Mario Segale, the American real estate developer who inspired the naming of Super Mario, has passed away at the age of 84, we're sad to report. Segale died on October 27th, surrounded by his family in Tukwila, Washington.
In case you weren't aware, the story goes that Segale was rented a Tukwila warehouse to the struggling Nintendo of America in 1981, around the same time that Shigeru Miyamoto created the character that would become Mario.
The famous mascot appeared in Donkey Kong, the breakout hit that would reverse Nintendo's fortunes in the video game arena, and the company wanted to give him a proper name - Miyamoto's suggestion of 'Jumpman' wasn't deemed catchy enough. The hero was named after Segale, while his girlfriend Pauline took her name from a Nintendo of America employee’s wife.
This is quite a claim to fame, but Segale avoided connecting himself with the world-famous character for decades, apparently out of fear that it would harm his successful real estate business, which he sold in 1998 for a cool $60 million. In 1993, he was asked about the character, and dryly replied: “You might say I’m still waiting for my royalty checks."
Segale’s obituary expands on his reclusive nature:
While he was the inspiration for the name of Nintendo’s ‘Super Mario’ from when they were tenants in his business park in the 1970’s, he always ducked the notoriety and wanted to be known instead for what he accomplished in his life.
Rest in peace, Mario Segale. You touched more people's lives than you were perhaps aware.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 42
Jumpman surely would've inspired memes around the world. xD
R. I. P Mario Segale
RIP. But NintendoLife, as ever, you're reporting yesterdays news.
RIP
sad news, glad His name is Mario and not jump man
Rest in peace Super Mario.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. I am sorry for their loss.
Requiscat in pace
suggestion perhaps for a better thumbnail here though, would be nice if you his pic in the piece?
RIP. Praying that his family and friends can get through this.
Requiescat in pace.
Nintendo Life, You don't announce the death of a man putting on the cover place the picture of another man.
@Cosats Agreed because it is just makes it clickbait otherwise.
Rest well, sir!
Jesus help, if a person who was the random inspiration for a name brings such "Sniffles" and crack a tear, I can only imagine what will happen when Shigeru Miyamoto goes to the big "Mushroom Kingdom in the Sky" ???
RIP Mario Segale
@TheGhostWhoWalks is there a faster Nintendo news site?
@BensonUii They reported that earlier this morning. Just not the part about it being a Gamestop exclusive.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/11/blizzards_loot_goblin_amiibo_will_hoard_treasure_for_you_this_december
@GamingDude800 @AlternateButtons @Cosats Did it ever occur to any of you that given Segale's reclusive and humble nature, there aren't many images of him online? Certainly not any of high enough quality to use as the lead image here.
Why do you think that so many sites are still using his high school yearbook photo from decades ago? He clearly didn't want to be in the limelight and I've even seen sites using photos (presumably taken from social media of other people) with him on them, cutting out the other person.
If you'd like to explain how A) not being able to source a decent image and B) not wanting to use what are clearly private photos that aren't for public consumption is disrespectful, then please - I'm all ears.
I've seen numerous sites like BBC, Kotaku, NintendoWire, NintendoEverything use images of him for their story and they were quality images.
@Damo I think it's more that the lead image is a picture of a different man. You could argue it's disrespectful to do so, or that on a first take, you could be mistaken for thinking that Miyamoto passed away.
@TheGhostWhoWalks That image isn't large enough to be our main image, though. I get the impression that he wasn't the kind of guy who wanted his face everywhere, which was another reason why I didn't use the social media images some other sites have used.
@thehappyjack I've replaced it with one that doesn't include Miyamoto, but that wasn't the original complaint made.
@Damo
normally I don't like uber short and incomplete articles, but this was a cute interest piece and it was nicely done
as for those guys, they are being ridiculous bordering on jerks
ignore, those are probably the same guys having crap-fits because Waluigi wasn't in Smash
@Damo Nice one, I don't agree with the others thinking there needs to be a picture of him. The original complaint I was referencing was @Cosats: "Nintendo Life, You don't announce the death of a man putting on the cover place the picture of another man."
@AlternateButtons Again, you're failing to explain exactly how it's disrespectful? The image had Mario in it (and his equally famous creator), which is one of the key topics of the piece. It's not like I included a photo of an entirely different person on their own; Miyamoto created Mario. Anyway, I've changed it now, to ensure there's zero room for confusion.
@jhewitt3476 Sadly there are plenty of people who visit this site purely to leave negative comments; I can only assume they consistantly get up on the wrong side of bed every morning - which must be a pretty dull way to live. Thanks for the support!
@thehappyjack Exactly, it's perhaps the exact opposite of what he would have wanted.
The piece from the obituary was powerful and spoke volumes about the man. RIP.
@Damo read kotaku's reporting, they have a well public image respectfully placed in the piece that too without seeming click-baity (not that I think of that of this piece, just reading the headline while seeing that image makes it incredibly weird which needs no explanation)
@Damo I have to completely agree with everything here as I completely apologize for my actions but my point about the original image being clickbaity still stands as I was personally one of those "jerks" that originally completely thought that Miyamoto had completely died and not the guy that this article is completely talking about!
My thoughts and prayers are with this guy's family. He will most certainly be missed.
@DenDen
Jumpan Segale would have been a weird name for a real state developer...
Who do you think Donkey Kong was inspired by? Reggie. LOL.
@SARankDirector Is that a joke? Anything's faster than here.
Even the guy who was the main inspiration for Super Mario was a pretty big success! Lucky guy, and may he rest in peace.
@TheGhostWhoWalks Yet you still keep coming back...
@SARankDirector https://www.gonintendo.com
Is on top of stories the second they come out.
They lack the extended writing and dress up that NintendoLife has, but it's where NintendoLife sources most of their stories from in the first place.
Basically GoNintendo is C-SPAN giving you direct information live, and NintendoLife is CNN giving you stories with a writers take on the situation.
There are an awful lot of keyboard warriors on this website who seem to have nothing better to do with their time than to criticise the content. If you feel that you could do it better, start a website or apply for a job. I imagine that the majority of readers are not interested in your constant negativity. It saps the joy from what is supposed to be a fun hobby, and must be incredibly frustrating for the content creators.
It’s really sad to know this amazing man is no longer with us, but seriously for a second I thought it was saying “The man who lent his voice to Mario has sadly passed away” and I was like No not Charles martinet
Sorry to hear about it.
Rest in Peace.
I got a little scared when I quickly read the title of this article, mistakenly thinking that Charles Martinet had died. This is still very unfortunate news, though. I hope his family finds comfort and peace.
I can respect a man who stood proud of his life's work instead of badgering Nintendo for recognition and royalties when Mario got big. Rest in peace, good sir.
Oh my lord thats so sad...
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