Super Mario

The first princess Mario saved was Nintendo itself

In 1981, Nintendo of America was a one-year-old business already on the brink of failure. Its president Mino Arakawa, was stuck with two thousand unsold arcade cabinets for a dud of a game 9radar Scope). So he hatched a plan.

Back in Japan, a boyish, shaggy-haired staff artist named Shigeru Miyamoto designed a new game for the unsold cabinets featuring an angry gorilla and a small jumping man. Donkey Kong brought in $180 million in its first year alone and launched the career of a short, chubby plumber named Mario.

Since then, Mario has starred in over two hundred games, generating profits in the billions. He is more recognizable then Mickey Mouse, yet he's little more than a mustache in bib overalls. How did a mere smear of pixels gain such huge popularity?

Super Mario tells the story behind the Nintendo games millions of us grew up with, explaining how a Japanese trading card company rose to dominate the fiercely competitive video-game industry.

'Reveals so much of how [Nintendo] got where they are-it's an excellent read.' John Romero, cocreator of Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Quake'Anyone from a casual Mario fan to a professional video-game developer will find this book well worth their while.' Cliff Bleszinkski, design director, Epic Games, and cocreator of Unreal and Gears of War'A thorough history of Nintendo's victories, written by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable fan.' Publishers Weekly