jelly combination the likes of which my gaming days had never seen.
To this day, I can't play Super Mario World or listen to Pinkerton without thinking back to that yellowing, used SNES that captivated me with a little Italian plumber.
Steve Gaynor (Co-Founder of The Fullbright Company) said:
My fondest memory of the Mario series centers on SMB2, which I know is a less popular pick than SMB3, Mario World, etc. But this is less about the game, and more about my mom.When I was little, like 5 or 6 years old, I'd play Super Mario Bros. (the first one) on the NES while my mom sat in a recliner in the room with me and would do sewing or cross-stitch. And, like little kids do, I'd get to a part with a tricky jump and say "Mom, watch me do this part!!" and then proudly nail the jump. Of course looking back on it I'm fully aware she would probably just continue sewing without looking up, then say "Nice work, honey." But at the time, well, kids aren't so perceptive.
Anyway, when Super Mario 2 came out it wasn't near my birthday or anything, but I wanted the game so bad, and all I had to go on was the coverage in Nintendo Power Magazine. I was going bonkers over it, reading and re-reading the SMB2 articles, drawing pictures of the maps with colored pencil in my notebooks, talking about it all the time while out with my mom at the grocery store, playing SMB1 but imagining it was 2, etc. After weeks (months?) of this, I came home from school one day, and when I walked in the front door my mom said, "Hey, could you show me that one part in Super Mario again?" Excitedly, I ran upstairs-- mom actually wanted to see me be good at Mario!-- plopped down, and turned on the NES... and to my shock, amazement and wonder, what shows up on the TV screen isn't the familiar Super Mario Bros. logo, but instead the title image for Super Mario Bros 2. I couldn't believe it. I never saw it coming. As noted: kids, not so perceptive.
So, that's stuck with me for something like 25 years. Sometimes a surprise like that can really stick with you... and I think it's those kinds of memories that lead to becoming a lifelong gamer.
Samuel Claiborn (IGN Executive Editor) said:
On a wintery day in 1986 I played Super Mario Bros. for the first time, along with Excitebike, at a cousin's house over winter break. I remember moving very slowly, unaware of the run button. I was shocked when a flower appeared instead of a mushroom, but I didn't know I could throw fireballs. I had never heard of "Nintendo," I didn't know how to hold the controller, and I probably talked about the experience every day for the next year. To put a stop to that, I received an NES for Christmas in 1987. It was my family's first video game system, and my grandfather, an engineer, was enlisted to navigate wires and ports to hook it up. That's the final memory I have of my pre-NES life. After that, everything changed. Warp zones, "turtle tipping" for infinite lives, and sequels were the subject of every conversation with anyone my age. "Nintendo" and "Mario" were synonymous with "video games," but Super Mario Bros. was the only video game that mattered. And then, one summery day in August of 1988, someone brought a magazine to school with Super Mario Bros. 2 on the coverPerrin Kaplan (Former VP of Marketing and Corporate Affairs for Nintendo of America Inc.) said:
I have so many memories of life with Mario. To many of us he was half digital and half real human. He was respected by every single employee. I think the most amazing Mario moment was the day we launched Super Mario 64. It was the first time any video game could be played 90 degrees and it was incredible to watch him fly up into the air. We knew we were onto another industry first. The innovation at that time was astounding.Click here for more people.
