Nintendo's first theme park outside of its native Japan will open in California next month, only weeks before Mario gets the big-screen treatment in a major new Hollywood film.
Super Nintendo World will be part of Universal Studios Hollywood, an amusement park that is traditionally home to rides based on film and TV franchises from Waterworld to Harry Potter.
But with the video game industry now eclipsing movies in size, and theme parks using increasingly interactive technology to immerse guests, bosses of the two companies have joined forces to capitalise on the platform-hopping plumber's global popularity.
The new Nintendo attraction will largely mirror the design of its recently opened, slightly larger sister park in Osaka, including a Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge ride that uses augmented reality goggles.
Visitors race along a real-life track surrounded by actual set pieces, but can aim and shoot virtual shells at computerised villains they see displayed on their head-mounted, individual visors.
'Ultimate playground'
There are also a number of mini games in which visitors with interactive wristbands can accrue coins and stamps, to qualify for a "final showdown" with the evil Bowser Jr.
"It's kind of the ultimate playground," said Jon Corfino, vice president of Universal Creative.
"We are known for our film franchises, which are terrific, and they're very immersive. Games are a different thing.
"How we even engage with entertainment is evolving in and of itself... entertainment is not static."
Nintendo fans have already begun flocking to the Los Angeles amusement park, where word quickly spread last week that the new attraction was admitting visitors for a "soft opening" to iron out any final technical glitches.
"Being here, it's like my childhood in real life," said Carlos Moctezuma, who wore a Mario outfit to the park.
"I've known Mario since I was in second grade. That was one of my first games on the Game Boy," said his partner Lexsi Houseman, dressed as Luigi.
"It's a dream come true," she added.
Star-studded cast
The official launch of Super Nintendo World is set for February 17, when visitors surrounded by mechanical Yoshis, Piranha Plants and Goombas from the beloved gaming franchise will be greeted by actors dressed as Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach.
A third Nintendo theme park will follow in Orlando.
Meanwhile, Universal Pictures — the Hollywood film studio that shares its parent company with the theme park — will release The Super Mario Bros Movie in April.
The film features US actor Chris Pratt as the voice of Italian plumber Mario — a casting choice that has sparked controversy and criticism on social media, but only drawn more attention to the nostalgia-laden movie.
Other big names lending their voices include Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong.
It will be Hollywood's second attempt to bring Nintendo's most famous characters to the big screen, after a widely panned 1993 live-action movie.
The first Super Mario Bros game came out in 1985 for Nintendo's NES console.
The platform game, in which Mario runs and jumps past obstacles to collect coins and saves Princess Peach from the evil Koopa turtles, was based on the Mario Bros arcade game released earlier
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
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