Super Mario Bros.

Bowser Koopa, also known as King Koopa, is a video game character and the main antagonist of Nintendo's Mario series. In Japan, the character is... known as Koopa and bears the title of Daimaō . Bowser is the leader and most powerful of the Turtle-like Koopa race and is Mario's greedy archnemesis beginning with his first appearance, in the game Super Mario Bros. His ultimate goals are to marry Princess Peach, defeat Mario, and conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. Since his debut, he has appeared in almost every Mario series game. Currently, Bowser is voiced by both Scott Burns and Kenny James. Bowser was the creation of Nintendo designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto had first envisioned Bowser as an ox, basing him on the Ox King from the Toei Animation film Alakazam the Great. However, Nintendo designer Takashi Tezuka pointed out to Miyamoto that the character looked a lot more like a turtle than an ox. Despite popular misconception, Bowser is, in fact, supposed to be a turtle, not a dragon.
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Luigi is a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto,... Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series, frequently as a sidekick to his brother and the deuteragonist of the series. Luigi first appeared in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. as the character controlled by the second player, and retained this role in Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and other titles. The first game where he was available as a primary character was Super Mario Bros. 2. In more recent appearances, Luigi's role became increasingly restricted to spinoffs such as the Mario Party and Mario Kart series, though he has been featured in a starring role on two occasions: first in the 1991 educational game Mario is Missing, later in Luigi's Mansion for the Nintendo GameCube in 2001 and in Luigi's Mansion 2 for the 3DS. In both of these games, he is called upon to act as the hero because Mario, the usual hero within the franchise, is in need of rescue.
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Princess Peach Toadstool is a character in Nintendo's Mario series. She is the Princess of the fictional Mushroom Kingdom and often plays the damsel... in distress role within the series and is the lead female. In 2007, Princess Peach landed on Forbes magazine's Wealthiest Fictional People list, with a fortune upwards of $1 billion. She is ranked 10th in Electronic Gaming Monthly's Top Ten Video Game Politicians list. Princess Peach's initial appearance was drawn by Shigeru Miyamoto. Miyamoto later asked Yōichi Kotabe to redraw Peach with his instructions. He had asked Kotabe to draw her eyes to be "a little cat-like" and that she should look "stubborn, but cute". With Kotabe's influence, Princess Peach changed considerably throughout her gaming system. Peach was not a playable character in New Super Mario Bros. Wii because it would require special programming on how the game handles her dress, however, she is the main protagonist in Super Princess Peach and is a playable player in most Mario spin-offs such as Mario Party, Mario Kart and also sports games.
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Koji Kondo is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who has been employed at Nintendo since 1984. He is best known for scoring numerous titles in the Mario and The Legend of Zelda series. Born in Osaka, Japan, Koji Kondo began taking lessons in the electronic organ from the age of five. He improved his skills in the instrument in a cover band that played jazz and rock music. Kondo studied at the Art Planning Department of Osaka... University of Arts, but was never classically-trained or particularly dedicated to music. However, he gained some experience in composing and arranging pieces, using both the piano and a computer to assist him. During his senior year, Nintendo sent a recruitment message to his university stating that they were interested in hiring people dedicated to composition and sound programming. An LCD and arcade gamer, Kondo successfully applied for the job in 1984 without requiring any demo tapes. Kondo was the first person hired by Nintendo for the purpose of creating compositions, and was to play an integral role in making the company's games and music recognizable worldwide.
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Hiroshi Yamauchi is a Japanese businessman. He was the third president of Nintendo, joining the company in 1949 until stepping down on May 31, 2002, to be succeeded by Satoru Iwata. Yamauchi is credited with transforming Nintendo from a small hanafuda card-making company in Japan to a multi-billion dollar video game company. He also became the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners baseball team in 1992, which is now managed by former Nintendo... of America chairman Howard Lincoln. As of 2008, Yamauchi is the third richest person in Japan and 149th richest in the world, having a net worth of approximately $7.8 billion. Hiroshi was sent to a preparatory school in Kyoto at age twelve and had planned to study law or engineering but World War II disrupted his studies. Since he was too young to fight he was put to work in a military factory. Once the war ended in 1945 Hiroshi went to Waseda University to study law. He married Michiko Inaba. With the absence of Yamauchi’s father, his grandparents met to arrange the marriage.
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Takashi Tezuka , sometimes credited under his nickname Ten Ten, is a video game designer working for Nintendo. A graduate of the Design Department of Osaka University of Arts, he joined the company in April 1984 and was involved with some of the most critically acclaimed Nintendo series, including Mario and The Legend of Zelda. Tezuka is fond of fantasy novels such as J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and wrote the story and script for... The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Together with Shigeru Miyamoto, he currently holds the position "General Manager of EAD Software Development Department" at Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, the largest game development division in the company.
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