Video games offer their players a much-needed chance to escape the stresses of real life, however temporarily. One ten year-old boy in Saskatchewan, Canada needed this kind of relief more than most to help cope with the fact that he's living with a terminal form of brain cancer. So rather than just handing Patrick a video game console, a charity in the city of Prince Albert teamed up with a local theater and other members of the community to create a playable life-sized form of Super Mario Bros.:
Patrick's story is tragic and inspiring. But it's also a beautiful note about how deeply rooted people's love of games like Super Mario Bros. really are. Along with the sheer thrill of getting a glimpse at some cute Mario-style cosplay, it's a great example of how an entire community can team up thanks to the simple joy of playing games together in a novel way.
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