5 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT MARIO

In honor of Mario's, from the Nintendo hit games, 25th birthday yesterday, we have 5 things you might not have known about him.

1. Mario’s last name is also Mario. He’s Mario Mario, in fact.
2. His first appearance was actually in 1981 in the arcade version of Donkey Kong, where he was known as “Jumpman.” He wouldn’t get his official name until the following year’s Donkey Kong Jr., also the only game where he plays the bad guy.
3. Not only is Mario the best-selling video game character of all time, he’s also its most prolific: according to Guinness World Records’s 2008 edition, he’s appeared in 116 separate games.
4. Mario’s distinctive high-pitched voice is provided by actor Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario’s brother Luigi and his longtime foe Wario.
5. Nintendo released a follow-up to Super Mario Bros. in Japan in 1986, but deemed it too difficult for Western audiences. It wouldn’t hit U.S. shores as a standalone title until 2007, as a Wii Virtual Console title dubbed “Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.” [Yahoo]