This year is the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. In the latest issue of game mag Famitsu, top game designers like Metal Gear Solid's Hideo Kojima and celebrities like popstar Mari Yaguchi congratulate the title.
A two-page spread in Famitsu features an array of quotes on the game's anniversary.
Kojima calls the title's release a "big bang", pointing the impact it's had on games and entertainment. Capcom's Keiji Inafune (Mega-Man, Dead Rising) and Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi (Yakuza, Super Monkey Ball) both remarked that Super Mario Bros. made them want to enter the gaming industry. There are also warm words from Masahiro Sakurai (Smash Bros.), Goichi Suda (No More Heroes) and Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy, Blue Dragon), among others.
Todd Howard (Fallout 3) is the only Western developer represented. He says that Nintendo didn't only make Super Mario, but created a genre in which hero that does what is right.
What makes the spread interesting is that it also features well-wishes from non-developers: manga artists Takayuki Mizushina and Rururu Kondo, comedian Hikaru Iijuin, rocker KenKen, and musician Nobuaki Kaneko.
Singer-slash-television-personality Mari Yaguchi is included in those congratulating the game. Yaguchi, who also has a Famitsu column and appeared in Yakuza 4 (pictured), made her name with the pop group Morning Musume. Now in her early twenties, she still records music, but is more noted for appearing on variety programs. According to Yaguchi, the first game she played was Super Mario Bros.
The game was released in 1985, and Yaguchi was born in 1983 — meaning she was at least 2 years old (or older) when she played the game. That's okay! One of the first game consoles I played was the Magnavox Odyssey. It was released in 1972, and I was born in 1978. Sometimes little kids play old stuff!
矢口真里「初めて遊んだゲームがスーパーマリオブラザーズでした」 [オレ的ゲーム情報] [Pic]