How Mario Got His Mustache and His Name

Gamer or not, you know Mario. Nintendo’s high-pitched, turtle-squashing Italian plumber has become a beloved stalwart of pop culture. But how did this video game icon come to be? Meet the man behind the mustache, Shigeru Miyamoto. As the artist behind 8-bit classics such as Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros., Miyamoto is largely responsible for shepherding Nintendo’s golden age of video games. Now, about that mustache … Join us as we delve into the untold stories behind your favorite video games with Great Big Story’s Emmy® nominated series, 8 Bit Legacy: The Curious History of Video Games. How did a game so bad become iconic? What does it REALLY take to become a Nintendo game master? And what ever happened to the Street Fighter II champion who simply disappeared one day? Dust off your Atari—it’s game time. SUBSCRIBE: Got a story idea for us? Shoot us an email at hey [at] GreatBigStory [dot] com Follow us behind the scenes on Instagram: