Mario Segale died last week at the age of 84, but the Seattle real estate developer and philanthropist is probably best-remembered among gamers as the namesake for Super Mario, Nintendo’s world-famous mascot.
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Segale’s connection to Nintendo was first reported in 1993 by author David Sheff in Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children, his excellent retelling of the consolemaker’s history.
Segale owned the non-descript warehouse that Nintendo used as a North American headquarters in the early 1980s, and the company was struggling financially in those days due to the failure of Radarscope. In 1981, Sheff wrote that Segale even burst into a meeting of the company’s executives demanding a check for unpaid rent. But it was the subject of this meeting that changed Nintendo’s fortunes forever. The executives were discussing how to translate the story and characters from Donkey Kong into English:
The NOA staff gathered in a corner of the warehouse around a couple of card tables. They came up with a simple translation of Miyamoto’s story and they had to name the characters. [Nintendo of America President Minoru] Arakawa christened the princess Pauline, after [Warehouse Manager Don] James’s wife, Polly. They were trying to decide what to call the rotund, red-capped carpenter, when there was a knock on the door.
Arakawa answered it. Standing there was the owner of the warehouse. In front of everyone, he blasted Arakawa because the rent was late. Flustered, Arakawa promised that the money was forthcoming, and the man left.
The landlord’s name was Mario [Segale]. “Mario,” they decided. “Super Mario!”
Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children
Segale was an intensely private person, and when he couldn’t be found, many fans wondered if the whole anecdote had just been an attempt to add some color to Mario’s creation (and it didn’t help that Sheff accidentally misspelled his last name as “Segali”). But in 2010, Benj Edwards got to the bottom of the story (and even found a quote from Segale himself about the situation: “You might say I’m still waiting for my royalty checks”) for Technologizer:
Knowing the story above, it’s natural for video game enthusiasts to be curious about Segale. Does he look anything like Nintendo’s famous mascot? How does he feel about inspiring key traits of a cartoon video game character? We’ve been largely unable to answer those questions. Segale himself is hard to reach. Partly because of his association with Nintendo’s character–which friends and colleagues say he doesn’t appreciate–Segale stays quiet. Very quiet.
The True Face of Mario
Segale’s desire for privacy, as well as his penchant for handshake deals (like the one he made with Arakawa), was a common theme in his obituary, which was recently published by the Auburn Reporter:
Segale, [former Auburn Mayor Pete] Lewis continued, was intensively private and generous, one of those people who would make a donation for someone or something really in need, as long as it wasn’t talked about.
“He never wanted to have the spotlight, and I always understood that. He was always extremely kind to so many people,” Lewis said.
[…]
Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus remembered Segale as a man who grew up in an era when deals were settled with a handshake, and a man’s word was his bond.
Mario ‘the visionary’ leaves his legacy
While Segale didn’t like to acknowledge his connection to Super Mario, the character’s creator was extremely grateful for the name change. Sitting down for an Iwata Asks interview with Satoru Iwata in 2009, Shigeru Miyamoto admitted that if Mario had kept his original name (Mr. Video), it’s likely he never would have been called back into action for 1983’s Mario Bros.:
I felt that I had come up with a pretty solid character, which is why I thought: “Right, I’ll keep using him from now on!” That’s why I decided a solid, imposing name like “Mr. Video” would work best. But thinking back, I don’t think I should have gone with that name. Someone at Nintendo of America actually came up with the name Mario. If he had been called “Mr. Video,” he might have disappeared off the face of the earth.
Iwata Asks: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Segale purposely stayed out of the spotlight, but his obituary in The Seattle Times gives some insight into his private life and yet another connection to Super Mario:
Although he took little time away from work, Mario loved hunting, fishing, his airplane, a good joke, the color red, great Italian food (with no cheese!), an excellent cigar and his view of Puget Sound. His passion was figuring out how to do things in new and better ways, which often included drawing things on the backs of napkins and placemats.
In lieu of flowers, his family suggests that donations be made to Catholic Community Services of King County, Fred Hutch Cancer Research, or a charity of your choice.