One of the most iconic characters in all of video games in Mario. Mario first turned up way back in 1985 in Super Mario Brothers for the original Nintendo game console. I know as a kid that game and the original console were the gaming system to own. Mario was hugely popular during my youth with his own cartoon show along with Luigi and there are now hoards of Mario games in homes all around the world.

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Nintendo reports that it has sold 240 million Mario games all around the world. Nintendo is also looking forward to the future of the Mario franchise with new games for the Wii and portable game consoles. To celebrate Mario's 25th birthday Nintendo UK is having a contest for fans.

Fans can make a video telling why they love Mario and the video will get the maker into a contest. The grand prize for the contest is a special Wii console bundle. You can also hop over to the Mario celebration site and check out some history of the franchise including a look back at the early games that had Mario in all his pixel art splendor.