Super Mario World

Yoshi , is a fictional dinosaur-like character who appears in video games published by Nintendo. His debut was in Super Mario World on the Super... Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick , and he later established his own series with several platform and puzzle games, including Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. He has also appeared in many of the spin-off Mario games including the Mario Party, the Mario Kart, and the Super Smash Bros. series, as well as in other various Mario sports titles. Yoshi also appears in New Super Mario Bros. Wii as the characters' companion and steed, similar to his original debut role in Super Mario World. As with the names of several other characters in the Mario series, Yoshi is a common part of Japanese names . Yoshis come in many different colors, though the original and most common color is green. Yoshi's most recent appearance is in Mario Kart 7. Shigeru Miyamoto stated that Nintendo had wanted Mario to have a dinosaur companion ever since Super Mario Bros.
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Princess Peach Toadstool is a character in Nintendo's Mario series. She is the Princess of the fictitious Mushroom Kingdom and often plays the... damsel in distress role within the series. 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 side Mario games like Mario Party and Mario Kart. She is said to have a love relationship with Mario, and her best friend and partner is Princess Daisy.
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Bowser, also known as King Koopa, is a video game character and the primary 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 portrayed 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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Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work. He is mainly known for his work at the video game production company Nintendo, where he created some of the most successful video game franchises of all time, including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, F-Zero, and Pikmin. He currently... manages the Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development branch, which handles many of Nintendo's top-selling titles. Miyamoto's games have been seen on every Nintendo video game console, with his earliest work appearing on arcade machines. His games have received critical praise from many reviewers, and he has been the recipient of various awards. He has a wife, Yasuko, and two children. Miyamoto was born in the Japanese town of Sonobe, Kyoto on November 16, 1952. Miyamoto's later work was greatly influenced by his childhood experiences in the town. From an early age, he began to explore the forest around his home.
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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 Nagoya, 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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Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel. Nintendo developed into a video... game company, becoming what is arguably the most influential in the industry, and Japan's third most valuable listed company, with a market value of over US$85 billion. Nintendo of America is also the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball team. The name Nintendo can be roughly translated from Japanese to English as "leave luck to heaven". As of October 18, 2010, Nintendo has sold over 565 million hardware units and 3.4 billion software units. Nintendo was founded as a card company in late 1889, originally named Nintendo Koppai. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the business produced and marketed a playing card game called Hanafuda. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass produce cards to satisfy demand.
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Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from... Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler, who founded the company in 1945. Handler's wife, Ruth Handler, later became president, and is credited with establishing the Barbie product line for the company in 1959. After the release of the Barbie doll, Mattel revolutionized the toy industry with its talking dolls and toys. Major successes in the 1960s with the talking Chatty Cathy doll in 1960 and See 'N Say toys in 1965 moved Mattel to its position as the number one toymaker in America. Mattel closed its last factory in the United States of America, originally part of the Fisher-Price division, in 2002, outsourcing production to China, the beginning of a chain of events that led to a scandal involving lead contamination.
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