Mario is the most successful game based franchise in the world. Mario was originally featured in 1981 in "Donkey Kong" the game as the main character who saves the damsel in distress. in 1984 Mario had his own debut game Originally Mario had to travel the eight different world to save the princess or damsel in distress, but his mission has changed over time. As the character developed he became a 3D figure and now a polygonal figure who also races in race carts and flies in outer space. Mario has been ranked #15 on Forbes list of fictional 15, which lists some of the wealthiest fictional characters. Mario can be told on through different forms of media but the content stunts the growth of the franchise. Here is an article on why
Super Mario is Nintendo’s Most Consistent Franchise in Terms of Quality.
The Pokemon franchise, for instance, has mastered the art of transmedia story telling because they have been able to create more content on most platforms. Pokemon has been able to release a several films because the story line is bit more complex and can be translated to more platforms than Mario's. Mario has always been known to save Princess Peach, but his story lacks a narrative despite the size of the franchise. Pokemon has been able to develop playing cards, a Television series, There are also many characters in the series, which means that fans can choose their favorite characters and buy the merchandise. The "Gotta catch em all" catchphrase also lures the fans in to become a part of the pokemon world because they can collect cards and merchandise just as the Pokemon trainers do in the series.The Pokemon story line invites a participatory culture that Mario lacks.
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| Pokemon Monopoly game ** Image from Odd Pod on Facebook |
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| Pokemon's first movie **Image from Wikipedia |
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York University
Press. 2006
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