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Spain Honors Mario's Plumbing Excellence

by Pedro Hernandez - November 12, 2009, 10:09 pm EST
Total comments: 16 Source: Kotaku

The award arrives just in time for the release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

The ASEFOSAM, a professional plumber's association located in Spain, has awarded Nintendo's mascot Mario the silver award of excellence. The character was created 28 years ago by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

Mario's first appearance was in the arcade title Donkey Kong, in which he battled the titular character in order to rescue his girlfriend Pauline. In Donkey Kong Mario was originally a carpenter, but his character eventually evolved into a plumber thanks to the many pipes used in the seminal 1985 NES classic Super Mario Bros. Since then, Mario has become Nintendo's mascot, appearing in many highly acclaimed titles.

The award was given just in time for the release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a new Mario adventure focused on multiplayer gaming for up to four players.

Talkback

broodwarsNovember 13, 2009

Gee, what a coincidence in timing.  :rolleyes:

Mop it upNovember 13, 2009

How do we know Mario is any good at plumbing? Have we ever seen him fix a leaky sink? Something isn't right about this...

broodwarsNovember 13, 2009

Quote from: Mop_it_up

How do we know Mario is any good at plumbing? Have we ever seen him fix a leaky sink? Something isn't right about this...

Well, he did briefly do actual plumbing (well, kind of...) in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Mop it upNovember 13, 2009

Ha ha, yeah. I never knew that plumbing excellence involved knowing how to pound a cork into a leaky pipe with a hammer.

broodwarsNovember 13, 2009

Quote from: Mop_it_up

Ha ha, yeah. I never knew that plumbing excellence involved knowing how to pound a cork into a leaky pipe with a hammer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8u7px_GzWQ  ;)

Mop it upNovember 13, 2009

Who in the world is M. Bison?

broodwarsNovember 13, 2009

Quote from: Mop_it_up

Who in the world is M. Bison?

That's a joke, right?  :-\  Street Fighter character...villain of a god-awful movie that's remembered best as an internet meme now...

Mop it upNovember 13, 2009

I've never played Street Fighter. It was made into a movie though, right? I'm guessing that's where that clip is from.

King of TwitchNovember 13, 2009

An award from a company that treats PEX plumbing line like an afterthought at best thinks that digital plumbing will never replace retail.

Shocking!

broodwarsNovember 13, 2009

Quote from: Zap

An award from a company that treats PEX plumbing line like an afterthought at best thinks that digital plumbing will never replace retail.

Shocking!

Cute, and the more fun we have at this story's expense the better.  :)

King of TwitchNovember 13, 2009

There lives a short plumber so vain
That won plumbing awards from Spain
but they took it back
after getting such flack
since broodwars just had to complain

broodwarsNovember 13, 2009

Quote from: Zap

There lives a short plumber so vain
That won plumbing awards from Spain
but they took it back
after getting such flack
since broodwars just had to complain

This piece seems a puff
Both sad and silly to read.
Zap needs to chill out.

MoronSonOfBoronGarnet Red, Contributing WriterNovember 13, 2009

Mario has certainly done more to raise the dignity of the plumber profession than our blue-collar buttcrack stereotypes have.

ShyGuyNovember 13, 2009

Limerick, check
Haiku, check
Next up, Iambic Pentameter

Chozo GhostNovember 14, 2009

I wonder if kids who grew up with Mario during the 80s and 90s became more likely to become plumbers by trade as a result of the games, tv shows, and of course the movie. My guess is probably not by a significant margin, but it would be interesting to see statistics or whatever.

I also wonder if parents became more likely to name their children "Mario" or even "Luigi" as a result of the franchise... I'm pretty sure that in the English speaking world these names would probably be largely unknown otherwise.

ArbokNovember 15, 2009

Quote from: Chozo

I also wonder if parents became more likely to name their children "Mario" or even "Luigi" as a result of the franchise... I'm pretty sure that in the English speaking world these names would probably be largely unknown otherwise.

There were several Marios at my school, and I doubt the parents would have been influenced by Donkey Kong (which was the only Mario game out, or Mario Bros in the case of some of the younger ones I suppose). Not discounting what you are saying, but Mario was not all that unheard of in my experience as a name. I have never seen someone with the name Luigi, though.

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