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I had no idea there was a potential "real person" there any more than I thought Mario/Luigi were real. Maybe I'd never even seen an image or box to make that co

I had no idea there was a potential "real person" there any more than I thought Mario/Luigi were real. Maybe I'd never even seen an image or box to make that connection? I remember that the software was really useful early on -- and game modes even made it a bit competitive. For a left-field alternative for super young kids (3? 4?) just being introduced to letters/keyboard try out Typatone (https://typatone.com/ https://typatone.com/). Get a wireless keyboard and throw it up on a big screen. Something interesting happens when there's the added layer of reactive sound tied to what they've typed. It's a really good way of recognizing letters, and learning where to find them on a keyboard. And then common words take on a specific "song". There's probably something to this in an education space for someone to build on.

ZeroGravitas 5y ago
It has been claimed Mario is based on someone that worked for (edit: rented property to) Nintendo. Not sure I belive that though. https://www.npr.org/2018/11/02/663372770/mario-segale-inspiration-for-nintendos-hero-plumber-has-died https://www.npr.org/2018/11/02/663372770/mario-segale-inspir...
- LukeShu 5y ago
  I've never heard that the character was "based on" Mario Segale, just named after him. It is my dim recollection from reading Game Over by David Sheff many years ago that the incident when "Segale was said to have made an impression on his tenants when he allegedly stormed into Nintendo's offices in Tukwila, Wash., demanding they catch up on late rent" (as the NPR article writes) happened when they already had the Donkey Kong cabinets in their final form. The article from Benj Edwards cited at the end of the NPR article says > Legend has it that NOA President Minoru Arakawa noticed physical similarities between Donkey Kong’s short, dark-haired protagonist and the landlord. So the crew at NOA nicknamed the character Mario, and it stuck. And that seams eminently plausible to me; that someone said to Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario's creator) "hey, they guys at the American office have started calling the character 'Mario' because he looks like our landlord who is named Mario" and Miyamoto ran with it.
  - 999900000999 5y ago
    That's close enough. Mario wasn't really a full personality back then. He's a generic dude with a mustache
thereticent 5y ago
This is my experience, too. We had a computer lab full of us learning using Mavis Beacon (1999-2003), and there was no indication in the software that Mavis Beacon was supposed to be a person's name. We just hopped on Mavis Beacon just like we did with Word or Visual Basic.
__MatrixMan__ 5y ago
When I was very young I assumed that Pink Floyd was some dude's name and that he probably started the band because he wanted to prove that just because his name was Pink didn't mean he was girly.
- myownpetard 5y ago
  They kind of make that joke in 'Have a Cigar' on Wish You Were Here. Well I've always had a deep respect And I mean that most sincere The band is just fantastic That is really what I think Oh by the way, which one's Pink?

ZeroGravitas 5y ago

It has been claimed Mario is based on someone that worked for (edit: rented property to) Nintendo. Not sure I belive that though. https://www.npr.org/2018/11/02/663372770/mario-segale-inspiration-for-nintendos-hero-plumber-has-died https://www.npr.org/2018/11/02/663372770/mario-segale-inspir...

LukeShu 5y ago
I've never heard that the character was "based on" Mario Segale, just named after him. It is my dim recollection from reading Game Over by David Sheff many years ago that the incident when "Segale was said to have made an impression on his tenants when he allegedly stormed into Nintendo's offices in Tukwila, Wash., demanding they catch up on late rent" (as the NPR article writes) happened when they already had the Donkey Kong cabinets in their final form. The article from Benj Edwards cited at the end of the NPR article says > Legend has it that NOA President Minoru Arakawa noticed physical similarities between Donkey Kong’s short, dark-haired protagonist and the landlord. So the crew at NOA nicknamed the character Mario, and it stuck. And that seams eminently plausible to me; that someone said to Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario's creator) "hey, they guys at the American office have started calling the character 'Mario' because he looks like our landlord who is named Mario" and Miyamoto ran with it.
- 999900000999 5y ago
  That's close enough. Mario wasn't really a full personality back then. He's a generic dude with a mustache

thereticent 5y ago

This is my experience, too. We had a computer lab full of us learning using Mavis Beacon (1999-2003), and there was no indication in the software that Mavis Beacon was supposed to be a person's name. We just hopped on Mavis Beacon just like we did with Word or Visual Basic.

__MatrixMan__ 5y ago

When I was very young I assumed that Pink Floyd was some dude's name and that he probably started the band because he wanted to prove that just because his name was Pink didn't mean he was girly.

myownpetard 5y ago
They kind of make that joke in 'Have a Cigar' on Wish You Were Here. Well I've always had a deep respect And I mean that most sincere The band is just fantastic That is really what I think Oh by the way, which one's Pink?