11 Fascinating Gaming Moments That Almost Happened
4. Mario Originally Used A Gun
Nintendo
"Who needs courage when you can give Mario a gun?" was the question most likely asked by Nintendo when deciding on what their next protagonist should embody, because - for a time - everyone's favourite Italian plumber had more in common with The Godfather's Luca Brazzi than your local handyman.
In an interview with the Famitsu magazine (translated by 1Up), Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that Mario was originally going to wield a gun, and that the original Mario Bros. title was going to be a side-scrolling shooter. Miyamoto also stated that shoot em' up stages were also considered, "where Mario jumps on a cloud and shoots at enemies," but that the feature was scrapped when the company decided that "jumping action" made for much more compelling gameplay.
Needless to say, the thought of Mario having potentially once become a forgettable side-scrolling shooter protagonist isn't one many Nintendo fans will want to entertain, but it doesn't make speculating on what could've been any less enjoyable.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.
