Why is Super Mario a landmark game?

Ultimate History of Video Games:

“The first shipment of NES systems arrived in a neat stack that barely took up half of the trailer on which it was transported. The boxes were stored in the warehouse, and the team began the arduous task of trying to get retailers to accept Nintendo’s products. Most store owners did not want to look at video games, let alone waste floor space selling them. In fact, team members were cautioned not to use the term video game. The NES was to be sold as an “entertainment system.”-PG 296

“Even so, most of the 500 retailers who sold the NES that Christmas might not have taken the merchandise if it were not for a risky offer made by Arakawa himself—a money-back guarantee. Going against the wishes of Nintendo Co. Ltd. president Hiroshi Yamauchi, Arakawa authorized his sales force to say that Nintendo would buy back any merchandise that retailers wished to return. The only thing retailers provided was floor space. Nintendo lugged in the merchandise, set up the displays, and bought back any unsold product.”-PG 297

“Super Mario Bros. took Mario out of his single-screen setting and placed him in a huge, vivid world. Instead of simply climbing ladders and moving around on platforms, players now controlled him as he ran through a seemingly endless, brightly colored countryside filled with caverns, castles, and giant mushrooms.”-PG 299

“It also took Warren Robinett’s concept of hidden “easter eggs” to a new Level with entire hidden worlds. Most people continued playing Super Mario Bros. to find all of Miyamoto’s Easter Eggs long after they finished the game.”- PG 299

“Nintendo also had a stronger identity. In 1981, the biggest year of arcades, Donkey Kong was second only to Pac-Man in popularity.”-PG 305

POWER UP:

“The actual challenge of Donkey Kong was to get a high score by playing the same levels over and over again. Many other running/jumping/climbing games with a similar challenge followed Donkey Kong, but Super Mario Bros. was the first game in which simply completing the story was the actual goal of the player, and so the exhortations of this introductory text were to be taken seriously. Super Mario Bros. kept score, but nobody cared; the idea was to find out what happened when you saved the princess!” PG- 82

“At this point, a gamer accustomed to the brief Atari games of the era would assume that the game is nearly over and that he is moments away from rescuing the Princess. But this is far from true. In fact, there are seven more “worlds” of four levels each to traverse before the Princess is found.”-PG 86 

Takashi Murakami:

Quote from Takashi Murakami:

“But everyone who lives in Japan knows- something is wrong… Kawaii (cute) culture has become a living entity that pervades everything. With a population heedless of the coast of embracing immaturity, the nation is in the throes of a dilemma: a preoccupation with anti-aging may conquer not only the human heart, but also the body.

It is a utopian society as fully regulated as the science fiction world George Orwell envisioned in 1984: comfortable, happy, fashionable- a world nearly devoid of discriminatory impulses. A place for people unable to comprehend the moral coordinates of right and wrong as anything other than rebus for ‘I feel good’.”

(Meaning of the quote): People live mindless lives, where they return to being children. For Murakami the “cute” culture is a retreat to childhood because Japan cannot cope with thinking about Hiroshima and an aging society, trying to suppress the stress and anxiety they’ve had.

Takashi Murakami, Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture, 2005

Pearson:

Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, the intention of the Mario games was for the player to recreate the wonder of childhood exploration and the stumbling upon of unexpected treasures. -PG 828

The absurdity of a rather short and podgy New York plumber of Italian origin (complete with overalls, large nose and moustache) rescuing Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom from a race of magic wielding turtles certainly resonates with a child-like imagination and Super Mario Bros. soon became a sensation -PG 829

History of The Japanese Video Game Industry:

“On the other hand, as is typical of the Mario series, Nintendo emphasizes the importance of game content that can be enjoyed by the whole family and that parents can buy for their children with peace of mind.” -PG 12

References:

Pearson, A. and Tranter, K. (2015) ‘Code, Nintendo”s Super Mario and Digital Legality’, International journal for the semiotics of law, 28(4), pp. 828–830.

Kent, S.L. (2021) The ultimate history of video games. volume 1, from pong to pokémon and beyond–the story behind the craze that touched our lives and changed the world. New York: Crown. 

Kohler, C. (2004) Power-up: how Japanese video games gave the world an extra life. Indianapolis, Ind: BradyGames.

Takashi Murakami, Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture, 2005

Koyama, Y. (2023). History of the Japanese Video Game Industry. Springer Nature.