List of rumors and urban legends about Mario

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
Revision as of 18:39, July 2, 2016 by Mario (talk | contribs) (→‎Production: This is irritating enough, but our own MarioWiki Twitter falls for this.)
Jump to navigationJump to search

Being a long-running and popular franchise, there have been many rumors, misconceptions, and urban legends regarding fictional elements, production history, and gameplay elements within the Mario franchise.

Production

Donkey Kong's name origin

Over the years several purported explanations for the origin of Donkey Kong's name have surfaced. The popular myth states that the original game was meant to be titled "Monkey Kong", but was called "Donkey Kong" due to either a mistranslation[1] or typo[2][3]. Monkey and donkey are, first, two completely different words in Japanese, so it is unlikely to be a translation error, and while typos resulting in popular names do exist, the myth's multiple variations make this explanation dubious at best.

Another explanation states that donkey was used to avoid copyright issues with King Kong[4], even though Nintendo was sued by Universal Studios in 1982 for this exact reason.

However, Shigeru Miyamoto himself has claimed numerous times that he found the name from a Japanese-English dictionary when looking for something "stubborn" or "stupid". While "donkey" is not usually considered to be an adjective, the animals themselves are often associated with those traits.[5][6]

Gunpei Yokoi is the creator of Wario and Daisy

Due to being by far the best-known personality of Nintendo's former Research & Development 1 department and his role as producer for many of their games, Gunpei Yokoi is often attributed as the sole creator of R&D1's franchises and characters up to his departure. As such, it is common for fans to credit the creation of the characters Wario and Princess Daisy, two of the main characters of R&D1's Super Mario Land games, to Yokoi.

In truth, Yokoi has never been credited as a character designer in any of the games he was involved with, and no report done during Yokoi's lifetime or modern interviews with former R&D1 staff stated he created any characters for R&D1's games.

Hiroji Kiyotake, director and graphic designer for Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, is the creator of Wario, as stated by multiple participants in a 2004 interview with the magazine Nintendo Dream[7]; he is also credited as the original designer of Wario throughout the WarioWare series. While no specific creator has been attributed for Daisy, Satoru Okada (director of Super Mario Land) or Hirofumi Matsuoka and/or Masahiko Mashimo (graphic designers for the game) would be more likely candidates.

Inspiration for the Super Mushroom

Rumours have questioned the Super Mushroom's origin, and it has been suggested that they are inspired by real-life drugs.[8][9] Similarities to both mushrooms in Alice in Wonderland and Amanita Muscaria have been pointed out.[10] Miyamoto himself has denied a connection to Alice in Wonderland, and said he drew inspiration from enchanted foodstuffs in myths and folklore.[11] Miyamoto and Iwata have talked about how the Super Mushroom was first meant to be a gameplay mechanic that would appeal to the player as a "good item".[12]

Larry Koopa's namesake

Several articles (such as this one by the British Official Nintendo Magazine) purports that Larry Koopa is named after the talk show host Larry King. However, according to former Nintendo of America employee Dayvv Brooks, Larry is also named after a musician like the rest of his siblings: in this case, Larry Mullen, Jr., the drummer for the rock band U2.[13]

However, Brooks contradicted this in a 2015 interview with gaming website Kotaku, stating that Larry's name was chosen because "he looked like a Larry" and that he wasn't named after anyone in particular[14].

Mario and Luigi's last names

With the introduction of Luigi as Mario's brother, the pair began to be collectively referred to as the Mario brothers. Because of the title, many have been led to believe that Mario and Luigi's last names are actually "Mario". This was further pushed by the Super Mario Bros. Hollywood film released in 1993, which uses "Mario" as the brothers' surname. Several other isolated cases have also appeared that use the "Mario" last name, such as the Mario Party 2 Prima Games guide, and the promo flyer for the Donkey Kong/Donkey Kong Jr./Mario Bros. arcade cabinet. Charles Martinet, Mario's current voice actor, has also given this as his response when asked about Mario's last name.[15]

For many years, various Nintendo employees and representatives, including series creator Shigeru Miyamoto, have stated that Mario and Luigi do not have a last name.[16][17][18] However, Miyamoto later recanted this stance, stating during the Super Mario Bros. 30th Anniversary festival held in Shibuya that Mario's full name is in fact "Mario Mario"[19].

Super Mario FX

A rumour suggests that a 3D platformer named "Super Mario FX" was in development for the SNES, which would have used the Super FX chip to display 3D graphics. Variants of this rumour claim that the game became or was otherwise the inspiration for Super Mario 64.

As SnesCentral elaborates, there is no actual proof that such a game was in development (which would have been unlikely due to the timetable of Super Mario 64's development), and claims of its existence seem to originate from IGN misinterpreting an interview in the January 1996 issue of Nintendo Power, where Shigeru Miyamoto stated he got the idea of developing a 3D Mario platformer (without specifying platform) while developing Star Fox, a game released on the SNES that used the Super FX chip to display full 3D graphics. Furthermore, said article's writer contacted Dylan Cuthbert (a game programmer who designed the Super FX chip and collaborated with Miyamoto on Star Fox), who confirmed that no 3D Mario platformer was in development for the SNES and that "Super Mario FX" was actually a codename for the chip itself.[20]

Super Mario Galaxy DS

In December 2007, a video showing a supposedly downloadable, Nintendo DS version of Super Mario Galaxy emerged.[21] The footage showed Mario and Luigi jumping from the Wii to the DS using a previously unknown, hidden galaxy unlockable after collecting every Power Star as both Mario and Luigi and the DS' Wi-Fi download capabilities. It also shows both brothers in the game's galaxies simultaneously, implying a co-op mode. The video also stated that each Power Star collected in the DS game would be redeemable for 10 Wii points. When asked about this, Nintendo stated that they do not comment on rumors. A slightly shorter, more stable version of the same footage was later posted on the video-sharing site Stage6 by user psycho3ler. It was shown to belong to Pablo Belmonte, a video editor behind a "Nintendo ON" hoax video posted in 2005. The extended footage on Stage6 even shows a Nintendo ON-shaped planet.

Super Mario Galaxy boxart hidden message

SMG Logo.png

Started on NeoGAF,[22] the "hidden" message in the boxart of Super Mario Galaxy can be found in the logo of the game. If one singles out all the letters with a small twinkle, the message apparently reads "UR MR GAY" (You are Mr. Gay), leading some to suggest that it may be the sneaky work of the cover artist.[23][24] Nevertheless, in the sequel, the sparkles have been rearranged to spell out U R M I AY, although this can be interpreted this as YA, I M, RU? (Yeah, I am, are you?)[25] Both title logos' arrangement of the sparkles in aesthetically pleasing areas spelling out an unintended message is likely a case of confirmation bias.

Mario Party: Star Rush packaging

Stock promotional artwork of Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad. This image has been used on various products and promotional material, including a webpage promoting the "Nintendo Experience Tour" event held at Simon Mall locations from August 31 to November 3 of 2013. It was later edited for use on the pre-release Mario Party: Star Rush boxart, sparking a rumor that the edited artwork originated from cans of Spaghetti-O's.
The stock art people believe is derived from a Spaghetti-O's can

Shortly after Mario Party: Star Rush is announced, a single tweet purports that its box cover is derived from a Spaghetti-O's can.[26] This is later picked up by mainstream gaming sites[27][28][29][30][31] and fans are led to believe the low production quality of box cover is indeed derived from food packaging. The artwork on the Spaghetti-Os can, however, is slightly altered promotional stock art. The original stock art used in other packaging including, but not limited to stationery and the official Super Mario Brothers 2013 Wall Calendar, which was released in August 1, 2012. The stock art is also used in the Simon Mall event and the Mario Kart 8 Best Buy Event Demo in 2013, well before the official promotion of Campbell's Spaghetti-Os in November, 2013.[32]. Furthermore, Toad's render in Mario Party: Star Rush version is a different render from the stock art depicted here, and the border is golden and beveled compared to the blue border in the stock art. Finally, Mario Party Star Rush is not the only game to use stock promotional art in its packaging: some other games do use stock artwork, such as Fortune Street and Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition.

Fiction

Ashley's age

It is commonly claimed among online fans that Ashley is 9/10-years old in Japanese WarioWare material and that her age was "changed" for the western localization. The claim was featured for a time on the wiki's Ashley and Red page, although it was later removed for being unsourced.

While there are hints that Ashley is meant to be younger than 15-years old (such as her voice and Ashley referring to herself in the third person in her Miiverse Sketch Masterpiece Collection video, a verbal tic that usually denotes young, immature characters in Japanese media) she has no specific stated age in any Japanese WarioWare media, including the official Japanese WarioWare: Touched! website[33].

Clawdia Koopa

A popular rumor has that an unspecified UK Nintendo magazine issue once joked that Bowser's wife is named "Clawdia Koopa". However, despite the rumor's popularity, no scan or direct quotation of the statement has surfaced. Furthermore, most sites making this claim attribute it to "Nintendo Power UK", a publication that does not exist in that region.

The idea that Bowser has a wife named Clawdia Koopa likely originates from the Mario fansite Lemmy's Land. Lemmy Koopa, the webmaster, created an original character named Clawdia to play the role of Bowser's wife in his fanfiction. She appeared on the site as early as 2002.[34] As Lemmy Koopa has always been open about Clawdia being his original character, it's most likely that a third party started the "Nintendo Power UK" rumor.

King K. Rool's costumes are separate characters in Japan

King K. Rool's trophy description in Super Smash Bros. Brawl states that "His brother, Kaptain K. Rool, made an appearance in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest". This lead to several fans wondering if this was a change in the Japanese localization of the Donkey Kong Country games, which, due to the broken telephone effect, was morphed into a "fact" that King K. Rool's disguises are separate characters in Japan. In truth, Japanese material for the Donkey Kong Country series also have K. Rool's aliases being mere disguises[35], and thus the trophy description is merely an error.

The Donkey Kong Country animated series featured Kaptain Skurvy, a pirate-themed texture swap of General Klump who is eventually revealed to be Klump's long-lost brother. As the Donkey Kong Country series was relatively popular in Japan, it may have been a possible source of confusion.

Super Mario Bros. 3 is a stage play

Because of several design elements in the game, such as the rising and closing curtains at the beginning of the game, the end of each stage being a black void representing an exit stage, several platforms being held up in midair, and some platforms being bolted into the background and casting shadows onto the sky, it has become a popular idea that Super Mario Bros. 3 is actually a stage play rather than a real adventure.[36] The theory began to spread around the Internet with an image showing evidence for the theory. In 2015, however, Shigeru Miyamoto, in a video discussing various Mario rumors and myths, would confirm that the theory is true.[37].

The Mario characters are actors

In September 2012, Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka held an interview with gaming magazine Game Informer, which was reported by several sites. Among other information, the interview had Shigeru Miyamoto stating he pictured the Mario cast as "[...] a troupe of actors".[18] As many who reported the interview omitted the context of the statement (with at least one site running it as the headline), this lead to several assuming that the statement was meant to be taken literally, that is, the Mario characters are actors playing a role and that their adventures are not "real" in the context of the Mario universe. Further supporting this idea is the above interpretation that Super Mario Bros. 3 is a play.

Miyamoto's answer, however, was of a different nature. When asked by the interviewer why Mario and Princess Peach partake in friendly sporting competitions with Bowser despite their antagonistic relationship in the platforming games, Miyamoto responded that he pictured the Mario cast as being similar to old comic and cartoon characters (specifically mentioning Popeye), which frequently changed time period and occupation depending on the scenario with no explanation, concluding that he envisions them as "one big family, or maybe a troupe of actors."[38].

Interviewer: Time and again, Bowser kidnaps Peach. Why do Mario and Peach still race go-karts and play tennis with him??
Miyamoto: If you're familiar with things like Popeye and some of the old comic characters, you would oftentimes see this cast of characters that takes on different roles depending on the comic or cartoon. They might be businessman in one [cartoon] or a pirate in another. Depending on the story that was being told, they would change roles. So, to a certain degree, I look at our characters in a similar way and feel that they can take on different roles in different games. It's more like they're one big family, or maybe a troupe of actors.

Toads' genders

On November 17, 2014, GameSpot posted an article featuring a segment of an interview with Koichi Hayashida on Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, who, when discussing the Toad's genders, stated that, "[...]we never really went out of our way to decide on the sex of these characters, even though they have somewhat gendered appearances." This led the article's writer and many others to conclude that the Toad species is a genderless race. Other more direct sources reveal, however, that Toads are not exactly genderless. An interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, for instance, has clarified that when Toads were designed, the developers did not focus on their genders until Toadette, who was clearly designed to be female, was introduced, and then players began assuming the Toad character as male.[39] In other words, Toads were more likely viewed with an ambiguous gender at first rather than being flat-out genderless as the GameSpot article seems to imply.

Gameplay

Chunky Kong in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U

Around the time the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U demo was available at select North American Best Buy locations, Smashboard user wildvine47 reported that he saw Chunky Kong as an Assist Trophy character while playing the demo at the Schaumburg Best Buy. He described Chunky's effect as making bananas fall from the sky[40]. While the report was corroborated by another poster and initially seen as credible, its veracity was questioned due to there being no video or image captured of the supposed Assist Trophy. The rumor was finally confirmed false when both versions of the game were released, with no sighting or mention of Chunky Kong as one of the Assist Trophies in either version.

On December 22, 2014, wildvine47 admitted in a forum post that he had invented the rumor, both to see which fake "leaks" would pick up on it, and for his own amusement[41].

Laser Suit in Super Mario World

In late 2006, a video was posted on YouTube showing off a secret exit in the Top Secret Area reached by leaping into a "Warp Pipe" between the two left question blocks. Said warp would take the player to a hidden goal, which would in turn lead to a level on the island above called "???". In this level is a Message Block containing a congratulatory message from the Nintendo staff presenting the Laser Suit, which would have the properties of the cape and allow Mario to shoot lasers. The suit was actually created by Super Mario World hacker KPhoenix, who made the level and added the message "so people would be fooled on Youtube."[42].

Luigi in Super Mario 64 / "L is real 2401"

One of the most famous rumors surrounding Super Mario 64 is that Luigi is available as a secret playable character, often citing a statue with small characters that purportedly spelled "L is real 2401" as proof, (though the characters can also be read as "Eternal Star"). Many theories regarding the meaning of the "L is real 2401" message were circulated, such as doing 2401 laps around the statue in order to make Luigi appear.[43] After receiving several fake methods, the review site IGN eventually offered a $100 (US) reward for an authentic method of unlocking Luigi[44], but as the staff suspected, Luigi's inclusion in Super Mario 64 was a myth, and no proof to the contrary was forthcoming[45]. Nintendo itself acknowledged the rumours in the 1998 April Fools' issue of Nintendo Power, which stated that it would discuss the "L is real 2401" message on the non-existent page 128. While his presence in the original Super Mario 64 was nothing more than a rumour, Luigi was made a playable character in the remake, Super Mario 64 DS.

A variant of the "L is real 2401" rumor claims that the "message" instead refers to Paper Mario, a game that Luigi does appear in, though as a non-playable character. According to the rumor, the "2401" refers to the game's supposed North American release date of February 4, 2001[46][47], even though its actual North American release date was one day later, on February 5. In addition, the game was actually first released in Japan on August 11, 2000, the Super Mario 64 staff would have had no idea of the game's release date years in advance, and the game was originally scheduled for a December 26, 2000, launch in North America before being delayed to February 2001.[48] The rumor appears to have originated from "Hairball" in 2000, explaining the "L is real 2401" rumor on its webpage.[49]

Luigi's hanging shadow

File:Hanging Luigi Shadow.jpg
Luigi's shadow supposedly having been hanged.

In the game Luigi's Mansion, the player must go to the Telephone Room after beating the Boss Battle of the Area 3. Within these calls, the player must have Luigi holding the the phone and wait until a lightning strikes: Luigi's shadow appears to be of him hanging himself. After being noted, it became a frequent source for creepypastas, or occasionally genuine speculation about the game's development.[50]

The shadow is in fact a lighting glitch, where the shadow is spawning incorrectly due to the camera angle.

Marty the Thwomp

Bowser's Castle
"Marty the Thwomp" in Bowser's Castle.

A popular rumor regarding Mario Kart 64 involves the green Thwomp (named "Marty" by fans) locked behind a cage at the beginning of Bowser's Castle. Rumors about using a complicated method to unlock him circulated[51][52][53], though it is unknown where the rumor exactly originated from. These videos are posted as an April Fools' joke. There is no evidence in the game's data to indicate that the Thwomp is a playable character, nevertheless.

Rosalina in Mario Tennis Open

Sometime after the release of Mario Tennis Open, a Nindori magazine scan with Rosalina's head over the QR code used to unlock Black Yoshi in the game started appearing on Japanese websites.[54] At a later point, however, another scan appeared stating that she had been replaced with Luma.Template:Refneeded

Waluigi in Super Mario 64 DS

File:SM64DSWaluigi.png
The "Purple Prizes" image.

In 2007, rumors about Waluigi appearing in Super Mario 64 DS started, similar to the original Super Mario 64 Luigi rumours. Many fans even suggested that the original "L is Real 2401" statue would be involved in accessing Waluigi in the sequel, and various fake ways to unlock him were put forth[55].

One of the more popular pieces of evidence was a fake magazine scan titled "Purple Prizes." It stated that Waluigi could be unlocked by collecting every Power Star and becoming "the fastest foot racer in the land", then triggering a hidden switch to reveal his door and defeating the "Rabbit King" to collect the key; the page also described his standard and Power Flower abilities, as well as stating that he has a "special ending". The "scan" was created by Andrew Brown, who edited a custom-made Waluigi model into game screenshots and posted the image onto his DeviantART account as well as some small gaming forums as an April Fool's joke in 2005, though it quickly spiked in popularity. Some began to state that the image has been posted onto IGN and that the "scan" was from an issue of Nintendo Power.[56]

Luigi's Mansion early versions

There are various rumours circulating regarding earlier iterations and cut content from Luigi's Mansion, most of which assert that the game was meant to be "darker" and more violent than the final version. Two recurring components of these rumours are a cut "hunter" Portrait Ghost, and the presence of an in-game time limit of 3 days, both of which were featured on earlier versions of the wiki's "List of Luigi's Mansion pre-release and unused content" page.

Hunter ghost

A common rumour is that the Safari Room originally featured a hunter boss, who wanted to have Luigi's head as one of his trophies, and who was cut for being too "scary" for the target audience of the game. No evidence of a hunter ghost is present in the game's data despite the presence of other unused ghosts, and no direct mentions of the supposed boss exist in previews.

The rumour originates from Nintendo Power's October 2001 issue: the issue included a preview of Luigi's Mansion, which featured a screenshot of the Safari Room with the caption "When your ghoul-busting mission takes you to the trophy room, proceed with caution. If you meet up with the ghost of a hunter, he'll want to add Luigi to his collection." The caption was likely an attempt at flavour rather than a serious indication that a game hunter-themed ghost was in the game, as the article was written after Luigi's Mansion's Japanese release, long after such a character would've been considered and cut from the game.

Time limit

The most common claim about earlier builds of Luigi's Mansion is that it originally featured a time limit of 3 days to complete the game, after which the titular mansion would disappear with Mario still inside. Similar to the above, no evidence of a scrapped time limit exist in the final versions' data, and no previews of the game mention it.

The time limit rumour may be another instance of Chinese whispers, this time relating to showings of Luigi's Mansion at video game conventions. The game's show floor demo at E3 2001 featured an on-screen timer of 1 minute 30 seconds. After the time elapsed, Professor E. Gadd would appear and boot back the player to the title screen, ending their time with the game.

External links

References

  1. ^ "It seems the entire game is a misnomer. Legend has it that the Japanese wonk who developed the game made a mistake when translating the Japanese for 'Monkey Kong' into English. By the time the error was discovered millions of labels had already been printed." 1.Dougherty, Kerry."Pretendo — Oops, Nintendo — Separates Males from Females." The [Norfolk] Virginian-Pilot. 4 January 1997 (p. A11).
  2. ^ "Why exactly the giant ape is called 'Donkey Kong' is a mystery, although I heard one story that sounds plausible: The original arcade game, designed in Japan, was supposed to be called 'Monkey Kong,' but somebody misspelled it and the name stuck." Burrill, William. "Game Boy Cart More Fun Than Barrel of Donkeys." The Toronto Star. 4 August 1994 (p. F5).
  3. ^ "According to Mark Smith, editor of the Club Nintendo magazine, the game should have been called Monkey Kong — it did indeed feature a large gorilla, with nary a donkey to be seen — but there was a typing error on a fax from Nintendo (Japan) to Nintendo" Bailey, Eric. "Is There No Rescue at Hand in This Super Mario Land?" The [London] Daily Telegraph. 23 December 1991.
  4. ^ The word "donkey" is, given a poor grasp of english idiom, the opposite of the word "king" (etymology: donkey — ass — fool; fool is traditionally the opposite of king). The title "Donkey Kong" is supposed to be a clever pun, but it doesn't translate well. It also serves as a way to refer to the movie King Kong without violating copyright.
  5. ^ "[Miyamoto] consulted a Japanese-English dictionary and found 'donkey' listed as an English equivalent to the Japanese word for stupid or goofy. He decided that Kong would be a good name for the gorilla, so he called the game Donkey Kong." Mingo, Jack. How the Cadillac Got Its Fins. New York: HarperBusiness, 1994. ISBN 0-88730-677-2 (pp. 136-141).
  6. ^ "I had always been under the impression that Kong meant gorilla. So I wanted to name him "something-something" Kong. And so, because I wanted to make a dumb character, I went and looked that word up in an English dictionary. When I did that, I found that the word "donkey" had that meaning in addition to that of the animal. And so with that, I gave him the name Donkey Kong, but when we brought him to America, it was said over and over that "That's a weird name... Donkey doesn't mean dumb." But I was just like, "Well, whatever," and left the name that way. (laughs) Even after all that, Donkey Kong is still loved all over America, right? I think that when something is called "weird," there's a strong negative connotation to it, but on the other hand, by leaving it that way I think it definitely sticks in people's minds better. ""Exclusive Interview with Donkey Kong Creator Shigeru Miyamoto." Nintendo Online Magazine. 1 Feb. 2000. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. Retrieved from The Mushroom Kingdom on August 10, 2014. (Original Japanese interview)
  7. ^ Nintendo Dream Vol. 118 (September 6, 2004). "Famicom Disk System: The More You Play It, the More You'll Want to Play" (translation available at Metroid Database). Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  8. ^ http://www.gamesradar.com/top-7-most-disturbing-things-about-mushroom-kingdom/
  9. ^ http://www.destructoid.com/six-sinister-things-about-super-mario-28654.phtml
  10. ^ http://www.cracked.com/article_18585_the-7-most-wtf-origins-iconic-pop-culture-franchises.html
  11. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2010/sep/13/games-gameculture
  12. ^ http://nintendoeverything.com/iwata-miyamoto-on-the-origins-of-marios-overalls-mushrooms/
  13. ^ Dayvv Brooks (former Nintendo of America employee), on July 18, 2012.
  14. ^ Klepek, Patrick (December 29, 2015). How A Mario Character Was Named After Motorhead's Lemmy. Kotaku. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  15. ^ Mario (Charles Martinet) reveals his last name & other tales - San Diego Comic Con 2012 ""What's my last name? That's-a very good question! Uh...uh... that's right! My name's-a Mario Mario. Of course, my brother's name, a-Luigi Mario. And of course, my mama's-a Mama Mia Mario; my papa Papa Pio Mario. Of course, my grandmama Grandmama Mia Mario and my greatpapa et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, first name Mario, last name Mario. Yahoo!""
  16. ^ Inside Edition News Report With Super Mario Bros.
  17. ^ Totilo, Stephen (August 17, 2012). Nintendo Chief: Mario Is Part Of Gamers' DNA. Kotaku. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  18. ^ a b Dan Ryckert (September 24, 2014). Mario's Creators Answer Burning Questions About The Series. Game Informer. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  19. ^ Brian. Miyamoto says Mario’s full name is “Mario Mario”. Nintendo Everything (September 14, 2015). Retrieved September 14th 2015
  20. ^ http://www.snescentral.com/article.php?id=1032
  21. ^ [1]
  22. ^ http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=190547
  23. ^ Swiniski, A. (September 18, 2007). 'U R MR GAY' message discovered in Super Mario Galaxy box art Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  24. ^ Sterling, J. September 16, 2007. UR MR GAY! Super Mario Galaxy artwork holds a mirror to your homosexuality. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  25. ^ Sterling, J. (February 27, 2010). UR MR GAY? YA, I M, R U?. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  26. ^ Jirachi's World (15 Jun 2015) Twitter. Retrieved July 2, 2016
  27. ^ Carpenter, Nicole. (16 Jun 2016). E3 2016: Mario Party: Star Rush Uses Repurposed Art From Nintendo Spaghetti-Os. IGN. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  28. ^ Cameron, Kock. June 16, 2016. Is The Box Art For 'Mario Party: Star Rush' Taken From A Can Of SpaghettiOs?. techtimes. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  29. ^ Hillier, Brenna. (June 16, 2016). Mario Party Star Rush recycles art from a Spaghettios tin, apparently. VG 24/7. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  30. ^ Paget, Mat. (June 16, 2016). New Mario Party Box Art Seems to Be From a SpaghettiOs Can Gamespot. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  31. ^ McMinn, Kevin. June 16, 2016. SpaghettiOs Lives on for Mario Party Star Rush Box Art. Nintendo News. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  32. ^ Campbell Team. (November 22, 2013). Campbell Teams up with Nintendo for Mario Soups. Campbell's. Retrieved July 2, 2016
  33. ^ Ashley's page on the Japanese WarioWare: Touched! Website, Nintendo of Japan, (accessed February 25, 2014)
  34. ^ "Disclaimer: Let's see... "Super" Mario and all related characters are property of Nintendo and I didn't make them, but I did add Clawdia, Susan, Bagels, and Playful. The stories accredited to me are indeed mine." Lemmy's Land (Archived on August 2, 2002). Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  35. ^ Japanese Wikipedia page for King K. Rool, Wikimedia foundation (accessed August 8, 2014)
  36. ^ The Dorklyst: The 6 Greatest Videogame Theories on the Internet. Dorkly (March 16, 2011). Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  37. ^ Nintendo UK (September 10, 2015). Mario Myths with Mr Miyamoto. YouTube. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  38. ^ Ryckert. Dan (24 September, 2012). Mario's Creators answer our burning questions. Game Informer. Retrieved February 11, 2015
  39. ^ Shigeru Miyamoto Interview (Creator of Mario!). iJustine (December 17, 2014). Retrieved December 20, 2014.
  40. ^ wildvine47's post on the Donkey Kong Universe forum. (Retrieved December 22, 2014)
  41. ^ Smashboard post by wildvine47. (Retrieved December 22, 2014)
  42. ^ Post on Acmlm's Board by KPhoenix on November 11, 2006. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  43. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G31sxNAXpks
  44. ^ In Search of Luigi. (November 13, 1996). IGN. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  45. ^ Luigi Still Missing. (November 20, 1996). IGN. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  46. ^ L is Real 2401: WHAT IT REALLY MEANS!!!!!. NeoGaf (original post by 1337_M4rio on September 9, 2008). Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  47. ^ Super Mario 64 Easter Egg - L is Real 2401/eternal star. The Easter Egg Archive. (posted March 21, 2008.) Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  48. ^ IGN Staff. (September 8, 2000.) Stop the Press!. IGN. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  49. ^ http://www.sm128c.com/april2000/luigifound.php
  50. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYRQqqMnmdk
  51. ^ A YouTube video describing the method of "unlocking" the Thwomp. Retrieved 12/24/2014
  52. ^ Another method to "unlock" him. Retrieved 12/24/2014
  53. ^ Marty the Thwomp has his own Facebook page. Retrieved 12/24/2014.
  54. ^ The magazine scan depicting Rosalina's head over the QR code. The katakana says, "Rosetta", Rosalina's Japanese name.
  55. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIq4PtGrOF0
  56. ^ Brown, Andrew (December 7, 2011). The time I fooled the world. Nintendo World Report. Retrieved November 25, 2014.

Template:BoxTop Template:References