LudoScience

On the french version of this blog , I posted an in-depth critic of a (french-written) book about the history of Mario. Far from being a simple "illustrated books for fans" filled with nostalgia, l'Histoire de Mario by William Audureau and published by Pix N'Love is one on the most interesting books about the genesis of Mario. It's not an history book, it's an analytical book that tries to answer one simple question : "Why Mario?".

After all, when Nintendo picked a mascot, a plumber jumping on walking mushrooms may not have been a "natural choice" at first, isn't it? This book analyses historical elements to demonstrate why it was Mario and not Donkey Kong (trapped in legal issues), Conkichi (too japanese) nor Stanley (featured in average quality games).

This book also delivers rare trivia about the history of Mario. Did you know that Miyamoto himself wanted to call his character "Mr Video" at first? (even before the "Jumpman" and "Ossan" names) Did you know that the design of Super Mario Bros. 3 was heavily influenced by a field trip made by the employees of Nintendo to Disneyworld? Did you also know that Shigeru Miyamoto didn't designed Super Mario Bros. all alone, but probably couldn't make such a perfect game without his colleagues Takashi Tezuka, Toshihiko Nagako and Koji Kondo?

In the 420 pages of this book, you will have the answers to these questions and much more... If this book is ever translated in English (and I hope it'll be someday), be sure to take a look at it because it contains a lot of historical information about Nintendo and its design process in the 80's!