how did Mario get so popular? Usually in cartoons and movies aimed at children, they'll make the protagonists about the same age as the target audience in the hopes it'll be more relatable, and marketable, to them, and I know that's largely due to pressure from the executives and soulless market studies but then at least part of it has to be based on some kind of truth.
Meanwhile here you got Mario who is supposed to be this 50 year old chunky Italian plumber from New York who seems to be from the 50's.

Fun games, everybody played super Mario world

>>713985496 (OP)
maybe marketers need to receive beatings for always trying to homogenize shit.

IP was just around at the right place and right time and Mario became the face of Nintendo. Back in the 80's a lot of dumb shit became iconic because the current nerd landscape wasn't established yet so there was way less competition, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is another such thing

>>713985496 (OP)
Mario is mr videogames
He appeals to everyone

>>713985496 (OP)
It's 40 years old neckbeards who keep buying this shit

>>713985496 (OP)
His games are good. This isn't Sony, nobody cares about his characterization.

>>713985496 (OP)
according to shiggy he's 25 actually
I guess he was a little ahead of his time if you look at zoomers today

mario conquered the planet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg1HZVklSLI
https://youtu.be/MZvwDDd4iA4?&t=29

>>713985496 (OP)
kids who played Mario when it first came out grew up to look like Mario, now kids like to play Mario because he looks like their dad

>>713986858
did anybody grow up to look like sonic or pacman?

>>713987184
your mom is as round as pacman and eats everything in sight

>>713987184
I am literally sonic IRL

>>713985496 (OP)
Good gameplay.

>>713985496 (OP)
His games are fun

>>713985496 (OP)
>no one watched Extreme ghost busters
>Dragon ball gt has been stricken from the record
>Batman beyond was a hit, but not because of fans of TAS
I can't think of anymore examples lol, but point being, even when i was a kid i hated seeing kids on the screen beating up adults or acting 20 years older than they actually were

>>713985496 (OP)
Back in the arcade era of the 70s, marketing teams stablished the idea that little boys would only play games if there was a spaceship or gun on the cabinet art. This led companies like Sega Gremlin to pass on the chance of distributing Pac-Man and almost shelving frogger. But when Pac-man, Dig Dug, Frogger, Centipede and Donkey Kong hit the stage against the ocean of over-saturated uninspired spaceshipslop, not only were kids playing them, but even adults gave it a chance. Moving Arcades from dedicated stores back to pubs, restaurants and shopping malls like Pong used to be, you could say that they were a proto version of "the casual crownd". Sega Gremilin higher ups literally had to eat crow when they tested putting a frogger machine on a pub mostly frequented by American soldiers and Veterans and the machine broke in the first night from taking too much quarters
Basically, games are not like other media. Mario jumps on turtles because the devs wanted a enemy you could kick like a rock, no lore reason needed. Pacman is complete nonsense but it is a perfect designed game concept. People like gameplay

>>713988669
It's poetic that Donkey Kong came out of repurposing Radar Scope cabinets.

>>713988669
>Be 70s soldier
>Spaceships? What is this poindexter nerd shit? It's bad enough i have to hear everyone talking about this Star Wars and Star Trek fad
>War games? What? You want me to do my job on my day off? And you just sit down and press buttons, what is this? Air force???
>Hoooly shit! Look at the little frog fella! Ha! Ha! Bet he is crossing the street to eat some flies and get sum frog pussy!