In 1988, Inside Edition reported on the new craze to be sweeping the nation: the Nintendo video game system and, in particular, its super-hero characters, the Super Mario Brothers. The piece begins with a short introduction inside the newsroom, followed by report by Joel Loy. The piece focuses on the question, "Who are the Mario Brothers?" It also focuses on information about the Nintendo game system and the ways in which it was becoming extremely popular in national social culture.
[...] Viewers were able to see what a console looked like in the store, as well as game cartridges and Super Mario Brother merchandise. However, some of the footage was not recorded at today's standards or was not up-to-par with what we have learned about videotaping subjects. When the Nintendo headquarters are shown, it is an interesting shot of the front of the building with the reporter's feet coming into frame, and the shot shows the reporter walking into the headquarters. [...]
[...] The reporter surmised that the Super Mario Brothers are best of and “nice guys” in a “fantasy world.” This helped the viewer to understand why Nintendo was becoming so popular, or to think of it from a different perspective. It certainly resonated with me, a former Nintendo gamer, that the characters represent an escape into a fantasy world of good versus evil that children, and even adults, would grow to love and be enthralled by. I believe this question worked effectively to entertain the viewers and provide a theme throughout the piece. [...]
[...] However, I felt one downside to the research was the lack of information on where Nintendo and the Super Mario Brothers originated from. The narrator casually mentions that Nintendo came from Japan after a man-on- the-street interviewee remarks that it sounds Japanese. I would have liked to know more about how Nintendo began and came to America, as well as the popularity of the system in its home country of Japan. I would have been interested to hear just a short comparison of the Nintendo and Super Mario Brothers craze in America versus Japan. [...]
[...] This news piece would do a very good job explaining Nintendo and the Super Mario Brothers to anyone who was not familiar with them, as well as enhancing the knowledge of anyone already familiar. I felt that the visit to the Nintendo headquarters was a very good decision. We were able to hear a staff member of Advertising and Promotions discuss the Super Mario Brothers. Even better, we were provided with a look inside the “Mario Mission Control” room, which assists gamers with tips and tricks for the video game. [...]
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