SUPER MARIO: HOW NINTENDO CONQUERED AMERICA

Mar 11, 2022
2 min read

Updated: Jan 16

Jeff Ryan

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 (Radar 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 than 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.

PUBLICATION DETAILS

LANGUAGE	BINDING	EDITION	ISBN	YEAR	PAGES
English	Paperback		9781591845638	2012	320
English	Hardcover		9781591844051	2011	304
English	Hardcover		N/A	2011	304
Japanese	Paperback		9784152092656	2011	336
Russian	Hardcover		9785041739737	2023	400
Korean	Hardcover		9788960776821	2015	384

AUDIOBOOK DETAILS

LANGUAGE	LENGTH	VERSION	NARRATORS	YEAR
English	8.25 hours	Unabridged	Ray Porter	2011

OTHER NAMES

Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America

Super Mario. Как Nintendo покорила мир

닌텐도는 어떻게 세계를 정복했는가

ニンテンドー・イン・アメリカ: 世界を制した驚異の創造力

TAGS

Authors/Narrators/Translators: #JeffRyan / #RayPorter (Ray Porter) / #YokoHayashida

Publishers: #AcornPublishing (Acorn Publishing [에이콘출판]) #Bombora (Bombora [Бомбора]) #HayakaPublishing (Hayakawa Publishing) #Portfolio (Portfolio) #BlackstoneAudio (Blackstone Audio, Inc.)