10 Video Game Facts That Aren’t True

It’s probably a fact that gets included in every single video game trivia quiz ever made but I’m here to tell you that no, Mario’s first name was not Jumpman.

Let’s set the record straight. Mario’s first appearance is indeed the 1981 arcade classic Donkey Kong where he plays the villainous carpenter. Being several years before he took to stomping on turtles in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario was not yet "Mario" and was instead Jumpman.

However, this was a later addition as in the original Japanese release he wasn’t named at all.

In early design stages however, Donkey Kong’s director Shigeru Miyamoto had landed on the name “Mr Video”. The idea being that it was a vague enough name that it could be carried forward into whatever the he saw fit for the character. Not as a starring role but as a cameo for all of his projects, a sort of calling card if you will.

Strange to think of Mario being referred to as a background character in hindsight isn't it?

Miyamoto has since said that had this rather bland name stuck then “Mr Video” would probably have disappeared off the face of the Earth. It's hard to disagree with that fact. “Mr Video Odyssey” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.