Email: My Mario experience

Hi Sean

I been following your blog for about a year now, reading all the articles you wrote about Nintendo, their business strategy and video games in general.  After seeing all the e-mails you’re getting from gamers who have drifted, understood the Blue Ocean Strategy, etc, I thought about giving my two cents about gaming in my life. The first post will be about the Mario series and its progress throughout my life.

I was born at a time after Nintendo released their NES (late 80’s) and I didn’t get into games until I had a Master System in my home (Sega spread across Europe ahead of Nintendo first) and played Alex Kidd, Sonic the Hedgehog and Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse. Back on topic, some family members had an NES but I didn’t go on it much (I knew Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3 and Donkey Kong were the games) while being with my family. Years later, I got to play a SNES and a majority of the games were Mario games (World, Paint, All-Stars and Kart) with a couple of other games thrown in. At the time, I didn’t know anything about arcade-based game play and content, so I just played them as games. They were fun and challenging at the time, when I got older my skills improved and completed a few of them to all of them. I also had a Game Boy were I played Tetris and Super Mario Land 2 while the first Land was played elsewhere. I was a fan of the series at the time and I had videos of the cartoon that aired years ago but still enjoyed it nonetheless.

Then came the “3D Revolution”, Super Mario 64 surprised me since Mario can move around in a virtual world in full 3D. The voice also surprised me when Mario spoke for the first time, since it felt Mario was alive even though I envisioned his voice to be the cartoon’s (Captain Lou Albano, may he rest in peace). The game was challenging at best but after practise I eventually completed it and restarted gain (I always wanted to start again after I beat a game).

Over the years I had a N64, GBA, GameCube and a Nintendo DS which all had Mario games (including the 3D series, Kart, Sports, Party, etc) and others. When the Wii was shown, I didn’t care at the time since I was getting bored with gaming and decided to sell my consoles, games and move on with my personal life. Months (nearly a year) had passed, without gaming, I was on a roll during my college years but I felt like I was missing something. It was gaming but I tried not to think about it since I gave up on it and focused on other things to do in my life. My brother got a Wii which I was surprised about since I’ve heard all the attention it was getting so I decided to try it out. It felt kind of weird but alas, I was back into gaming. A few years later, I stumble across gamers taking about the Wii appealing to “c-gamers” (don’t like using that word, it is disrespectful), grandmas and children. I wasn’t sure about this but after going through random searches; I stumbled upon your site through your Gamer from 1994 post. From there I read every from your articles and posts and began to understand the Wii and the media of video games.

With the Wii, I got to play many new games such as Wii Sports and Wii Play, but of course a Mario game; Galaxy. I thought Galaxy was good and the texture effects, music and atmosphere were great to have on the Wii and Super Paper Mario was good but it was so devious that I won’t play it again, though I managed to complete it. But with the Virtual Console, I got to play a lot of games ranging from ones I played years back to ones I missed out (Punch-Out, Mega Man 2, Castlevania, Metroid and Probotector II (Super-C in Europe)) including the original Super Mario Bros. After understanding what you said about Mario and his content, I became more aware of what the reason was for its success; easy to play 2D platforming, rich content and high replayability. When New Super Mario Bros. Wii was announced, I thought about you and saw you were awaiting this for 18 years and finally you get it while the Industry was bashing it. I got the game and I felt like I had reclaimed something I lost years ago, an enjoyment of the original Mario games and the ones I played years ago. I would like to thank YOU Malstrom, for helping me give the game a chance and continue on the Mario series which you are correct to call Super Mario Bros. 5.

Right now, I’m disappointed in Miyamoto, he had a great series that was keeping Nintendo strong and then suddenly he dismisses it to go for something that the old-school dislikes and leave the market. I’m now more modest in game purchasing; I skipped Mario Party 8, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and eventually Mario Sports Mix. However, Super Mario All-Stars 25^th Anniversary Edition is on my list since the SNES version held a special place in my early years and it was how I first got into the Super Mario Bros. series. Also I want to support 2D Mario since the saying goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” so the arcade based gameplay can live on while the 3D games can act as cult classics.

Again, thank you for teaching me about the context regarding the Mario series and how it can survive in the future. I’m planning to send another post; this one is about my Zelda experience.

Hope to hear from you.

_________________

Malstrom writes below…

Through a trick of fate, we are fortunate to have NSMB and Mario 5. This is the very last generation that a 2d Mario could have come out. From here on out, Nintendo’s obsession with 3d output would have ensured that any chance of 2d Mario to be impossible.

With the 3DS, there is zero hope for any classic Mario or even classic Metroid. I suspect putting Ocarina of Time on it is a test run to see if players are willing to buy a 3d Zelda on a handheld (because Aonuma wants to give us more puzzles and perhaps some more train rides). All 3DS games will be designed for ‘3d output’ and how the controller is designed means D-Pad orientated games will not be the norm. Since Iwata wants 3d output for home consoles, you know no classic Mario will ever be made when that day happens.

If classic Mario was not made this generation, it never would have been made. So we got very lucky. It is impossible to ignore NSMB and Mario 5’s sales. Nintendo cannot just excuse them as ‘they’re Mario games’ as they outsold the 3d Marios by a massive margin on the same exact hardware.

My favorite moment of this generation was when Mario 5 came out. Wii sales were in decline as analysts and the Industry were having orgasms. PS3 sales were up. All Industry games moved their software to March because they were scared of Modern Warfare 2 cannibalizing their sales. And Modern Warfare 2 had a massive launch.

Reggie Fils-Aime was asked on TV if he thought the Wii would be sold out as it was last Christmas. Reggie said no way (as Nintendo had to cut production of Wii because of the declining sales. The warehouses were all full of Wii at this point). Nintendo knew Mario 5 would sell very strongly. But they had no idea it would move hardware.

A game journalist asked Reggie, “Mario 5 doesn’t seem like it is made for the Core gamer. And it doesn’t seem it was made for the Casual gamer. So who is this game made for?”

Reggie paused for a moment and then said, “It’s made for… other gamers.”

I smiled because I knew he meant gamers like me.

How big were these ‘other gamers’? With the Wii sold out, it seems like something has changed over in Nintendo-Land. Sakamoto began to desperately sell Other M as if it was just like the original Metroid because it used the same controller scheme. With the 2d games present on the Wii at E3 2010, people asked about it and Nintendo said that there were gamers who were attracted to DS and video games through NSMB. But, of course, a game just being 2d or being a platformer isn’t exactly what this ‘other gamer’ is all about. It is more about the player generating the surprise in the game instead of the developer forcing surprises on the player.

You said you got disinterested from gaming and stopped playing games.

Over the years I had a N64, GBA, GameCube and a Nintendo DS which all had Mario games (including the 3D series, Kart, Sports, Party, etc) and others. When the Wii was shown, I didn’t care at the time since I was getting bored with gaming and decided to sell my consoles, games and move on with my personal life. Months (nearly a year) had passed, without gaming, I was on a roll during my college years but I felt like I was missing something. It was gaming but I tried not to think about it since I gave up on it and focused on other things to do in my life. My brother got a Wii which I was surprised about since I’ve heard all the attention it was getting so I decided to try it out. It felt kind of weird but alas, I was back into gaming.

Something was going on with those consoles that was pushing you away from gaming. Although I am surprised you listed the DS.

Here is how Nintendo would interpret your story:

“This gamer here drifted away from gaming because the games got larger, more bloated, and more complex to play. We must simplify gaming so it meshes well with the gamer’s more demanding lifestyle.”

Here is how I interpret your story:

“This gamer never drifted away from gaming. It was developers who drifted away from what gaming is. Games today are made like movies with scripted scenarios. Instead of allowing the player to create their own scenarios when they play, developers make ‘instant scenarios’ which is like going from real mashed potatoes to instant mashed potatoes. It just isn’t the same. You miss the lumps. And you stop eating mashed potatoes altogether. I suspect the reason why the gamer stopped gaming is because he felt he was no longer playing games. The games were playing him. “

I really enjoyed your story. I’m amazed you got something from my madness. I think there are some experiences every gamer should have. Every gamer should experience 2d Mario (just like every gamer should experience Pac-Man or Robotron). Shame on Miyamoto for denying us that experience for two decades. Those children who grew up in that time might have even had a better childhood. As NES and SNES generation gamers know, that last line was not hyperbole. Super Mario Brothers wasn’t a game. It was their childhood.

Pictured Above: A ‘Magical Moment’ in Many People’s Childhood. For adults: a Second Childhood.