Question: What legendary video game character owes his name to an annoyed landlord?
Answer: Super Mario. In the early 1980s, a scrappy video game company named Nintendo was renting warehouse space in Tukwila, Washington, from a businessman named Mario Segale. When Nintendo fell behind on rent, Segale confronted them but chose not to evict, giving them time to pay. Not long after, as the company was preparing to launch a new arcade game, they dropped the placeholder name “Jumpman” and renamed the character Mario, both as a nod to Segale’s unexpected generosity and his larger-than-life presence. See Mario Segale’s photo and story here.
