An amateur (French amateur "lover of", from Old French and ultimately from Latin amatorem nom. amator, "lover") is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training. Amateurism can be seen in both a negative and positive light. Since amateurs often do not have formal training, some amateur work may be sub-par. For example, amateur athletes in sports such as basketball, baseball or football are regarded as having a lower level of ability than professional athletes. On the other hand, an amateur may be in a position to approach a subject with an open mind (as a result of the lack of formal training) and in a financially disinterested manner.

The lack of financial benefit can also be seen as a sign of commitment to an activity; and until the 1970s the Olympic rules required that competitors be amateurs. Receiving payment to participate in an event disqualified an athlete from that event, as in the case of Jim Thorpe. In the Olympics, this rule remains in place for boxing.

Many amateurs make valuable contributions in the field of computer programming through the open source movement. Amateur dramatics is the performance of plays or musical theater, often to high standards but lacking the budgets of professional West End or Broadway performances. Astronomy, history, linguistics, and the natural sciences are among the myriad fields that have benefited from the activities of amateurs.

See also

Amateur astronomy

Amateur football

Amateur photography

Amateur radio

Amateur sports

Hobby

Volunteer

Notes

Bourdieu, P. (1996). Photography: A Middle-Brow Art. Stanford University Press.

Fine, G.A. (1998) Morel Tales:. The. Culture. of. Mushrooming. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

References

Category:Occupations Category:French loanwords

Name	Mario
Caption	Mario, as he appears in New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009)
Series	Mario
Firstgame	Donkey Kong (1981)
Creator	Shigeru Miyamoto
Artist	Shigeru Miyamoto (Donkey Kong)Yōichi Kotabe (Super Mario Bros. series)Shigefumi Hino (Super Mario World)
Voiceactor	Video games:Ronald B. Ruben (Mario Teaches Typing)Marc Graue (Hotel Mario)Charles Martinet (video games, 1995-present)
Japanactor	Tōru Furuya (Original video animations and Satellaview games)Takeshi Aono (Mario Paint commercial)Kōsei Tomita (Japanese dub of the Super Mario Bros. film) Charles Martinet (video games, 1995-present)
Liveactor	"Captain" Lou Albano (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!)Bob Hoskins (Super Mario Bros. film)Gorō Inagaki (2003 "Hot Mario" commercial)Takashi Okamura (2005-2006 "Hot Mario Bros." commercials)

is a fictional character in his eponymous video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation. Though originally only appearing in platform games, starting with Donkey Kong, Mario currently appears in varied video game genres such as racing, puzzle, role-playing, fighting, and sports.

Mario is depicted as a short, pudgy, Italian-American plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. He repeatedly stops the turtle-like villain Bowser's numerous plans to kidnap Princess Peach and subjugate the Mushroom Kingdom. He has other enemies and rivals, including Donkey Kong and Wario. Since 1995, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet.

As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is arguably the most famous character in video game history, and his image is commonly associated with video games. Mario games, as a whole, have sold more than 210 million units, making the Mario series the best-selling video game series of all time. Outside platform games, he has appeared in video games of other genres, including the Mario Kart racing series, sports games, such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing games such as Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG, and even educational games, such as Mario is Missing and Mario's Time Machine. He has inspired television shows, film, comics, and a line of licensed merchandise.

Concept and creation

Mario was created by Shigeru Miyamoto in his attempts to produce a best-selling video game for Nintendo, after previous titles, such as Sheriff, had not achieved the same success as other titles such as Pac-Man. Originally, Miyamoto wanted to create a video game that used the characters Popeye, Bluto, and Olive Oyl.

Mario's name was originally "Mr. Video", and he was to be used in every video game Miyamoto developed. Miyamoto had commented that if he had named him Mr. Video, he likely would have "disappeared off the face of the Earth". Mario's character design, particularly his large nose, draws on western influences; once he became a plumber, Miyamoto decided to "put him in New York" and make him Italian, Other sources have Mario's profession chosen to be carpenter in an effort to depict the character as an ordinary hard worker, and make it easier for players to identify with the him; after a colleague suggested that Mario more resembled a plumber, Miyamoto changed his profession accordingly and developed Mario Bros.,

Due to the graphical limitations of arcade hardware at the time, Miyamoto clothed the character in bright red overalls and a blue shirt to contrast against each other and the background. A cap was added to let Miyamoto avoid drawing the character's hairstyle, forehead, and eyebrows, as well as to circumvent the issue of animating his hair as he jumped.

Miyamoto developed Mario with the idea of using him as a "go to" character that could be put in any title as needed, albeit in cameo appearances as at the time he was not expecting Mario to become popular. To this end he originally called the character "Mr. Video", comparing his intent to have Mario appear in later games to the cameos done by Alfred Hitchcock within his films. Over time, Mario's appearance has become more defined; both a red "M" in a white circle on the front of his hat and gold buttons on his overalls have been added. Miyamoto attributed this process to the different development teams and artists for each game as well as advances in technology as time has gone on.

Appearances

, one of the first games he starred in.]]

1981–1990

Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong in 1981. The carpenter mistreats the ape, so Donkey Kong escapes and kidnaps Jumpman's girlfriend, originally known as the Lady, but later named Pauline. The player must take the role of Jumpman and rescue the girl. He was first named "Mario" in the arcade game Donkey Kong Junior in 1982, the only game in which he has ever been portrayed as an antagonist. In the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros. Mario and his younger brother Luigi are portrayed as Italian-American plumbers, who have to defeat creatures that have been coming from the sewers below New York. Their surname was "Mario", resulting in Mario's full name being first given here as "Mario Mario".

In Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Mario saves Princess Toadstool (later known as Princess Peach) of the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa. To save Princess Toadstool, Mario conquers the eight worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom by going to the castle in each to defeat a minion of King Koopa. To reach each castle, Mario battles through three "sub-worlds" by defeating or avoiding King Koopa's henchmen. If Mario successfully fights his way through the castle and defeats the minion, a Mushroom Retainer is freed. Inside the eighth castle, Mario has a final fight with King Koopa and frees Princess Toadstool. In Super Mario Bros. 2, the player could choose between Mario and his friends Luigi, Toad, or Princess Peach. Each character possesses unique abilities, with Mario being the most well-rounded. In Super Mario Bros. 3 Mario embarks on a quest to save the rulers of seven kingdoms from Bowser and his children, the Koopalings and travel across eight worlds to restore order to the Mushroom World and rescue Princess Peach. Mario is introduced to new power-ups that augment his abilities.

1989–1995

In Super Mario Land an alien named Tatanga appears, hypnotizes the inhabitants of an area called Sarasaland, and kidnaps their ruler, Princess Daisy. Mario then sets out to rescue her from Tatanga, traveling through the four geographical areas of Sarasaland and defeating Tatanga's minions along the way. He finally corners Tatanga in the skies of the Chai kingdom, bringing down his alien warship and rescuing Daisy.

In Super Mario World, Mario and Luigi are taking Princess Peach for a vacation in Dinosaur World sometime after the events of Super Mario Bros. 3 when Peach is kidnapped by Bowser. Mario and Luigi are introduced to the Yoshis, dinosaurs that live in Dinosaur World, and they help rescue Peach by allowing Mario and Luigi to ride them. In , which takes place immediately after the original Super Mario Land, Mario's evil counterpart Wario has put an evil spell over Mario Land while Mario was away in Sarasaland, renaming the area Wario Land. The inhabitants are now brainwashed into thinking that Wario is their master and Mario is their enemy. Wario's motive behind this sudden attack was to take control over Mario's castle in order to have a palace of his own. To stop Wario, Mario finds the 6 Golden Coins throughout Mario Land and regains access to his castle. In , a stork carries Baby Mario and Baby Luigi across the sea, but the evil Magikoopa Kamek emerges and steals Baby Luigi, and Baby Mario falls onto an island in the middle of the sea called Yoshi's Island, home to Yoshis. He lands on a green Yoshi, and he and the rest of the Yoshis journey through the game's six worlds to rescue Baby Luigi and the stork back from Baby Bowser and Kamek.

1996–2002

debut was in Super Mario 64.]] Mario made his 3D debut in Super Mario 64. Princess Peach sends Mario a letter inviting him to come to her castle for a cake she has baked for him; however, when he arrives, Mario discovers that Bowser has invaded the castle and imprisoned the princess and her servants within it using the power of the castle's 120 Power Stars. Many of the castle's paintings are portals to other worlds, in which Bowser's minions keep watch over the stars. Mario searches the castle for these portals to enter the worlds and recover the stars. He gains access to more rooms as he recovers more stars, and traverses three obstacle courses leading to a battle with Bowser. Defeating Bowser the first two times earns Mario a key for opening another level of the castle,

In Super Mario Sunshine, Mario, Toadsworth, and Princess Peach are taking a vacation. A villain resembling Mario, known as "Shadow Mario", vandalizes the entire island with graffiti, and Mario gets blamed for the mess. Mario is ordered to clean up Isle Delfino, while saving Princess Peach from Shadow Mario. Mario cleans up the island with a device called FLUDD invented by Professor E. Gadd. Afterward, Mario, Peach and the others then begin their well-deserved vacation.

2006–present

Mario went to 2.5D in New Super Mario Bros. At the beginning of the game, Princess Peach and Mario are walking together when lightning suddenly strikes Peach’s castle nearby. As Mario runs to help, Bowser Jr. appears and kidnaps her. Realizing what has happened, Mario quickly rushes back and gives chase. Mario ventures through eight worlds pursuing Bowser Jr. and trying to rescue the kidnapped princess. In the game’s final sequence, Mario rescues Princess Peach, who kisses him on the cheek. In Super Mario Galaxy Mario is invited to the centennial Star Festival, when Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom and rips Peach's entire castle from its foundations and lifts it into outer space. Mario is catapulted across the cosmos and awakens on a small planet. On the planet he meets star-like creatures called Lumas and their companion, a mysterious woman called Rosalina, who tells Mario that the Power Stars have been stolen by Bowser. Mario sets off on an intergalactic adventure across the universe to reclaim the Power Stars and rescue Princess Peach. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, another 2.5D game, Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad and Yellow Toad are attending Princess Peach's birthday, when a big cake rolls in with the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. hiding inside. They trap Peach inside the cake and run off with her. Mario, Luigi, and two Toads chase after them. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bowser uses the Power Stars to become gigantic and then kidnaps Princess Peach. Mario is reunited with the baby Luma (from the first Super Mario Galaxy) as he sets off on a quest to rescue Princess Peach again.

Other Mario games

Mario games of other genres include various Game & Watch games; Mario Pinball Land, a pinball game for the Game Boy Advance; various educational games; and the Dr. Mario puzzle games, (with Dr. Mario itself first released in 1990). 1996's for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is the first Mario role-playing game; six games have followed, including three in the Paper Mario series (Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64, for the Nintendo GameCube, and Super Paper Mario for the Wii) and three in the Mario & Luigi series ( for the Game Boy Advance and and for the Nintendo DS).

Several other sub-series of Mario video games have been released. The Mario Kart franchise began with Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and is currently the most successful and longest-running kart-racing franchise. Other Mario sports games include the Camelot-developed series Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, and, respectively, the baseball and soccer games Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Strikers. In 1999, the Hudson-developed Mario Party series began on the Nintendo 64. The games revolve around a set of mini-games and are playable with up to four players. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (for Nintendo DS and Wii) is a collection of twenty-four events based on the Olympic Games. This was followed in 2009 by Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games on both systems, based on the 2010 Winter Olympics. Another game was released on Wii in 2011 called "Mario Sports Mix".

In other media

Apart from his platformer and spinoff-game appearances, Mario has made guest appearances in non-Mario games, such as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! where he is a referee. Mario has even appeared as a playable character in NBA Street V3, and SSX on Tour, both from Electronic Arts. He makes cameo appearances: in both and , Mario appears on a portrait, and in he appears as a small statue.

Mario has appeared in every game of the Super Smash Bros. series, and has retained his balanced abilities even when fighting characters from other series. He brought with him items, stages, and characters to compete in the tournament. Mario's alter-egos Dr. Mario and Metal Mario have appeared as well.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! television series and the live-action film, called Super Mario Bros., based on the video game series brought Mario into the TV and film entertainment realms. The show starred "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario, and the film starred Bob Hoskins as "Mario Mario", a plumber who is taken to an alternate universe (in which dinosaurs rule) where he must save the Earth from invasion. Outside the original games, television shows, and film, he has spawned a line of licensed merchandise and appeared in popular culture. The Nintendo Comics System series, along with the Nintendo Adventure Books, were created.

Characteristics

Mario was originally portrayed as a two-dimensional sprite, but in later games he is shown as a three-dimensional, polygonal model. He is depicted as a portly plumber who lives in the fictional land of the Mushroom Kingdom with Luigi, his younger, taller brother. In the television series and film, Mario and Luigi are originally from Brooklyn, New York.

Occupation and hobbies

Mario's occupation is plumbing, though in the original Donkey Kong games he is a carpenter. Mario has had several other occupations: in the Dr. Mario series of puzzle games, which debuted in 1990, in the Game Boy game Mario's Picross, Mario is an archaeologist; and in , Mario is the president of a profitable toy-making company. Mario usually saves Princess Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom and purges antagonists, such as Bowser, from various areas. Mario has gained fame in the Mushroom Kingdom due to his heroic deeds, as shown in , where the brothers are referred to as "superstars".

Relationships

Since his first game, Mario has usually had the role of saving the damsel in distress. Originally, he had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong from Donkey Kong. Mario has rescued Princess Peach multiple times since Super Mario Bros. Mario rescued Princess Daisy of Sarasaraland in Super Mario Land, but Luigi seems to be more linked to her. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the text explaining Daisy's trophy states that "after her appearance in Mario Golf, gossips portrayed her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach".

Luigi is Mario's younger brother. though he occasionally rescues Mario, as seen in Mario is Missing! and Luigi's Mansion. for the Game Boy saw the arrival of Wario, Mario's greedy , who is often Mario's antagonist or an antihero. Yoshi is presumed to be a dinosaur, though his species is named Yoshi. Yoshi serves as Mario's mount in games such as Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros. introduced the basic three power-ups that have become staples for the series, especially the 2D games —- the Super Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow larger; the Fire Flower, which allows Mario to throw fireballs; and the Starman, which gives Mario temporary invincibility. These powers have appeared regularly throughout the series. Throughout the series' history, there have been several kinds of Mushroom power-ups, including the 1-Up Mushroom, which gives Mario an extra life; the Poison Mushroom, which causes Mario to either shrink or die; the Mega Mushroom, which causes Mario to grow very large; and the Mini Mushroom, which causes Mario to shrink. A common power-up throughout the series is an item that gives Mario the ability of flight. The first of this type was introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3: One power-up, which gives Mario a raccoon suit, is called the Super Leaf, while another is called the Tanuki suit and grants Mario the ability to fly or turn into a statue. In Super Mario World, an item called the Cape Feather was introduced that gave Mario a cape. In , a carrot was available that gave Mario rabbit ears that allowed him to fly, Super Mario Sunshine introduces a pump-water spraying device named "F.L.U.D.D.", which has the ability to spray water, hover and more. Super Mario Galaxy introduced new power-ups, including the Bee Mushroom, which turned Mario into a bee and allowed him to fly temporarily; the Ghost Mushroom, which turned Mario into a ghost, allowing him to float and pass through walls; the Spring Mushroom, which encased Mario in a spring, allowing him to jump higher; and the ice flower, which allowed the player to temporarily walk on water and lava without sinking or taking damage, by placing ice platforms wherever the player stood. Super Mario Galaxy 2 introduced even more power ups alongside those introduced in Super Mario Galaxy including the Cloud Flower which turns Mario into Cloud Mario and allows him to create cloud platforms with a spin jump; the Rock Mushroom which turns him into a boulder and even some power ups for Yoshi. New Super Mario Bros. Wii introduced the propeller mushroom, which clothed the player in a propeller suit, allowing him to fly; the penguin suit, which makes it easier for the wearer to traverse ice and swim through water, and allowed the wearer to shoot ice balls, which freeze enemies in place; and an ice flower, which gives the player the ability to shoot ice balls, but does not help with ice or water environments.

Reception and legacy

, Sweden]] As Nintendo's mascot, Mario is considered to be the most famous video game character in history, and has been called an icon of the gaming industry. The Mario series of video games has sold more than 200 million copies (210 million as of 2009), making it the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Mario was one of the first video game character inductees at the Walk of Game in 2005, alongside Link and Sonic the Hedgehog. Mario was the first video game character to be honored with a wax figure in the legendary Hollywood Wax Museum in 2003. In the 1990s, a national survey found that Mario was more recognizable to American children than Mickey Mouse; in fact, Mario has been called the "most recognisable" figure in the gaming industry.

Since his creation, Mario has established himself as a pop culture icon, and has starred in numerous television shows, comic books, and in a feature film. He has appeared on lunch boxes, t-shirts, magazines, commercials (notably, in a Got Milk? commercial), in candy form, on shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, and as a plush toy. Nintendo of Japan produced a 60-minute anime feature which starred Mario and his friends in 1986, although this film has never been released outside of Japan. The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! featured a live-action series of skits which starred the late former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. Mario appeared in a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. Mario has inspired unlicensed paintings, and short films, which have themselves been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

People and places have been named (or nicknamed) after Mario. Bergsala, the distributor of Nintendo's products in the Nordic and the Baltic countries, is located at Marios Gata 21 (Mario's Street 21) in Kungsbacka, Sweden, named after Mario. Many sports stars, including NHL hockey player Mario Lemieux, NFL football player Mario Williams, and Italian cycling star Mario Cipollini have been given the nickname "Super Mario". In the Spanish suburb of Zaragoza, in commemoration of Mario a street was named "Avenida de Super Mario Bros".

Mario's legacy is recognized by Guinness World Records, who awarded the Nintendo mascot, and the series of platform games he has appeared in, seven world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include "Best Selling Video Game Series of All Time", "First Movie Based on an Existing Video Game", and "Most Prolific Video Game Character", with Mario appearing in 116 distinct titles (not including remakes or re-releases).

Creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that Mario is his favorite character out of all that he has created. Nintendo Power listed Mario as their favourite hero, citing his defining characteristics as his mustache, red cap, plumbing prowess, and his mushrooms. In a poll conducted in 2008 by Oricon, Mario was voted the most popular video game character in Japan, outranking characters such as Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII and Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series. Gaming site GameDaily listed the "unlikely hero" on its top 25 video game archetypes, and used Mario as an example of this. It stated that in spite of the fact that he should have run out of energy through the first level, he kept going. Mario ranked fourth on GameDaily's top ten Smash Bros. characters list. Mario was fourth on UGO's list of the "Top 100 Heroes of All Time", ahead of fellow video game characters Samus Aran (Metroid), Link (Legend of Zelda), Gordon Freeman (Half-Life), and Master Chief (Halo). CNET listed him first on its list of the "Top 5 video game characters". He was voted 100th in IGN's Top 100 Villains for his appearance in Donkey Kong Junior. UGO.com listed Mario's Hat twenty-first on their list of "The Coolest Helmets and Headgear in Video Games", stating "there’s always somebody at your Halloween party wearing one."

References

External links

The Evolution of Mario Timeline and Collage

Super Mario Wiki

Nintendo of Europe's official website for the Mario series

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1981 Category:Corporate mascots Category:Fictional construction workers Category:Fictional characters who can jump at superhuman heights Category:Fictional doctors Category:Fictional American people of Italian descent Category:Fictional plumbers Category:Fictional sportspeople Category:Fictional twins Category:Film characters Category:Male video game characters Category:Mario characters Category:Nintendo protagonists Category:Punch-Out!! characters Category:Super Smash Bros. fighters Category:Superheroes Category:Video game bosses Category:Video game mascots

Name	Bros
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Camberley, Surrey, England
Genre	Pop, Dance-pop
Years active	1986–1992
Label	CBS
Past members	Matt GossLuke GossCraig Logan

Bros (abbreviation of the word 'brothers', and pronounced to rhyme with 'dross') were a British band active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, consisting of twin brothers Matt Goss and Luke Goss along with Craig Logan. Formed in 1986, they were managed by former Pet Shop Boys manager Tom Watkins.

History

Their first single, "I Owe You Nothing", was released in 1987 on CBS Records. The second, "When Will I Be Famous?" became their breakthrough hit by reaching number two in the United Kingdom. Their first album, Push, was released in 1988.

The group achieved a total of 11 top 40 singles and 3 Top 20 albums in the United Kingdom, making them one of the biggest acts in British music between 1988 and 1991. They reached number one when "I Owe You Nothing" was reissued in 1988. They continued having hits throughout the late 1980s, including "Cat Among the Pigeons" and "Too Much", both which made UK #2 during 1988 and 1989.

During the late 1980s Bros were massive in the emerging homosexual scene in London. Matt visited a diehard fan after he won a competition during 1988 in the small village outside Liverpool Matt was also voted Mr Gay UK in 1988 an again in 1990. Logan left the band in early 1989, and the Goss brothers continued touring as a duo. A second album, The Time was released in 1989 followed by Changing Faces in 1991 before the band split in 1992.

Matt Goss began a solo career during the 1990s, enjoying chart success with his single "If You Were Here Tonight", as well as becoming an actor. Luke Goss moved to the US and became a film actor, starring in blockbuster hits such as Blade II and . Craig Logan entered into music management as well as songwriting and forged a successful career.

Reformation

On 1 July 2008, BBC Radio 1 DJ Carl Sharrock officially announced that Matt Goss had spoken to the other members of the band and in principle they had agreed to reform. However, on 14 September 2010, Matt Goss stated that the band would not be reforming in the near future, stating that the moment had passed.

Discography

Singles

Albums

1988 Push (UK #2, SUI #3, AUS #4, NOR #6, GER #6, AUT #14, SWE #29)

1989 The Time (UK #4, GER #34, SWE #42, AUS #34)

1991 Changing Faces (UK #18)

2004 The Best of Bros (UK #128)

Video albums

1988 The Big Push Tour Live (VHS)

1989 Push Over (VHS)

2004 The Big Picture (DVD)

References

External links

Bros discography at Discogs.

Matt Goss Official Website.

Category:BRIT Award winners Category:English pop music groups Category:British boy bands