Here's a great video submitted by our TA Jesse Busch about the history of Nintendo's Mario. Accroding to Wikipedia:

Mario (マリオ) is a fictional character in his eponymous video game series, created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Though originally only appearing in platform games, starting with Donkey Kong, Mario currently appears in video game genres such as racing, puzzle, role-playing, fighting, and sports.

Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He repeatedly stops Bowser's numerous plans to kidnap Princess Peach and subjugate the Mushroom Kingdom. He also has other enemies and rivals, including Donkey Kong and Wario. Since 1995, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet.

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is one of the most famous characters in video game history, and his image is commonly associated with video games. Mario games, as a whole, have sold more than 210 million units, making the Mario series the best-selling video game series of all time. Outside platform games, he has appeared in video games of other genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, sports games, such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, and role-playing games such as Paper Mario. He has also inspired television shows, film, comics, and a line of licensed merchandise.

Breaking into the biz

Recently a student of mine was asking, "How do I break into the Games Biz?"

The answer varies depending if you are an artist, designer or engineer. Below are my recommendations to you. If you can address all of these you will greatly increase your chances of breaking into the games biz:

• Create a website to show your work. Do it on Blogspot.com. It's ridiculously easy. Checkout these examples:
• Artist portfolios
• http://echoform.blogspot.com/
• http://johnwatkiss.blogspot.com/
• http://artofach.blogspot.com/
• Game Designer portfolios
• http://www.bhird.com/
  
• Programmer portfolios 
• http://sparthconstruct.blogspot.com/
• http://database-programmer.blogspot.com/
• http://revit-programmer.blogspot.com/
  
• Be sure your interview materials are always ready to go at a moment's notice:
• Your business cards and printed portfolio match your blog theme. Dress for success and be punctual (early). This demonstrates you are dependable and detail oriented.
  
• Your blog address is included on your business cards.
• Your printed portfolio and cd samples of code are up to date for interviewing with cavemen who haven't heard of the internet.
• Frequently visit the listings at the sites below for jobs. Consider taking a job as a Quality Assurance tester. A lot of artists, designers and engineers I know broke into the biz as a QA tester and got promoted:
• http://www.creativeheads.net/
• http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/
• http://www.gamejobs.com/
• http://www.hollywoodentertainmentjobs.com/
• http://www.simplyhired.com/a/jobs/list/q-compositor
• http://www.media-match.com/usa/jobsboard.php
• Get experience doing freelance gigs. Craigslist.com is your friend.
  

Finally, I can't say enough about following up and being polite, professional and consistent. An employer wants to know that you can be counted on. Be sure to write back when your blog is up!

Video Games Sales

What makes a video game franchise successful? Check out this article about the recent release of Pokémon Diamond/Pearl for the Nintendo DS. Thanks for the submission Cydney!