Mario (franchise)

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For the complete list of video games where Mario appears, see List of Mario video games.
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Mario
Mario Series Logo.PNG
Logo of the franchise
Genres Platformer, sports game, RPG, racing, puzzle, party
Developers Nintendo
Publishers Nintendo
Creators Shigeru Miyamoto
Platform of origin Arcade
Original release July 9, 1981
First release Donkey Kong

The Mario franchise consists of games of various genres published and produced by Nintendo. The games have been developed by a variety of developers including Nintendo, Hudson Soft, and AlphaDream. Most Mario games have either been released for the arcade or Nintendo video game consoles and handhelds dating from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the current generation of video game consoles.

The main series in the franchise is the Super Mario platform series, which mostly follows Mario's adventures in the fictional world of the Mushroom Kingdom. These games typically rely on Mario's jumping ability to allow him to progress through levels. Mario has been featured in 200 games of various genres, and the Mario franchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time.[1] At least 31 different Mario games have sold more than a million copies each since 1995. This includes the core Super Mario series, which alone has sold over 262 million units worldwide,[2] as well as the Mario Kart series which sold 78 million units,[3] the Mario Party series which sold over 32 million units,[4] Donkey Kong which sold over 125,000 arcade machines[5] and six million Coleco cartridges,[6] and Mario Bros. which sold 1.72 million Famicom cartridges.[7]

Contents

[edit] Arcade origins

[edit] Donkey Kong

Main article: Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong arcade cabinet

After the commercial failure of Radar Scope, Nintendo's company president referred to Shigeru Miyamoto to create an arcade game to save the company. Miyamoto came up with the idea of a game in which the playable character has to make his way through an obstacle course consisting of sloped platforms, ladders and rolling barrels. Miyamoto named the game Donkey Kong, and its main protagonist "Jumpman". Donkey Kong is an early example of the platform genre. In addition to presenting the goal of saving the Lady, the game also gives the player a score. Points are awarded for finishing screens; leaping over obstacles; destroying objects with a hammer power-up; collecting items such as hats, parasols, and purses (presumably belonging to the Lady/Pauline); and completing other tasks. The game was surprisingly successful.[8] "Jumpman" was called "Mario" in certain promotional materials for the game's release overseas;[9][10] his namesake was Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America's office/warehouse, who barged in on a meeting to demand an overdue rent payment.[11][12] Eventually Jumpman's name was internationally and permanently changed to Mario. The success of the game spawned several ports, and a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr., which is Mario's only appearance as an antagonist. Donkey Kong 3 did not feature Mario. Donkey Kong has established his own unique franchise outside the Mario universe, starting with Donkey Kong Country and has spawned many sequels and spin-offs (such as Diddy Kong Racing).

[edit] Mario Bros.

Main article: Mario Bros.

The Mario branding was used for the first time in a later arcade game, Mario Bros., which introduced Mario's brother, Luigi. The objective of Mario Bros. is to defeat all of the enemies in each phase. The mechanics of Mario Bros. involve only running and jumping. Unlike future Mario titles, players cannot jump on enemies while they are invulnerable to attack. Each phase is a series of platforms with four pipes at each corner of the screen, and an object called a "POW" block in the center.[13][14] Both sides of every phase feature a mechanism that allows the player to go off-screen to the left and appear on the right, and vice versa.[14] The game has since reappeared in various forms, including as a minigame in Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario Advance series, and reimagined as Mario Clash.

[edit] Super Mario

Main article: Super Mario (series)

Mario then became the star of his own side scrolling platform game in 1985, titled Super Mario Bros., which was the pack-in game included with the Nintendo Entertainment System console. In Japan, a game titled Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in 1986, but a different game with the same name was released internationally in 1988, followed by Super Mario Bros. 3 later that same year. The Japanese version would subsequently be released in the United States in 1993 under the title Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels as part of the Super Mario All-Stars title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which also featured iterations of the game known as Super Mario World. Super Mario Land and several sequels were the Gameboy and Gameboy Advance versions of the games, and Super Mario 64 debuted as the launch title for the Nintendo 64 console in 1996. Super Mario Sunshine was the series' entry for the Nintendo Gamecube, and Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel continued the franchise for the Wii.

[edit] Mario Kart

Main article: Mario Kart

The Mario Kart franchise began in 1992 with Super Mario Kart for the SNES, and is currently the most successful and longest-running kart-racing franchise, having sold over 50 million copies worldwide.[15][16][17][18][19]

[edit] Mario Party

Main article: Mario Party

In 1999, the Hudson game Mario Party was released for the Nintendo 64. Nine numbered sequels have since been released, along with Mario Party Advance and Mario Party DS. Mario Party is a (multiplayer) party game featuring Mario series characters in which four human- or computer-controlled characters compete in a board game interspersed with minigames.

[edit] Puzzle games

[edit] Dr. Mario

After the Game & Watch game Mario Bombs Away, the first Mario non-platform game, Dr. Mario, was released in 1990. Dr. Mario is a Tetris-like game, featuring a grid that starts out partially filled with viruses of three colors that Dr. Mario must destroy with falling pills. Dr. Mario has been re-released/remade for nearly all Nintendo game consoles.

[edit] Mario's Picross

This series is a collection of nonogram logic puzzles involving a grid with numbers for every row and column, which refer to the amount of marked squares within the grid. The games features Mario as an archaeologist who chisels away to form images on the grid.

[edit] Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Main article: Mario vs. Donkey Kong series

[edit] Sports Games

Main article: List of Mario sports games

There have been numerous sports games in the Mario franchise.

[edit] Mario Golf

Main articles: Mario Golf, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, and Mario Golf: Advance Tour

[edit] Mario Tennis

Main articles: Mario's Tennis, Mario Tennis, Mario Power Tennis, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, and Mario Tennis Open

[edit] Mario Strikers

Main article: Mario Strikers (series)

[edit] Mario Baseball

Main articles: Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers

[edit] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

In 2008, Mario and his friends appeared alongside characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series in the sports game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, developed by Sega. A follow-up, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games was released in 2009, and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games was released between November 2011 and February 2012.

[edit] Role-playing Games

Main article: Mario role-playing games

[edit] Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Main article: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

[edit] Paper Mario

Main article: Paper Mario (series)

The Paper Mario series began when Paper Mario was released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000.

[edit] Mario and Luigi

Main article: Mario & Luigi (series)

The Mario & Luigi series began with the release of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.

[edit] LCD games

Main article: LCD games in the Mario series

Nintendo has released several Mario and Donkey Kong LCD video games for the Game & Watch console. Eleven were released between 1982 and 1994. Nintendo also licensed the release of six LCD games for Nelsonic's Game Watch line between 1989 and 1994.

[edit] Educational games

Main article: Educational games in the Mario series

In the early 1990s, many educational games were released in the Mario series. Few of these games were platformers; most sought to teach skills such as typing, mathematics or history. They are not officially recognized by Nintendo, despite being officially licensed. The games were developed independently by Software Toolworks, Interplay and Brainstorm. Nine educational games were released from 1991 to 1996.

[edit] Games not developed by Nintendo

This section covers games developed by other companies without Nintendo involvement. These games are not officially recognized by Nintendo despite being officially licensed.

[edit] Hudson

Hudson Soft released two games based on Mario Bros. and another similar to Super Mario Bros.

Mario Bros. Special is a video game released in 1984 for the Japanese computers NEC PC-6001mkII, NEC PC-6601, NEC PC-8801, FM-7 and Sharp X1. It is a remake of the original Mario Bros., with new stages, mechanics and gameplay.

Punch Ball Mario Bros. is a video game released in 1984 for the Japanese computers NEC PC-6001mkII, NEC PC-6601, NEC PC-8801, FM-7 and Sharp X1. It is similar to the original Mario Bros., but featured a new gameplay mechanic of "punch balls", small balls which Mario and Luigi can kick into enemies to stun them, instead of hitting them from below, as in the original.

Super Mario Bros. Special is a video game released by Hudson Soft in spring 1986 for the Japanese NEC PC-8801.

Currently, Hudson has been responsible for developing the Mario Party series.

[edit] Philips

Two games were planned for development by Philips Interactive Media for use on its CD-i machine: Super Mario's Wacky Worlds and Hotel Mario. Only Hotel Mario was released; Super Mario's Wacky Worlds was eventually cancelled. Philips was given permission to use Nintendo characters in CD-i games due to their taking part in developing an unreleased add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).[20] Hotel Mario did not gain much success, with Nintendo rarely acknowledging it as part of the Mario series.[21][22]

Super Mario's Wacky Worlds is a cancelled video game planned for the CD-i, developed by NovaLogic, which attempted to duplicate the gameplay of Super Mario World. Though the game sprites are based on those in Super Mario World, the level design is based on Earth locations rather than Dinosaur Land. Due to the limitations of the CD-i, several features could not be included in the game, such as large numbers of sprites on the screen, Mode 7 and many visual effects. The nature of the pointing device controller also provides difficult controls for Mario, as the game has the default controls of running and jumping.

Hotel Mario is a puzzle game developed by Fantasy Factory and published by Philips Interactive Media for the CD-i in 1994. The primary characters of the game are Mario and Luigi, who must find Princess Peach by going through seven Koopa Hotels in the Mushroom Kingdom. Every hotel is divided into multiple stages, and the objective is to close all doors on each stage. The game has been criticised as one the worst Mario-centred games, mainly because of its cut scenes and simple gameplay.[23][24]

[edit] Recurring characters

Main article: List of Mario series characters

The games feature a small number of regularly occurring characters. Several characters from the platform games have gone on to spawn their own franchises separate from Mario, including Luigi, Wario, and Yoshi.

  • Donkey Kong: Donkey Kong is a smart, strong-willed gorilla that first appeared in Donkey Kong Country as the protagonist. The character was then reimagined as the adult Donkey Kong Jr. for its own franchise, which started with Donkey Kong Country.
  • Luigi: Luigi is Mario's brother and first appeared in Mario Bros. Luigi had the lead role in Luigi's Mansion, an action-adventure game in which Luigi searches for Mario in a haunted mansion. A sequel, Luigi's Mansion 2, was announced for the Nintendo 3DS handheld system on June 7, 2011 at E3.
  • Bowser: Bowser is the turtle-like Koopa king and the main antagonist of the franchise, often kidnapping Princess Peach in the Super Mario games.
  • Wario: Wario is a stocky, imp-like doppelganger of Mario who is characterised by greed, a love for explosives and a taste for garlic. First appearing in Super Mario Land 2, he has featured in several of his own platform games, and later the WarioWare series.

[edit] In other media

The Mario franchise includes many comics, manga and TV series based on the games. Most were released in the late 1980s to early 1990s, and have since become obscure. Mario, Luigi and Peach have made cameo appearances in two sports games, one being NBA Street Vol. 3. The series also launched two films, the anime Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen released in 1986 and the live-action film Super Mario Bros. in 1993. The latter was widely considered to be a flop; it lost a large amount of money at the box office.[26]

[edit] Television

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! title card
Further information: List of Mario television series

Saturday Supercade was an animated television series produced for Saturday mornings by Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on CBS, beginning in 1983. Each episode comprised several shorter segments featuring video game characters from the Golden Age of Arcade Games. Donkey Kong, Mario and Pauline (from the Donkey Kong arcade game) were featured in the show.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is the first American TV series based on the Mario NES and SNES games. It was broadcast in syndication from September 4 to December 1, 1989. The show was produced by DiC Entertainment and was distributed for syndicated television by Viacom Enterprises (full rights have since reverted to DiC through Nintendo).

King Koopa's Kool Kartoons was a live action children's television show broadcast in Southern California during the holiday season of 1989/1990. The show starred King Koopa (also known as Bowser), the main antagonist of the Mario series. The 30-minute program was originally broadcast during the after-school afternoon time-slots on Los Angeles-based KTTV Fox 11.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 is the second TV series based on the Mario NES and SNES games. It aired on NBC from September 8 to December 1, 1990. Based on the Super Mario Bros. 3 video game, the cartoon shows Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad fighting against Bowser Koopa and his Koopalings, who went by different names on the show. Like the previous Mario cartoon series, the animation was done by Sei Young Animation Co. Ltd, however this show was co-produced by Reteitalia S.P.A., hence the slight differences in character design.

Super Mario Challenge was a show which aired on The Children's Channel. It ran from 1990 to 1991 and aired at 4:30 p.m. every weekday. The presenter, John Lenahan, was a lookalike of Mario, and dressed in his clothes. Two guest players had to do tasks, all of which involved playing the Mario video games Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 2 and, after its release in 1991, Super Mario Bros. 3. Rounds included challenges to see which player could complete a level in the fastest time and who could collect the most gold coins on a certain level.

Super Mario World is an animated television series loosely based on the SNES video game of the same name. It is the third and currently last Saturday morning cartoon based on the Mario series. The show was originally aired on Saturday mornings on NBC in the 1991–92 season. It was featured in a half-hour time slot with a shortened version of Captain N: The Game Master. Episodes of Super Mario World were later shown as part of the syndication package Captain N and the Video Game Masters. Afterwards, the series was split from Captain N altogether and shown in time-compressed reruns on Mario All-Stars.

[edit] Anime

Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! (スーパーマリオブラザーズ ピーチ姫救出大作戦! Sūpā Mario Burazāzu.: Pīchi-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!?, literally, "Super Mario Bros.: Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!") is a Japanese anime film released on July 20, 1986. Directed by Masami Hata and produced by Masakatsu Suzuki and Tsunemasa Hatano, it stars Mario and Luigi, who get stuck in a Famicom video game, in which they must save Princess Peach from Koopa. A manga adaptation of the film was published in Japan around the same time as the film's release.

A series of three OVAs titled Super Mario Amada anime series (アマダアニメシリーズ スーパーマリオブラザーズ Amada Anime Shirīzu Sūpā Mario Burazāzu?), based on Momotaro, Issun-bōshi and Snow White, were released in 1989. These generally featured Mario as the hero, Peach as the damsel and Bowser as the villain, with other Mario characters playing supporting roles.[27]

[edit] Film

Main article: Super Mario Bros. (film)

Super Mario Bros. is an American and Canadian 1993 adventure family comedy incredibly loosely based on the video game of the same name. The film follows the exploits of Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi (John Leguizamo) in a dystopia ruled by King Koopa (Dennis Hopper). It was the first live-action major motion picture to be based on a video game. The film's plot features Mario and Luigi as the main protagonists, Mario leading the team with Luigi developing a romance with Princess Daisy.

The film is widely considered to be a flop, losing a lot of money.[26] The film received negative reviews from critics and fans alike and was denounced by critics as "cheesy" and lacking any sort of coherent plot. On the television show Siskel & Ebert, the film received two thumbs down.[28] This is the second least successful Nintendo video game film adaptation, behind Pokémon Heroes.

[edit] Comics and manga

The Mario franchise has spawned several comic books and manga since its creation.

Super Mario-kun (スーパーマリオくん Sūpā Mario-kun?) is a manga series written by Yukio Sawada (沢田ユキオ) and published by Shogakukan. It is serialized in CoroCoro Comic. It contains many characters and scenarios from Mario games, such as Super Mario World and Paper Mario. Having just hit its 41st volume, Super Mario-kun is the longest-running Mario-series manga to date. It continues to release new volumes to date. Another consistent manga series based on various Mario games is a work written and drawn by Hiroshi Takase (嵩瀬ひろし) and published by PikkaPika Comics that is, somewhat confusedly, also called Super Mario-kun (スーパーマリオくん Sūpā Mario-kun?). It is currently at five volumes and stopped due to the author's death in 2006

The Nintendo Comics System was a series of comic books published by Valiant Comics in 1990 and 1991. It was part of a licensing deal with Nintendo, featuring characters from their video games and the cartoons based on them. Valiant's Super Mario Bros. comic books were based on the three main Mario games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. The Mario line was renewed for 1991 with two different books—Super Mario Bros. and Adventures of the Super Mario Bros.

The Nintendo Adventure Book series was published from 1991 to 1992 by Archway books, and Mammoth books in the United Kingdom. There are twelve in all. They are formatted like the popular Choose Your Own Adventure books, where the reader makes decisions that change the outcome of the story. Ten of the books are about the Mario Bros.' adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom and are based primarily on the Valiant comics published for the Nintendo Comics System imprint.

Super Mario Adventures (SUPER MARIO ADVENTURES マリオの大冒険 Mario no daibōken[29]?) is an anthology of comics, drawn in a Japanese manga style, that ran in Nintendo Power magazine throughout 1992, featuring the characters from Nintendo's Mario series and based loosely on Super Mario World.

Immediately following the end of Super Mario Adventures, Nintendo Power concluded the epic with a ten-page story based on Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins titled Mario VS Wario, which ran in their January 1993 issue and was later reprinted in the graphic novel.

[edit] Merchandise

A Mario themed Nintendo DS Lite.

Mario has appeared on lunch boxes, t-shirts, magazines, commercials (notably, in a Got Milk? commercial),[30] in candy form, on shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, and as a plush toy.[31]

[edit] Concerts and performances

The Super Mario Bros. theme has been featured in many concerts, including "PLAY! Chicago",[32] the Columbus Symphony,[33] the Mario & Zelda Big Band Live,[34] Play! A Video Game Symphony,[35] and others.

The Video Games Live concert featured the theme performed by Koji Kondo.[36]

[edit] Impact

Mario's legacy is recognized by Guinness World Records, who awarded the Nintendo Mascot, and the series of platform games he has appeared in, 7 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include, "Best Selling Video Game Series of All Time", "First Movie Based on an Existing Video Game", and "Most Prolific Video Game Character", with Mario appearing in 116 distinct titles (not including remakes or re-releases).

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Italian Plumber More Memorable Than Harper, Dion". CNW Group. 2007-12-13. Archived from the original on 2010-04-04. http://www.webcitation.org/5okQ2NbiK. Retrieved 2010-04-04. 
  2. ^ "Nintendo DS Lite Suggested Retail Price Drops to $99.99 and Mario Games Go Red" (Press release). Business Wire. 2011-05-31. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110531005315/en/Nintendo-DS-Lite-Suggested-Retail-Price-Drops. Retrieved 2011-05-31. 
  3. ^
  4. ^ "Mario Party 9 for Wii Lets You Party Like You've Never Partied Before". Nintendo. 2012-03-12. http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/KoFSBbHMQS8jbGp-gxCmymMOiMg1fIeg. Retrieved 15 March 2012. 
  5. ^
  6. ^ Sheff, David (1999). Game Over: Press Start to Continue: The Maturing of Mario. Wilton, Connecticut: GamePress. p. 121. :
    "And we received from Coleco an agreement that they would pay us three percent of the net sales price [of all the "Donkey Kong" cartridges Coleco sold]." It turned out to be an impressive number of cartridges, 6 million, which translated into $4.6 million.
  7. ^ "Nintendojofr". Nintendojo. 2006-09-26. Archived from the original on July 30, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080730022258/http://www.nintendojofr.com/redaction/editoriaux/?id=aVAd. Retrieved 2008-10-09. 
  8. ^ Nintendo Power (Nintendo) (61). June 1994 
  9. ^ "Video Game: Donkey Kong, Nintendo". The Arcade Flyer Archive. http://www.arcadeflyers.com.nyud.net:8090/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=316&image=2. Retrieved 2007-06-13. 
  10. ^ "Video Game: Donkey Kong, Karateco". The Arcade Flyer Archive. http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyer&db=videodb&id=2950&image=2. Retrieved 2007-06-13. 
  11. ^ "10 Mario Fun Facts!". http://www.neatorama.com/2007/09/22/10-mario-fun-facts/. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
  12. ^ "History of Mario". http://www.themushroomkingdom.net/mario_history.shtml. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
  13. ^ Nintendo (1983). "pg. 5". Mario Bros. manual. Nintendo Entertainment System. 
  14. ^ a b Nintendo (1983). "pg. 8". Mario Bros. manual. Nintendo Entertainment System. 
  15. ^ "All Time Top 20 Best Selling Games". 2005-05-23. Archived from the original on 2006-02-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20060221044930/http://www.ownt.com/qtakes/2003/gamestats/gamestats.shtm. Retrieved 2006-12-01. 
  16. ^ "Japan vs. US Sales". IGN. 1999-11-30. http://ign64.ign.com/articles/072/072580p1.html. Retrieved 2006-11-26. 
  17. ^ "Japan Platinum Game Chart". The Magic Box. http://www.the-magicbox.com/topten2.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-26. 
  18. ^ "Nintendo of America 2004 Annual Report" (PDF). March 2004. p. 42. http://www.nintendo.com/corp/report/fiscal2004.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-03. 
  19. ^ Matt Casamassina (2007-07-25). "Nintendo Sales Update". IGN. http://wii.ign.com/articles/807/807852p1.html. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  20. ^ "SNES-CD Profile". N-Sider. http://www.n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=279. Retrieved 2008-06-28. 
  21. ^ Cowan, Danny (2006-04-25). "CD-i Games: Nintendo". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=5&cId=3149883. Retrieved 2008-06-21. 
  22. ^ Workman, Robert (2007-12-12). "Mascots Gone Wild: Nintendo Characters' Worst Moments (Hotel Mario)". GameDaily. http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/galleries/mascots-gone-wild-nintendo-characters-worst-moments/132/?cp=2&page=2. Retrieved 2008-06-21. 
  23. ^ Hotel Mario instruction book. Philips Interactive Media. 1994. p. 3. PP0260 GA. 
  24. ^ Whitehead, Dan (2007-03-09). "The History of Mario". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=87252&page=3. Retrieved 2008-06-21. 
  25. ^ "New Super Mario Bros. Wii Official Website". Nintendo.com. http://www.mariobroswii.com/. Retrieved 2010-01-10. 
  26. ^ a b Super Mario Bros. (1993)
  27. ^ Plunkett, Luke (2011-08-30). "There Were Worse Mario Cartoons Than the American One". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5835648/there-were-worse-mario-cartoons-than-the-american-one/gallery/1. 
  28. ^ "Siskel & Ebert". http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/ebertandroeper/index2.html?sec=6&subsec=Super+Mario+Bros.. 
  29. ^ "Super Mario Adventures Official Nintendo Comic Book (Paperback)." Amazon.com. Retrieved on November 19, 2008.
  30. ^ Weiss, Jodi & Kahn, Russell (2004). In 145 Things to Be When You Grow Up. Princeton Review Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 0-375-76369-4. Google Book Search. Retrieved on November 6, 2009.
  31. ^ "Nintendo's Shining Star: The History of Mario". GameCubicle. http://www.gamecubicle.com/features-mario-nintendo_shining_star.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-23. 
  32. ^ "Super Mario Bros. and Zelda composer Koji Kondo to attend PLAY! Chicago". Music 4 Games. 2006-04-14. http://www.music4games.net/News_Display.aspx?id=184. Retrieved 2009-02-13. [dead link]
  33. ^ "Symphony piles up points with video-game concert". The Columbus Dispatch. 2007-04-27. http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2007/04/26/gamer_concert.html. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 
  34. ^ "Mario & Zelda Big Band Live". The Mushroom Kingdom. http://themushroomkingdom.net/mania/m&zbbl.shtml. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 
  35. ^ "I hear a video game symphony". Pop Journalism. 2006-09-27. http://www.popjournalism.ca/pop/news/2006/00266playconcert.shtml. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 
  36. ^ "Super Mario Bros. Composer Koji Kondo Interview". 1UP.com. 2007-10-19. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3163588. Retrieved 2009-02-16. 
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