Mario is a good friend of mine. When I was in the 6th grade got a NES for Christmas and that was when I met my friend Mario. He and I spent a lot of time together. Actually over the next several years I enjoyed getting to know him better in Super Mario 2 and 3. I think I was in the 9th grade when the Super Nintendo came out. I got it on the very first day of release and dove right into Super Mario World. I was a Freshman in College when Mario 64 released and I got a late start as I didn’t get it until 5-6 months after release (this was my favorite Mario of all). I bought the GameCube only because of Mario. I actually bought it the day it came out (I camped out at Wal-Mart of 6 hours) and must say both the Cube and Mario Sunshine was a disappointment to me.
However, Galaxy is expected to be the follow-up to Mario 64 that Sunshine failed to be. If you haven’t see anything about Galaxy, then check out this video.
Why do I care so much?I don’t even own a Wii (although I’ve actually bought 4) so I won’t get to play it anytime soon. Too many times I have to dig around, research and ask questions about what kids are currently into. Sometimes I painfully watch TV shows to get a glimpse of what they’re into. Knowing their culture and identifying their trends breaks down barriers and often provides an avenue into a relationship in a quick and easy way. Too many kids have done double-takes when I tell them I have a couple of Webkinz (one of the kids who picked out my Webkinz is actually babysitting them… otherwise they’d probably die on me).
However, when it comes to Mario, I don’t have to dig, ask questions or do any research. I KNOW Mario! It’s easy to have a great conversation with a 4th grade boy who’s favorite video game is your favorite video game. Mario is a unique character that has actually linked my generation to the generation of today. It was kind of like this when they re-released all the Star Wars movies at the theaters. An entire generation was introduced to a great saga for the first time.
Why does this even matter? Credibility with that 4th grade boy. When he sees that you care about the same thing he cares about and are interested in what he is interested in, then he might just decided to show interest in what you’re interested in. If you can win their hearts in any way possible, the may just give you the opportunity to win their heart!
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