Nintendo has always been one of the more creative publishers when it comes to trying to “connect with the youth” of the gaming world. Granted, not all of their ideas work, but they’ve never been afraid to try something new or see if a certain kind of “outreach” would allow for new people to get brought into the fold and potentially have them hooked on Nintendo’s brand for a long time. You may recall that recently they launched the “My Mario” series, which is meant for young kids so that parents can introduce Mario to them via certain interactive apps, clothes, toys, and so on, so they know who he and his friends are and can literally “grow up with Mario.”
Yesterday, the brand took a new twist, as some stop-motion animated shorts featuring Mario dropped on YouTube. We have them all below for you.
The first one features Mario having fun with a Koopa shell, before things get a little out of hand and Mario needs to think fast:
The second one features Mario with a serious problem: he’s missing his hat. Then, when he finds said hat, he has a bit of an issue getting it back:
Finally, a true “Mario problem” emerges in the third video as Mario has some issues dealing with his iconic mustache. It goes about as well as you’d expect:
All of these videos are honestly pretty adorable and look great in the stop-motion style. If we can expect more videos like these in the future, then both kids and adults have something to look forward to. The question some may have is, “Why is Nintendo going through all this trouble to do these kinds of videos?”
You need to think about it from the perspective of the gamer you were when you were young, and not the gamer you are now. Do you remember how you were introduced to video games in the first place? Was it through your parents? Or through your friends? Or, perhaps, it was just curiosity that led you to play video games? Either way, it likely wasn’t a focused attempt like with the My Mario brand, which is fine.
However, with this brand, new gamers can be born simply by showing off who Mario is, and if they want to enjoy his games later, that’s a bonus! Plus, parents can get some satisfaction knowing that their kids want to play the “right games” when they’re young, before playing more “mature titles” later on when they grow up. A win-win all around.
