The Internet pulled out all the stops for the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. on Sunday. Perhaps you hit a Question Block for some 200-point coins as part of this Google Easter egg?
While you can still currently enjoy that Easter egg, another major tech company created one on the anniversary of Super Mario Bros. that was so good, it's now gone.
If you were smart enough to head over to Microsoft's website Sunday and type in up arrow, up arrow, down arrow, down arrow, left arrow, right arrow, left arrow, right arrow, B, A (a version of the cheat code used in many of Konami's old console games), you were treated to a truly glorious sight. As Windows Central points out, an 8-bit version of the Windows 10 Ninja Cat riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex popped up on the bottom of the homepage. They brought with them loads of quarters and an "Insert Coin to Play" window. Upon putting quarters into the slot, suggested search topics – such as Pac-Man, The Legend of Zelda games and Frogger – appeared, according to The Verge.
The Ninja Cat has of course become a symbol for Windows 10 that capitalizes on the Internet's love of felines and general weirdness. It was originally inspired by Jason Heuser's "Welcome to the Internet" image and conceived of as something of an inside joke — but in recent months, Microsoft has wholeheartedly embraced the Ninja Cat.
Though this Easter egg appeared on Microsoft's website on the same day as the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., it wasn't created specifically to honor the classic Nintendo game. Microsoft deemed Sunday "8-bit Day," a celebration of the low-resolution format found in arcade games of the 1980s.
Since Microsoft has its own stake in the gaming industry, it makes sense for it to not directly honor the iconic title of a competitor. All in all, it looks like this was a way for Microsoft to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. without actually celebrating the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.
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