《超级玛丽》，30岁生日快乐！

    在电子游戏界，几乎无人不识《超级玛丽》主人公“马里奥”。甚至可以说多亏有了他，电游才成为今日的流行文化。

    1985年，当《超级玛丽》发行上市时，电子游戏正一片潦倒。行业收入从1983年的32亿美元下降到1亿美元，跌幅近97%。不久之前还是美国历史上增长最快的公司——游戏机厂商雅达利（Atari）那会儿已申请了破产。商场街机游戏也过了全盛期。

    但1985年9月13日，这款以一个精力十足的水管工为主角的游戏横空出世，瞬间引起了人们的兴趣，任天堂的红白机也成为热卖品。直到本周末《超级玛丽》在日本举行上市30周年庆，它始终占据着“史上最受追捧、最畅销游戏之一”的称号。

    据任天堂公司的数据显示，迄今为止，《超级玛丽》游戏已卖出超过4,000万套。（2009年新推出的《新超级玛丽U》销量也突破了1,000万套）。

    它是入选“世界电子游戏名人堂”的6款游戏之一。正是这款游戏让全世界认识了宫本茂，他之后继续创造出了许多任天堂的经典游戏，包括《星际火狐》和《塞尔达传说》等。

    投资公司Arcadia Investment Corp总经理约翰·泰勒表示：“到目前为止，《超级玛丽》是史上最大的电子游戏资产。正是从它开始，全球游戏市场才不断扩大。”

    《超级玛丽》并非是第一款以马里奥为主角的游戏。严格意义上说，他最早诞生于1981年的街机游戏《大金刚》（Donkey Kong）。但当时，他的名字叫“跳跃人”——其标志性动作初步成形。是《超级玛丽》给了他一个身份，让他成为了电游明星。今时今日，据任天堂统计，马里奥已在200多款游戏中出现过。

    宫本茂说，当时设计这款游戏是用于鼓励探索。它外包装上没有操作说明或指导，但大多数新玩家很快便能上手，不论他们是否有玩过电子游戏。而随着玩家探索越多，他们会发现更多惊喜。（想想看在30年前这些探索是多么异想天开：你跳到空中用头顶砖块，就可以获得金币，或者吃到让你体型变大一倍的蘑菇。）

    而《超级玛丽》尤其令人印象深刻的是，它如何屹立30年经久不衰。这款游戏为未来多款以马里奥为主题的游戏定下了基调。

    泰勒表示：“马里奥带来了一种富有想象力的、欢快的游戏方式，在过去三十年间，这种方式并没有太大变化。可以说，它的基本设计与《大富翁》类似。它依然是那样没变——但人们却愿意玩了再玩。有人喜欢其中的小惊喜。有人喜欢其诡异的音乐。也有人喜欢整个游戏体验。”

    随着《超级玛丽》迎来盛大的周年庆，任天堂正再次动用这款游戏助其在竞争激烈的节日市场吸引玩家。9月11日，任天堂发布了Wii U版游戏《超级玛丽制造》（Super Mario Maker），这款游戏允许玩家们自行设计《超级玛丽》游戏关卡（以及《超级玛丽3》、《超级玛丽世界》和《新超级玛丽U》），可以自己玩，也可以分享给朋友。

    它预计将是任天堂今年最为重要的一款游戏。

    宫本茂在忙什么？他正在负责《星际火狐0》的开发，这款游戏也将在节日期间发布。虽然他表示《超级玛丽》依旧是令他最骄傲的一款游戏，自己确实计划参加其周年庆，不过，可能不会高调亮相。

    今年早些时候，他笑着对《财富》杂志说：“我真的不想再胖了。马里奥生日那天，我恐怕不会去吃蛋糕。”（财富中文网）

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Mario is more than the most recognizable character in the video game world. He’s arguably the reason the industry is the pop culture force it is today.

    When Super Mario Bros. hit shelves, video games were in dire straits. Revenues were down nearly 97%—from $3.2 billion in 1983 to $100 million in 1985. Atari, which not long before had been the fastest growing company in U.S. history at the time, had filed for bankruptcy. And mall arcades were moving past their heyday.

    But the emergence of the game featuring the spunky plumber on Sept. 13, 1985 captured people’s interest—and Nintendo’s NES became a hot seller. And as Super Mario Bros. celebrates the 30th anniversary of its Japanese release this weekend, the game remains entrenched as one of the most heralded—and best selling—titles of all time.

    Life to date, Super Mario Bros. has sold more than 40 million units, according to Nintendo NTDOY 1.40% . (And 2009’s new take on the game—New Super Mario Bros. U—has sold more than 10 million.)

    It’s one of six inductees in the World Video Game Hall of Fame, And it’s the game that truly introduced the world to Shigeru Miyamoto, who has gone on to create several more of Nintendo’s most iconic franchises, including Star Fox and The Legend of Zelda.

    “Mario is, by far, the single largest video game property ever,” says John Taylor, managing director at Arcadia Investment Corp. “It’s where you start in scaling the size of the market globally for games.”

    Super Mario Bros. wasn’t the first game to feature Mario. He technically was born in 1981 in the Donkey Kong arcade game. But at the time, he was only known as “Jump Man”—and his iconic moves were rudimentary. It was Super Mario Bros. that gave him an identity and made him an icon. To date, the character has appeared in over 200 games, according to Nintendo.

    Miyamoto says the game was designed to let encourage exploration. It shipped with no instructions or tutorial, but it’s a title most new players quickly understand, regardless of their history with video games. And the more players explore, the more surprises they’ll find. (Think, for instance, how counterlogical it was 30 years ago to jump in the air and knock your head against a brick, only to be rewarded with a coin or mushroom that made you double in size.)

    What’s especially impressive about Super Mario Bros., though, is how it has endured over the past 30 years. This is the game that set the tone for many future Mario titles.

    “Mario introduced a style of imaginative and delightful gameplay, which really hasn’t changed all that much in the three decades it has been out there,” says Taylor. “You could argue that the basic design is like the basic design for Monopoly. It doesn’t change—and yet people keep playing and playing. There’s something about the little surprises. There’s something about the quirky music. There’s something about the overall experience.”

    As Super Mario Bros. hits this momentous anniversary, Nintendo is once again calling on the game to help it out in a very crowded holiday market. On Sept. 11, the company will release Super Mario Maker for Wii U—a title that lets fans try their hand at creating levels in Super Mario Bros. (along with Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U.), then play them themselves and share with friends.

    It’s expected to be the biggest game of the year for Nintendo.

    As for Miyamoto? He’s head down overseeing development of Star Fox Zero, another holiday release. And while he says he does plan to observe the anniversary of Super Mario Bros., which he says remains the game he’s most proud of, he’ll do so in a low key fashion.

    “I really don’t want to get any fatter, so I probably won’t have any cake that day,” he told Fortune with a laugh earlier this year.