Cool mature Mario pic.

[Qroach]

Tony

 

[BlueTsunami]

Has James Gandolfini ever been slim? I mean...hes always been a heavy set guy...

 

[ninzel]

No - just no. Not only the notion of a mature Mario but also this thread doesn't even belong here. It not talking about technical console issues at all. You could try it in the games forum but even then it's not a valid discussion point based on what's happening in the real world of consoles. Otherwise we could just start posting renders from Splutterfish and asking 'what if?'

(What? You say that's been done already? MAn, I thought I'd had an original idea!)

WTF , where does it say that the console or console gaming discusion forum must be limited solely to technical issues.

 

[mckmas8808]

Tony Soprano, the main character.

He always talked of loosing some weight but didn't feel playing the role of TS was apropriate for a lighter weight version....I could see him doing the role well slimmed down a bit.

How in the heck can Tony S. play Spiderman 3 or Sam Fisher? Shouldn't someone like Vin Diesel play Sam Fisher? Someone with a deep voice and cocky size? And isn't he still making The 6th season of the Sopranos?

 

[Bobbler]

Am I the only one who's going to have nightmares now?

Neat drawing, but definately not the direction I'd take Mario...

I'll gladly stick with the endearing (childish) Mario world we have now over a 1984 industrial Mario world (now that I think about it, that is sort of like how the Movie was).

 

[ninzel]

It's too extreme for my tastes, but it opened my eyes and mind to some other possibilities. I've seen Mario one way for so many years that I just couldn't picture how Nintendo could change him.

 

[Magnum PI]

Slightly off topic, but check it out; According to sources within Paramount, Sopranos star James Gandolfini is slated to take up the role of top-secret super-spy Sam Fisher[...] Gandolfini may replace actor Tobey Mcguire in the upcoming Spider-Man 3.

it can only be a joke ! more seriously there is some project involving gandolfini playing hemingway, a lot more credible.

 

[Guden Oden]

it has also been rumored that Gandolfini may replace actor Tobey Mcguire in the upcoming Spider-Man 3.

Didja get this from the onion or what?

Gandolfini as spiderman, I don't think I've ever heard a more ludicrous idea - for OBVIOUS reasons. Maybe Jim Carrey should play Hamlet too and do rubber faces and funny voices whilst holding Yorick's skull?

This must all be fake, or else hollywood is going insane...

 

[London Geezer]

Can't believe some of you are taking that seriously! I mean come on!! Tony Soprano as Spiderman?!
Geez some of you are gullible. Whatever amounts of body fat he loses, he will NEVER EVER get a part like Spiderman, unless it's a spoof - which i'd watch very happily, kinda like Spaceballs.

 

[Squeak]

We've GOTTEN it alright, we've just had enough of it that's all. Had enough of the sugary-cute, the cuddly, the primary colors, the fluff, the no-sharp-edges-anywhere, all of that bull.

What are you on about? How long has it been since you last played through a Mario game? No sharp corners? Primary colours, yeah sometimes and what’s wrong with that? Fluff? what Fluff? I'm sure you can do better than that.

See, this is the trouble with exporting a cultural product from east to the west (or any other cultural region for that matter), being it a comic, film, music, game etc.
Parts of it may go straight through because they are universally human, but other aspects of the work may get perceived in a different way, and get twisted to mean something other, because of cultural precognitions and prejudices.

Japanese "cute" is on a whole other level than “modern†western cute. Japanese kawaii has a much crisper snappier feel to it, although they may seem indistinguishable to the untrained eye (there are exceptions to this in western popular culture though, like the Moomintrolls). They both mostly stem from Disney of the 1930s and 40s but are mixed with entirely different cultural background and have evolved (and devolved) almost independently for many years. Japanese stylised pop art especially leaning heavily towards traditional concepts like Wabi-sabi (especially the sabi part).

It is not nearly as embarrassing or socially unacceptable for a male to like cute or kawaii things in Japan as in EU or US. It is not uncommon to see kawaii-style public signposts in Japan. It is simply an accepted means of communication and style.

I question which is more unhealthy or abnormal; the Japanese acceptance of softness and emphatic stylisation in everyday life, or our obsession with macho ideals.

Spirit of nintendo went old, musty and cloy long ago. They need to evolve as well just like the rest of the universe. Instead they've stayed in the same place for far too long, and it's cost them market share ever since the heydays of the SNES. It's been a decade of diminishing market share and lost influence; once Mario was a more recognized character than mickey mouse. Do you think it still is that way?

What style do you propose Nintendo should use for Mario in the future? Should he become twisted, gritty and so called realistic? Just look at the 1993 movie for an example of how bad that can go.

It is not a good idea to try and fully separate style and content I think, but you should really try and look at the actual gameplay going on, and then maybe you will realise that a stylised so called “simple style†does not equate simple or childish content. Then maybe in time, you will learn to love the style, because it really integrates with the gameplay making a coherent whole.

Tell you what I think went "musty and cloy long ago"; the current style of empty coolness that is so dominant in the games, movie and music industry at the moment. It just can’t get dark and gritty enough, and for no apparent reason too.

I'm not out to ruin mario or nintendo, if that's what you're in your delusions think. I want to refresh the series, make it more mature. Like nintendo themselves is doing with zelda and the more grim teenager Link rather than happy-go-lucky pre-pubescent Link.

The style in the Mario games is humorous, abstracted and stylised, but never unsophisticated, condescending (well almost not) or awkward.
Mario has become iconographic in a way (and was probably originally conceived to be). Mario is the hero, Peach is the princes, Bowser is the antagonist, Luigi the sidekick and the whole universe they inhabit the place at the other end of the rainbow.

With regards to your comment about the new Zelda game, notice that the style is still far from realistic (more like dreamy and mysterious like Majoras Mask) and that Zelda as a game series always have lent itself better to a variety of styles, from the styles in aLttP and WW to OoT and TP.

We can agree that Mario needs to move, but there are other dimensions to move in than from “mature†to “kiddie†or back.
I don't see any indication that the series will not move - apart from Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Bros. 2 which wasn't real Mario games anyway (and felt completely wrong to me) - the series has taken gaming a giant leap forward with each new instalment.

Of course I fully realise that I'm not going to make anyone admit that they are wrong, or that they really secretly admire the Mario games, by posting this. But maybe I'm making you reconsider your stand or at least nudging you a little in the right direction, cos if you don't change that attitude soon, you are going to be the first against the wall when the Revolution comes.

 

[Sean*O]

I liked the artwork myself. It's like Myamoto's bad trip.

 

[hugo]

Ron Jeremy !! RUN...for yer lives