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Unlicensed developers and fans have created unofficial media relating to the Mario franchise. Such media have included video games, ROM hacks, and animations.
Due in-part to the franchise's popularity, some of these unlicensed works have received critical attention. In September 2016, Nintendo issued over 500 DMCA takedown requests for various fan games hosted at Game Jolt based on their intellectual properties. All of these games have been taken down. [1]
Several unofficial, and unlicensed, Mario games and game mods have been released for various video game consoles.
There exist several unofficial level editors created to allow users with no programming skills to easily make their own levels or ROM hacks.
Unofficial Mario games playable on computers have consisted mostly of browser-based games. Such games either can be parodies or fangames that feature the franchise's characters or settings reimagined within the style of other media, or vice-versa.
In the late 2000s, YouTube poop meme videos arose using footage from various Mario-related sources, including the Philips CD-i game Hotel Mario , [119] [120] The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! , and Super Mario World .
After the release of Mario Kart 8 in 2014, a short clip featuring "Luigi's Death Stare" went viral; the original clip featured Luigi passing other drivers with an uncharacteristically angry facial pose set to the music of Chamillionaire's 2006 hit song Ridin' . [121] [122] [123] The meme was referenced by Nintendo itself during their E3 2014 presentation. [124]
Several Mario characters have become prominent memes, such as Waluigi, who has garnered an online fanbase as a meme to the point of outcry to be added to the fighting game series Super Smash Bros. as well as backlash for his lack of inclusion in the series. [125]
In September 2018, a fanmade character called Bowsette became popular and had hundreds of artists producing fanart. Bowsette is a depiction of Bowser using Toadette's Super Crown power-up from New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe to transform himself into a Princess Peach lookalike. [126]
On September 3rd, Nintendo announced via Nintendo Direct the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary, an event celebrating the release of Super Mario Bros. in 1985. Various games were released and merchandise collaborations were held. Among the games released were: Super Mario Bros. 35 , a derivative of the original Super Mario Bros. with battle royale elements; Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. , an LCD handheld replica of Super Mario Bros. in the Game & Watch line; and Super Mario 3D All-Stars , a compilation game of a selection of 3D games from the Super Mario series, including Super Mario 64 , Super Mario Sunshine , and Super Mario Galaxy . [127] Over the course of the celebration Nintendo announced the discontinuation of several products associated with the event on March 31, 2021, including Super Mario Bros. 35, Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., and Super Mario 3D All-Stars. [128] Other products relating to the Mario franchise were also being discontinued that same day, including merchandise sold at Nintendo's story in Tokyo, Japan, the shutting down of online services for the 2015 game Super Mario Maker , [129] and the removal of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 from Netflix. [130]
The discontinuation of many Mario-related products was never officially explained by Nintendo, [131] [132] although Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser explained that the decision was made to keep them unique to the anniversary celebration itself. [133] [134] In the lack of an official explanation, many fans ironically interpreted that it was because the character Mario was to die on that day, [131] [132] or the day after. [135] Instances of the meme began months before the date. [136] It evolved over time, originally warning fans that Mario's death was approaching and counting down the days until March 31. On the day of the discontinuation itself, Mario's death was mourned by fans. [137] March 31 was declared "Mario Death Day". [138]
On March 31, "Mario" was trending on Twitter," [138] receiving 150,000 tweets relating to the meme within 24 hours. [130] Select video game news websites satirically presented the death of Mario as fact, including VentureBeat and iMore . [139] [140] Notable participation included American TV network G4 and YouTube personality Nathaniel Bandy, which led to a wave of memorials from users. [130]
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)'I can't believe I won, I honestly thought it was going to go into the millions,' said Thirtyacre, who amassed his fortune through online puppet show skits based on the Super Mario Bros video game franchise. [...] Under his "SuperMarioLogan" alias, Thirtyacre's YouTube account has 8.61 million subscribers.
On YouTube, Thirtyacre has built up more than eight million followers creating content based on the Super Mario games.
The YouTube channel SuperMarioLogan (SML) contained stereotypes, mocking of accents, and inappropriate behavior centered around race, such as bullying Black and female characters. [...] the character appearing as a clown is referenced as being Black, with the makeup resembling blackface. The original SML videos were removed from YouTube due to copyright violations. However, they have been re-uploaded on a new channel.
The other two boys in the group said they know 'Jeffy,' a puppet on the popular SuperMarioLogan YouTube channel. 'It attracts kids because you wouldn't think of him as inappropriate because of the way he looks,' said 13-year-old David. Family watchdog group Common Sense Media called SuperMarioLogan 'Your basic online nightmare for parents of young kids.' The group, who started rating YouTubers this year due to overwhelming requests from parents, noted SuperMarioLogan is intended for ages 17 and older.