To say Mario is no stranger to spinoffs is like saying there’s something a little off about Luigi – it’s not only obvious but also incredibly understated. From teaching typing to playing doctor, kart racing, and even beating up his friends and family in Smash, the little plumber’s reach knows few bounds.

The most popular gaming franchises always have iconic characters that are instantly recognisable, even to those with only a passing interest in gaming. Lara Croft, Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, Zelda: these characters are synonymous with their gaming worlds, have appeared in different genres of game, and serve as inspiration for cosplayers on every continent.

From the dawn of digital gaming to the modern day, platforms are very much defined by one or two iconic characters. They become talismans and primary selling points of gaming systems, with fans clamoring for the next game in the franchise.

We all recognise him straight away – red hat, red t-shirt with blue dungarees with a moustache – yes, he’s Mario. He is potentially one of the most iconic game characters of all time. He was initially created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who worked for Nintendo. For a period, he also acted as the company’s unofficial mascot, and we would make his first video game appearance in 1981 in the game ‘Donkey Kong’. And although nearly everyone might recognise just who Mario is, that’s not what we’re going to be looking at today. Instead, we’re going to be looking at the influence he’s had both with the success of Nintendo and with video games in general. 

The eagerly anticipated Nintendo Switch Lite announcement earlier in July 2019 has many Nintendo die-hards scratching their heads. Many fans were left feeling shortchanged by the lack of newer features on the Lite, while others saw it as a step in the right direction for the company attracting a new class of gamer. The name Lite itself does denote that something has been shaved off the original. Could the new announcement be seen as Nintendo attempting to cater to a wider market – after all Pokémon Let’s Go changed the premise of the games to appeal to a new target audience. Or, will the missing features of the new handheld device render it less successful than the hero product in Nintendo’s wheelhouse?

Over the years, gambling and the games that people play have changed a lot. Of course, there are some games that never grow old and have changed with the times to remain popular. This includes classic games like bingo, blackjack, roulette and slot games that are all available to play online at the most popular casinos.

When we play casino games, whether they are in live casinos, online, or even in our favourite Mario video game, there are many ways you can lose money if you are not careful. Here are some of the top tips we have to ensure that you get the most out of your money every time you head to your favourite casino.

Casino players have been playing slot tournaments for ages since the old mechanical machines appeared. The tournaments were being organized for regular slot machine players in order to reward them and provide them with a chance to win head-spinning prizes.

Today, there are millions of online casino slot tournaments. For a better understanding of how slot tournaments work, you should know a couple of things.

[Source: Pixabay]

Sonic and Mario. Mario and Sonic. Once upon a time, these two icons of video gaming history were the fiercest of enemies. You were either a Sega person or a Nintendo person, and that was that.

A series of fantasy platform games, Super Mario, was released more than 30 years ago. Today it is still extremely popular among people all around the world. Super Mario Bros. 3 is often regarded as one of the Nintendo Entertainment System’s greatest games. Regardless of age, gender or interests, everybody loves a cute player character with a moustache. We are ready to jump across platforms and atop enemies for hours and hours.