Nintendo knows how to keep secrets and use them interestingly to tease gamers about upcoming games or products. Now, the company prepared answers instead.
Mario is undoubtedly the most iconic video game mascot, and the company knows it. A new game from the long-running franchise normally accompanies the launch of a new platform. However, the Switch was released ahead of its flagship software. Nevertheless, Super Mario Odyssey was met with stellar reviews when it finally came out last year.
Furthermore, the company released a new video that tackles some of the questions players had about Toad, the mustachioed mascot, and more.
An Amazing Odyssey
Overall, Super Mario Odyssey has already sold more than 9 million copies since its launch in October 2017. Perhaps its massive success prompted the company to deliver something a little extra for its fans. Yoshiaki Koizumi, a producer for the company, took a little time off his schedule to answer some interesting queries from fans of the franchise.
Anatomy Questions
Surprisingly, the first and probably most asked question raised by gamers since last year was the absence of Mario's belly button. This came after an odd controversy regarding shots of the shirtless protagonist made headlines last year.
A Twitter post from a user named Joel Bernstein even poked fun at the entire hullabaloo with a comparison between a shirtless Link from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
2017 is the year we learned that canonically Mario has nipples and Link doesn’t pic.twitter.com/cz47qXAtva
— Joel Bernstein (@CastIrony) September 13, 2017
"Once I heard that people were talking so much about Mario's belly button it made me start to think about whether we should revisit the topic on the design side," explained Koizumi.
Relationship Questions And Toad's Headwear
Another question posted by gamers was regarding Mario's relationship with Princess Peach. Super Mario Odyssey features a new heroine named Pauline, and it seems players wanted to know more about the protagonist's current status between the former two.
Koizumi declined to answer and pleaded fans to give the characters their privacy. Meanwhile, another topic that came up dealt with Toad. It seems that gamers want to finally settle the debate whether he is wearing a hat or if it is his head. The producer confirmed that it was the latter.
Additionally, he coyly teased everyone that there might be a secret involved with the character.
Job Description
For the longest time, fans have always believed that Mario was a plumber, which was implied by the underground pipes featured throughout the series. However, Shigeru Miyamoto, the character's creator, claimed that "Jumpman," the protagonist's original name, actually started out as a carpenter. He first appeared in Donkey Kong, which was set in a construction site.
Super Mario Odyssey allows players to use Cappy to take control of different enemies throughout the game.
