Posts Tagged ‘Mario’

Is Mario Offensive?

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

Wii Mario

I’m about a third of the way through Paper Mario, which I’m playing on the Wii Virtual Console.  It’s an awesome game, and I highly recommend it (although if you’re not into RPGs, it may take you a while to get used to the turn-based, tag-team combat).

One thing I’ve always wondered about Mario is whether people of Italian descent are offended by the character. 

I’m trying to imagine how I would react to a bestselling videogame from Italy, in which the main character is a stereotypical hard-working Asian guy named Lee who speaks broken English and who karate-chops his way across a magical kingdom to rescue Princess Chrysanthemum.

I guess I would be okay with it, especially if the list of stereotypes for Asian males were expanded to include skillful lover, snappy dresser, and in general someone you don’t want to mess with.

Lessons from Mario

Monday, November 17th, 2008

Okay, if you’re still undecided about buying a Nintendo Wii — there’s an ultra-cool feature called Vritual Console.  If you plug a wireless network adapter into one of the Wii’s USB ports, you can access a vast (well, large, anyway) library of games from earlier systems, like the Nintendo 64 and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.  The games range in price from $5 to $15, and include classics like Super Mario 64, Super Metroid, and the Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time.  (BTW, you’re also going to have to shell out $15 or so for a Classic Controller…)

What I’ve learned from Mario:

  1. Be yourself.  You may not like being a short, funny-looking guy with a mustache, but if that’s the hand that fate dealt you, go with it – you may just get to eat cake with a Princess.
  2. Every situation, no matter how familiar, has hidden possibilities.
  3. Every boss, no matter how intimidating, has a weakness.
  4. Frustration isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
  5. It’s okay to wear the same clothes all the time.