Post by: Bloodworth on March 30, 2005, 10:53:21 PM
VIDEO GAME HERO MARIO PETITIONS FOR NEW HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME CATEGORY
Interactive Entertainment Industry Deserves a Hollywood Star
REDMOND, Wash., March 30, 2005 – He starred in dozens of video games. He proved himself a more bankable celebrity than either Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise. Now Mario™, the biggest star in video game history, moves to his next challenge: requesting that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce create a new Interactive Entertainment category for its world-famous Walk of Fame. The category would honor video game characters and their creators, who provided millions of fans with billions of hours of immersive entertainment.
"Video games are a huge part of the entertainment industry," explains George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Revenues from the video game industry routinely equal or top revenues from the film industry's U.S. box office. That's how big we are."
With an impressive flourish and an entourage befitting a star of his stature, Mario today delivered a proposal to honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant asking the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to consider adding a video game category. As part of the campaign, fans carried signs of support while their hero arrived in a convertible. Ads in support of the worldwide movement also ran today in Hollywood trade magazines.
"I spent my whole life chasing stars," says Mario. "And now my fans want to give me one? Woo-hoo!"
More than 3,300 video game fans from all over the world so far have signed an online petition at www.petitionspot.com/petitions/walkoffame to support the new category. Fans left comments in several languages, including English, Spanish, Polish, French and Portuguese, demonstrating the broad, worldwide appeal of video games.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame now honors entertainment legends from areas as diverse as Film, Recording, Radio, Television and Stage. A new Interactive Entertainment category would recognize the enormous contributions of video games to the entertainment world and make the Hollywood Walk of Fame accessible to new generations of fans.
While films, TV shows and music provide experiences that last a specified amount of time, video games provide open-ended, interactive experiences, and often let players determine the outcome. For many years, all forms of entertainment, video games included, have seen a convergence. Top TV shows and video games feature hot music by top artists. Video game stars get their own movies, and film stars voice video game characters. And these days no major animated or action film debuts without an accompanying video game counterpart.
Mario Waves at the Natives
Protestors Join Mario
Honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant with Media
Post by: matt oz on March 30, 2005, 11:03:29 PM
Post by: Grant10k on March 31, 2005, 12:57:45 PM
(edit: spelling)
Post by: Hostile Creation on March 31, 2005, 01:25:26 PM
Post by: Ian Sane on March 31, 2005, 01:26:09 PM
That's how it is with games. There are still a lot of people out there who are just wowed by the fact that pushing buttons makes the character on the screen do stuff. Plus film and music critics tend to be very hardcore and have a huge knowledge of their subject. We don't see that as much with game critics yet. Most of them have that same "wow I'm playing a game" thing going like the general public. Do something like this now and we'll see Halo (or something equally as new) as one of the first stars despite the fact that five years from now with hindsight being 20/20 it may not be considered a major icon at all anymore.
Right now I just know that having games on the Walk of Fame wouldn't be done right.
Post by: joshnickerson on March 31, 2005, 01:52:04 PM
... not to mention that giant Mario kinda creeps me out...
Post by: mantidor on March 31, 2005, 02:04:50 PM
Post by: PortalOneTech on April 01, 2005, 11:31:05 AM
Oh and another thing, did they mean honorable mayor instead of honorary mayor? It's funny because during the star unveiling for the Walk Of Game somebody slipped and said honorary mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsome...when in fact he is the Mayor
Post by: Ian Sane on April 01, 2005, 01:39:50 PM
All mayors are honorary. The ones we see are merely puppets for the REAL government... or at least that's the conclusion I just came to in the last few minutes.
Post by: KirbySStar on April 01, 2005, 01:48:26 PM
More importantly, where was Kirby?
Post by: Bloodworth on April 01, 2005, 03:46:14 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: PortalOneTech
Oh and another thing, did they mean honorable mayor instead of honorary mayor? It's funny because during the star unveiling for the Walk Of Game somebody slipped and said honorary mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsome...when in fact he is the Mayor
Well, Hollywood isn't actually a separate city. It's part of Los Angeles. I was surprised to even hear about the "honorary Mayor".
Post by: PortalOneTech on April 02, 2005, 08:58:34 AM
BTW, that is a true story....the guy was nuts, funny as hell though.
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on April 02, 2005, 02:14:54 PM
Post by: Bloodworth on April 02, 2005, 02:20:33 PM
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on April 02, 2005, 02:46:38 PM
QuoteMaybe that is the point, maybe Mario feels that he is being unjustly grouped with a has been and a newbie in an unrespected surrogate display of honor that just isn't worthy of its intent.
Originally posted by: PortalOneTech
Isn't this what the whole Walk of Game was for? Won't putting a star on the walk of fame pretty much make the Walk of Game pointless?
Mario has made more appearances and made more money than probably most of the actors on the Walk of Fame.
If Joe Schmoe had released his first movie and it was a mega-blockbuster and then was coming out w/ a sequel that was sure to be a major hit too would he be inducted to the Walk of Fame
or
If Betty Blip made some pretty good movies 10-15 yrs ago but everything in the last 10 years were mildly entertaining at best with maybe one or two above average performance would she be getting on the Walk of Fame
I think not....... well maybe for the latter, but......
I think Mario is just trying to get his due respects, and maybe he deserves to be honored with much better company than Joe Schmoe & Betty Blip. Don't you think?
Post by: matt oz on April 02, 2005, 03:37:29 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: Bloodworth
I don't believe there are many characters like Snow White or Yoda on the Walk of Fame, so why would Mario be?
That's a great point. We don't honor movie characters, we honor the actors who portray them. So why should there be a video game character on the Walk of Fame? If anyone, it should be video game directors and voice actors, but since the latter is such a new field, and voices for characters can change from game to game, it would take a long time for those people to get on the Walk of Fame, provided video games become well known to regular people, and if I can make this sentence any longer by adding more commas.
Don't you have to pay money to be on the Walk of Fame anyway? Like doesn't your fanclub or something have to pay to get on there? I remember the Olsen Twins just got their own star (or stars, I don't know) the same year that Keanu Reeves and Susan Lucci got theirs. Though all three (four?) of those actors have questionable talent, some have been around much longer than others.
Where was I going with this? I can't remember...
Post by: KnowsNothing on April 02, 2005, 04:20:50 PM
Post by: Epitaph on April 03, 2005, 06:29:55 PM
Post by: Gamefreak on April 04, 2005, 01:46:35 PM
