Yes, that is a Mercedes 'outfit' in Super Mario Maker. No, we haven't faked this in Photoshop. Yes, this is actually happening.
Mario Kart 8 fans may recall when free Mercedes DLC - with three karts in total - arrived in the racer; it was a bit tacky, but ultimately you could ignore the cars and pretend they didn't exist. After all, Mario needs to pay for his moustache comb and wax somehow, so sponsored deals like this can happen.
Well, now we have the 'Mercedes-Benz GLA costume' with a little pixel Mario driving, which is unlockable through a new Mercedes Event Course that'll arrive in the game on 9th December (today). The course is supposed to represent a visit to a dealership, hitting the highway etc, which sounds ambitious but we suspect will have little bearing on the actual level. It's due to arrive today - at the time of writing it hasn't gone live, but likely will very soon.
With commercial partnerships like these you get some fluff comments from executives. These ones are quite entertaining due to, we suspect, a disconnect with how gamers typically feel about such crossovers. First up is Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing.
Super Mario Maker continues to grow and evolve with new courses and content. It's great that a luxury car brand like Mercedes-Benz recognizes the ability to create fun courses and share them with others.
Righto, and now Dr. Jens Thiemer, Vice President Marketing Mercedes-Benz cars on how much the brands have in common...
We are delighted to once again be represented in a blockbuster game like Super Mario Maker. Mercedes-Benz and Super Mario have a lot in common. Above all, they share the same vision: to inspire their customers and fans.
In the end these partnerships arguably don't hurt anyone, as the content is free and easily ignored. That doesn't mean we all have to like it, however.
Will you be accelerating through Super Mario Maker in a Mercedes, or does the idea make you roll your eyes clean out of their sockets? Let us know!
Comments 71
This kind of thing make me laugh rather than get angry. It's free stuff. Yeah.
Nintendo and Mercedes should kiss already.
every event course is a good course. and Mario in a Mercedes might be a cash-thingy, it's still a fun looking costume. Thx Mercedes/Nintendo, will try it out tonight
@ DarthNocturnal
Mercedes-Benz OP, please nerf.
Yay, The Mercedes Benz GLA X Super Mario Ad really turn in a reality!!
Awesome!! ^^
... be right back, time to go remake "City Connection" for Super Mario Maker.
Cool, now we just need a Delorean Time Machine.
Why not, I guess. xD
This is just dumb... even dumber than the MK8 stuff... at least that was vehicle related.
All of the advertising and evolving that Nintendo refuses to do, but they agree to this?
@SakuraHaruka Oh yeah, I forgot about it.
@Shiryu Exactly. Suddenly there is a need for Mercedes in MM after all.
I have already remade Bruce Lee, Bomb Jack, Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Caverns of Khafka (Tribute) long time ago in Mario Maker.
@Ventilator Wonder how we can simulate the road coloring...
Ingame advertisement shouldn't be in a Super Mario game. And if you add a Mercedes to a game it should be the Formula 1 car.
Well it's a car so more to work with then!
Awkward.......... but it's free, so why not!
With all the outfits they keep adding, I guess me hoping for the Mystery Mushroom showing up in the other three designs is turning into a pipe dream.
@SuperWiiU Why not? It's harmless fun, and Nintendo gets a little cash out of it. Like someone else said before, you don't even have to get it, just don't play the challenge course.
Roll my eyes?? I'd like to gouge them out with a spoon!-please merc take yer horrible cars and gtf.
I actually thought that those MK8 karts looked pretty cool.
Please don't kill me...
@Calllack You're not alone. The GLA is my go-to kart.
Yes, all of my yes!
@Shiryu I remember that game. I used to have the NES port.
@Spin Played the crap out of the ZX Spectrum conversion.
@DarthNocturnal LOL.. Only a matter of time now!
Nintendo are the only ones in the gaming industry that got it right.
Carmakers (and other corporations) pay NBA, NHL, FIFA etc to get their advertisement to sports events. They pay movie producers to get their stuff in movies. They pay celebrities to pose with their products.
Gamemakers on the other hand pay Carmakers, NBA, NHL, FIFA (and other corporations) to be able to use their products and logos in games. Gamemakers even pay gun producers to use their guns in CoD and other FPS.
So shouldn't this go both ways? When is Mercedes going to come out with a vehicle with a built in Wii U or 3DS? Or maybe a red car with a custom "blue overalls" paint job and brown rims? This relationship is too one-sided.
Very odd...but hey why not? Miku Hatsune promoted a car, so why not Mario?
And the Mercedes-Benz commercial with Mario in it finally comes full circle.
Go!! GLA. Loved that car in MK8.
The best part is that this actually has a precedent, the commercials they made when the Mario kart 8 DLC came out depicted just this.
@Shiryu : There is lame way to do get them more animated atleast. Use blue movable platforms sideways 1 row below. normal path. Means you don't actually drive on the platforms. The main path must probably be ice blocks.
I did some strange things in my remade levels to get them as close to original as possible.
This kind of ridiculousness actually makes me want this game now.
@Ventilator Ah yes, ice could work for the momentum... guess I will take a small brake from "Xenoblade Chronicles" for this one.
I ship them.
Are these event courses (and their costumes) only available for a limited time? Don't have time to play this for the next weeks unfortunately.
@scamander No, you don't have to worry about them going away.
@Shiryu Be sure to spread the code around ^^
@Einherjar I doubt the allures of Mira will allow me do actually do anything out of it... but will make video of it if I ever get to it.
More Mercedes!? That's kinda cool but also strange. I welcome this oddity the same way I did with MK8
@Shiryu Ill keep an eye on my YT subbox then ^^
Looking forward to it !
@SanderEvers No,this is Nintendo-money.
Oh... Piss off Mercedes.
And yes, I do have to use it - at least for the Event Course. The completionist in me won't have it otherwise.
Anything free is nice but it will take more than a Mercedes icon to get me away from XCX. It will probably take FAST Racing Neo!
I never knew Mercedes wants to inspire me; i was thinking they just want to sell me a car.
@mjharper : well, it's not a real Mercedes but a Smart but it looks quite spiffy!
I don't care for advertisements in games I've already paid for, but I won't turn down a free course and costume.
As long as these advertisements are non-intrusive and can be ignored, then I don't mind it.
@Einherjar Definitely something involving ice blocks, P-switches, coins, and a spike or 2 for the instant-death cat.
The whole bit at the start of that commercial where the GLA is running a Mario course... They clearly knew about what was to come. Makes me wonder how much more Nintendo already knows. I'll bet 2017 plans are on the table already.
@Shiryu : Double dipping then as i will also make a City Connection level..hehe
Now i revealed my "secret", but both levels will drown in millions of levels anyway. You had the main idea in the first place.
You can find me with this level. 75DC-0000-0047-422A if you wanna try some of my remakes.
This is a good marketing tie in.
Keep this up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2Pcnz-vl5s
@Ventilator Thanks, Ill try to fit in my stupidly busy YouTubing schedule.
Now I can finally get one of those Mercedes for Christmas like in the holiday commercials! Yuck!
I need a new commercial for this. Where is Buff Mario?
I'm happy about this.
Did no one else notice the blue P-switch in that screenshot? In the SMB style, P-switches are orange: https://d3esbfg30x759i.cloudfront.net/ss/WVW69ingQYwC_ZS8UR
What's going on here?
Yay, free content.
Well when u think about it Mercedes invented the car and Mario made video games relevant. Sort of. Can't wait to see the GLA jump xD
It's funny I was just wishing for a car yesterday when I was making a Mushroom Gorge course.
@DarthNocturnal GLA amiibo FTW #MLGpro.
Think its because Miyamoto has a Mercedes?
@DarthNocturnal HAHAHAHAHA!
Wow, I never realized just how much Mercedes-Benz and Super Mario have in common until just now! SO VERY MUCH IN COMMON!!!!!
I don't want people throwing garbage in my backyard. Similarly, i don't wamt Nintendo throwing garbage to me.
reminds me of fighting a honda or whatever on street fighter
@ThomasWhitehead
In the end these partnerships arguably don't hurt anyone, as the content is free and easily ignored. That doesn't mean we all have to like it, however.
@SanderEvers Adding unrelated content that only exists because of sponsorship is at least slightly tacky. Arguably, the Events Courses section could/would be used for showcasing more novel and interesting pieces of game design if it weren't hosting unsatisfying and hastily/poorly cobbled together bits of 'promotional content'.
There's little to get 'angry' about here. A pixelated little avatar of an ugly hunk of metal is unlikely to bring about the Apocolypse, but in quite a few people it may well elicit the softer emotion of 'slight disappointment'.
It's at least a little worrying when companies who have nothing to do with games or game design start gaining influence in how are games are made. I remember the founders of Neopets appearing on a TV programme once, and saying how it only hit them how sponsorship-laden their game had become when they realised that 90% of their development staff were working on games which were essentially glorified adverts. This is of course, a completely opposite skew of what we have in SMM, where over 90% of the content is NOT sponsorship-based. Hence the word 'worrying', rather than 'actually really awful'.
Whatever position you take, it's hard to argue the Mercedes GLA actually 'belongs' in a Mario game (unless you believe the marketing guff about how Mercedes, like Nintendo, exists to 'inspire fans').
I think this is the position most people on the 'anti' side of the fence take; not one of outrage, but one of some disappointment. There are already plenty of adverts around. NL, for example, needs adverts to function. But when people fork out for a full price retail game, it would be nice to think they could be omitted.
Mystery Mushroom costume #110 shall forever be 'Mercedes GLA'. And I find that just a little bit sad.
It is a little weird but on the bright side those Mario Kart themed courses I've seen around and about will look the part now.
So random. Even moreso than in MK8, where it made at least some sense, what with cars in a racing game.
@SanderEvers I did not get angry, I did not get happy and I did not disapprove Nintendo's decision. I stated my point of view about the profit.
That said, I enforce my opinion that their catalyst was the money and not the humorous factor otherwise Nintendo would have put a brandless car instead. But they didn't and they got money for that being it funny or not.
mario: you see me rolling on my mercendes benz on super mario maker!(i just came up with it for some reason)
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