Who doesn't know Mario, the iconic game character from Nintendo? Well it turns out, the name of this Super Mario character, which is also often called Mario Bros., was taken from a man. Who's he?
Nintendo, the Japanese game console manufacturer, initially wanted to name the Italian plumber as Jumpman, before getting his current name.
The name Mario came into use from a man named Mario Segale. He is a man of Italian-American blood, whose name is immortalized as a legendary fictional character. He briefly shared that Minoru Arakawa, the founder and former president of Nintendo, chose to have his name pinned to Jumpman.
Their relationship emerged after Segale leased a building to Nintendo of America. This happened around the 1980s. He is indeed a businessman engaged in property development, as we quoted from the BBC.
Segale died at the age of 84 in October 2018. He leaves behind a wife, Donna, and four children and nine grandchildren.
Fortunately, Arakawa was reunited with Segale. If not, maybe until now Super Mario will continue to be called Jumpman, and may not be able to achieve success in the gaming industry. The name Mario Bros. immediately stuck in people's minds and shot to become a favorite game character.
The Mario game series is indeed touted as the most successful franchise of all time with high sales in almost all of its series. This is also recognized for all game consoles, not only Nintendo's. Although it has been around for a long time in the gaming world, the popularity of Mario Bros. has not faded until now.