The Story of Mario Paint

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In the early '90s, Nintendo faced mounting pressure to provide more educational games. Their answer was Mario Paint. Learn the story behind the game and how it changed the lives of 3 creative individuals.
CHAPTERS
Intro - 00:00
Part 1: Mario Paint - 03:03
Part 2: Mario Artist - 28:20
Part 3: Legacy - 32:32
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#MarioPaint #GamingHistorian #Nintendo

[@GamingHistorian]

This was a Patreon-voted topic and i'll be honest, I wasn't sure how to make this video. But you know what they say: Limitation breeds creativity! This is my first video to feature prominent interviews, and the insight they provide paints a wonderful story. I'll be back soon with an update video. But for now, please enjoy The Story of Mario Paint!

[@thecunninlynguist]

Great video!

[@Cliffordlonghead]

Ok

[@Cliffordlonghead]

@@thecunninlynguist CHEATER

[@Cliffordlonghead]

Awesome Video

[@Cliffordlonghead]

@@thecunninlynguist beat that

[@Mike_ED]

I was on high-school when our chemistry teacher wanted us to do for the final exam an original work about the cells and the chemical reactions on them, while other guys did models or other kind of stuff I used Mario Paint to made a 15 minutes-long animation , the teacher was amazed for that, I was proud because nobody did something like that... 28 years later I'm a professional animator and I still belive that it was Mario Paint the very first step on my career, thanks nintendo!!

[@ej.creative]

Wow! What a great story, Mike

[@grn1]

I had a similar project and decided to make a cake, it got a C and nobody wanted to eat any of the cake (I wasn't the smartest, or strongest kid and certainly not popular but I always tried to be nice no matter how much I got bullied*). I wonder where'd I be today if I had a bit more encouragement from teachers and peers growing up (my parents were fairly supportive). *I'm still a nice guy but I'm a lot smarter now and have a more negative attitude since life's been pelting me with lemons but keeps hogging all the sugar so I can never seem to make lemonade. I shouldn't complain, I've got a job (perpetual entry level but half-ways decent pay), a roof over my head, a decent computer (I built myself) but never have the energy to be productive and end up wasting time of frivolous things.

[@Geeksmithing]

That is amazing! My art teacher was similarly open minded and allowed me to bring in my SNES and Mario Paint to work on my final year end project in it.... She even had a giant AV cart with a big ass CRT TV on it parked in the corner just for me to use with it! I had aspirations to be an animator, and pursued the schooling for such a career path, my life lead me down a different direction. The projects I make on my KZbin channel are the result of skill collecting over my life...., all that can be traced back to this game :)

[@geraq0]

@@grn1 I can certainly relate to that. Things are easier to judge in retrospective but ultimately we can never know how things could have ended up if something had been different. For good or bad, the things we lived made us who we are today. Highly creative people have a spark inside of them that can and should be stimulated, and the rest of us can only work really hard to achieve a level we are comfortable with. I believe anyone can develop a skill with enough time and effort, but the amount of time and effort required can be very large (I started learning piano at an advanced age, and I think I'm decent but not great). So, value what you have accomplished and spend your time doing the things you love, the things that make you feel good, and don't see them as wasting time on frivolous things if they bring you happiness. For example, watching this video brought me happiness. All the best man.

[@bigmdisaful]

That's pretty cool.

[@darkworlddenizen]

The fact Nintendo never made a Mario Paint DS is such a missed opportunity. It would have been a perfect platform for an art game.

[@Moggetslittlesister]

Wii U Art Academy and Pokemon Art Academy would like a word!

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

art academy ds would like to talk to you

[@IAmSaKo]

WarioWare D.I.Y. was pretty much Mario Paint 2

[@annbrogan7608]

I guess the reason why was because the ds screen was too small

[@maeborowski1315]

or a sequel on the 3ds with added features, like the ones in the 64DD version

[@ChatookaMusic]

I'll never stop being baffled by the concept of " *my* child is playing too many videogames and that's *your* fault"

[@override7486]

Some parents are idiots, and shouldn't be parents. It's a self-statement really.

[@justformoney666]

I mean people don't live in a vacumm and marketing exists - at the end if all the kids are playing the games your kinda feel like an asshole if you refuse to buy your kid anything. And once you bought the games the companys already made sure with the best psychologists how to design the perfect skinner boxes so the little kids get addicted. Ofcourse the parent is at fault too if they just let the kids do anything and then later complain when their lack of discipline and care let to addiction, but I just dont think its as black and white as people think. For an example: an uncle of mine wanted his daughter to be free of smartphones and their addicitve apps, but when in the first grade already all other kids got a phone and your daughted complains how she gets ostriced because of it you kinda give in. And them controling every moment what and how much the little kid uses the digital crackpipe isn't allways as easy at it looks. I mean how many adults even 60 years ago would go home and watch tv today? So if even these people who were arguably more disciplined and not as pampered would fall into an easy dopamine loop, is it really honest to just reduce the problem into "lol stupid parents blaming the box they bought xddd"

[@onemorechris]

agree

[@jamesdixon6332]

Exactly

[@LTCloud9]

Its simple really. The last person parents will blame when their child grows up flucked up is themselves. They will blame the ancient mayans for their kids doing drugs before looking at their own lack of care.

[@garethevans9789]

Now a software developer, I kind of forgot about playing Mario Paint all those years ago. Seeing Mario Paint again made me realise how superb the user interface was designed (colours up top and the tools at the bottom is such a clear separation), or the music composer which lets you write music without knowing what a note is. If someone like Microsoft tried to design a similar game, it would have come with a massive manual. The supplied examples is actually another stroke of genius, most software is a blank slate that expect you to know what you're doing. Microsoft could have collaborated with Disney to bungle of few Disney images to colour in (more image packs for additional fees, naturally) in MS Paint, they really did miss a trick there. I think it's a shame that Mario Paint and encouraging users to explore isn't a case study in HCI classes, the world would be a better place!

[@mrdirexion]

what r u talking about bro?

[@SimeVidas]

Using James Rolfe’s (AVGN) childhood clip in that context was perfect.

[@ZeonStar77]

Where does the clip appear? I missed it!

[@PRdeSO]

@@ZeonStar77 4:40

[@ZeonStar77]

@@PRdeSO Thank you. That's really him??

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

ZeonStar77 Yes, it's him. He actually showed that clip on one video when telling the story of how he got his NES.

[@PlayerLin]

@@ZeonStar77 kzbin.info/www/bejne/b57YoaycfKd4Zrs Yeah, that video clip was uploaded by himself when AVGN was named ANN.

[@BPockat]

The clip of baby AVGN raging is the greatest thing I've ever seen!

[@Transgender-ProphetMohammed]

Probably played Dr. J & Mr. H.

[@DrumsTheWord]

I came down here to say exactly the same! :D

[@NicoEvaluates]

@@Transgender-ProphetMohammed Ghosts 'n Goblins. His first NES game. Imagine that.

[@MovieGoer-ff4pn]

Yeah

[@JimmyIDUB]

awwww, so precious :3 he almost said "ASSSSSSS"

[@weston407]

I absolutely love how clueless parents were about advances in technology and thought new systems/consoles were a scam

[@FlameAdder]

Meanwhile they were definitely going ga-ga over things like new and improved Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners and programmable garage door openers

[@-th1rty3-]

They were also tweaked out on diet pills and other various substances that were sold over-the-counter, helping them make bad decisions.

[@vazzaroth]

That lady isn't WRONG about wanting you to spend money on the new thing... it's just, like, that's how products work, forever. It's hilarious now to think that they thought the NES was THE videogame system for their entire life. Stuff REALLY used to move a LOT slower back then. Even before I was born in '89. I guess the fact that millennials have been multiple format wars is just not conditioning the adults back then had.

[@MrHurricaneFloyd]

@@vazzaroth Try being a Gen-Xer who saw the very beginnings of video games and now gaze upon the alien world.

[@adamjenkins190]

Luckily my father was a gamer. So whenever something new came out, I had it. Because he wanted it. Thanks to that I was the one kid with every console during the 80s 90s console wars

[@sk-sg1dd]

I remember as a kid I bought Mario Paint from a friend for 50 cents, I thought it was the biggest steal of a lifetime.

[@BurtChristopherson-id5nw]

thats a moonbeam pencil

[@rayminishi689]

"Nintemper Tantrums" Little did they realize how effective that word is when it comes to NES games and their difficulty.

[@FhargaZ]

Or when someone don't score 10/10 a Nintendo game 😆

[@taxevader5386]

Yeah some of those games are just cruel.

[@nthgth]

"Nintendo Hard" is a descriptive term for a very good reason lol

[@richard5X5]

That clip is of the AVGN by the way.

[@roberte2945]

@D Zuke Urban Dictionary is shit though lol

[@nTrylo]

This sparked my entire career. I'm now a professional graphic designer. I am so happy I found your channel. This is my new binge while I work.

[@alexbezuska]

Mario Paint was my first introduction to digital art and now I am an artist and animator working on an indie game of my own. Beautiful documentary Norm, thank you for doing this game justice!

[@Samtagri]

When my dad bought me an MSX computer, I spent days on MSX PAINT. My dad said he was happy I’m learning to use a computer. I told him I was only having fun and not really learning anything. Now I have a Computer Science engineering degree specialized in interface design. Thank you dad for being much wiser than I gave you credit for.

[@Valientlink]

although I could never relate, it's a nice story. When I have children one day I will harbor their interests the best I can.

[@kaydog890]

Wait, science and engineering degrees are quite different. Are you telling us you did a double degree, Bachelor Comp Sci and Bachelor Comp Eng?

[@Samtagri]

kaydog890 actually bachelor Electrical Engineering’s and a master in Computer Science. When you finish an MSc in the Netherlands you get an “Engineer” title and are allowed to put the Ir. (short for Ingenieur) title in front of your name.

[@JawnGG]

Want to say TomBobBlender is a legend when it comes to songs on Mario Paint, due to the fact he only uses the original version.

[@stevenaoki]

Yup. I started making Mario paint videos almost 15 years ago because I saw those original ones all that time ago. He arguably started that whole sub-genre of music composition videos.

[@GamingHistorian]

I agree, it's amazing what he can make!

[@maxkim7937]

I never got good at it on mario paint but it made me appreciate his work. I understood how difficult it could get. For me, beaterator was the game for that sort of thing

[@GoldenPickaxe]

he still livestreams glad some people remember him

[@Morgil27]

I am literally looking up his channel right now as this video is wrapping up.

[@Richterdgf]

Limitation absolutely breeds creativity. My own realization of this came when I was creating a character for a Vampire: the Masquerade game. The game took place is a modern setting, but after buying the skills I needed to allow the character to play the role I wanted (she was a 5’2” 110 pound ginger Englishwoman who was the group’s heavy hitter) I didn’t have enough left to make her able to drive. I went with it and decided that she didn’t know how to drive because while the character was older than the automobile, she thought it was a fad at the time and never learned. Her irritation at being so very, very wrong gave way to a refusal to learn. She was also extremely wealthy and had always just paid people to drive her places anyway. That was the character that taught me to have fun with limitations and how to get good storytelling out of shortcomings.

[@customsongmaker]

But how was she a heavy hitter, when women are much weaker than men

[@Matthewsavant]

I was super excited for this one, Mario paint was huge for me growing up getting it at around 10 years old I was immediately obsessed with the music making side of it and now all these years later I’m a musician and a professional sound designer (and I still dabble in pixel art and animation) I can undoubtedly thank mario paint for introducing me to creating music in software. Mario paint was the ultimate game back then for a creative kid with no outlets

[@nTrylo]

Caused a similar trajectory for me, except I'm a professional graphic designer and animator!

[@EastsideShowSCP]

Your show kind of reminds of PBS documentaries and programs from back in the day and I love that aspect.

[@shrekisgod1830]

Like bob ross

[@jadstudiosofficial]

Speaking of PBS, where is the P head?

[@exzisd]

Definitely get that PBS vibe from these but in a good way!

[@EastsideShowSCP]

@DeCryptopical thank you very much

[@Seymour-Butts_666]

Lol why because of the “brought to you in part by” thing?

[@leviwarren6222]

The history of Mario Paint: we begin today with these Italian cave paintings of mushrooms.

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

And then caveman discovered fire by eating a firey flower.

[@gamingnubs7628]

@@poweroffriendship2.0 at the cost of a few tribesmen

[@Wangdoodle444]

Toads stool is looking like turnips lately......not regular...

[@kevinrhea7332]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2qcmWqAZquWh9k

[@davidbravo8073]

bruh, did you even watch the video?

[@CSHummer]

I didn't come here for the feels but oh man I am getting nostalgic. I thought I was the only one who ever liked this game as a kid as none of my friends saw the appeal. So great to see how it inspired so many.

[@charleyfeher]

Thank you for making this video. I loved playing with Mario Paint as a kid, especially with my grandma.

[@stevenmarshall8529]

I enjoyed playing with your Grandma too. 💩

[@27jumpsquad26]

The fact that gaming historian put a clip of James rolfe (AVGN) raging at Mario bros when he was a kid put a smile on my face.

[@naufalnandipinto5961]

i see you saw that too my friend 🔝

[@marckpineda2989]

@@naufalnandipinto5961 we all did hehe

[@DOYLIE189]

true but also most likely its the only clip of a celeb that the internet generation would recognize also the fact i believe its only clip any celeb im aware of has of themselves back then

[@VideoAmericanStyle]

How about the news clips voiceover by LGR at 4:12?

[@fmusopp]

haha. I caught that. :P

[@MikeDest]

Middle school boys drew a lot of Mario Paint pr0n back then. I was at a friend's house and he was drawing some and his mom walked in. I had to go home.

[@GamingHistorian]

😳

[@JG-kc3py]

Damn son

[@personguy6904]

WHHHHHY WHY IN MARIO PAINT W H Y

[@fuzzydunlop1753]

Riiiight, "at a friend's house" 😏

[@KaygeeFromNanotrasen]

Mad lad

[@K0r__]

This just unlocked a memory I completely forgot about. I used to love Mario Paint. Wow.

[@Krockman0]

I am a Graphic Designer and Art Director here in Brazil. Mario Paint holds a very special place in my heart... as it was my first experience with a mouse and digital arts in my childhood in the 90s. I remember that I also used my VCR to record bits and pieces together into a single animation. I created several "classic" narratives in my childhood hahaha. Excellent documentary, really Mario Paint was responsible for dictating the profession I have today, and I loved every second playing that cartridge. Thanks!

[@kiddiabolik]

I received a SNES with Mario Paint for my 7th Birthday. Now I'm 34 and i work as an designer, animator, editor and photographer. In my spare time, I'm a musician. Thank you Mario Paint :)

[@simontakataka]

Same got mario paint when I was 8 and now I use illustrator every single day as a graphic designer

[@narthar7113]

4:41 - This is actually a video of the James Rolfe (The AVGN) right after getting his NES on his birthday

[@rominarosales8746]

And I loved it !

[@HoodieAnimations]

Cinemassacre is actually credited in the description for it.

[@DenkouNova]

two minutes after there's the piano for NES and I was almost expecting to see AVGN again "Yeaaaaah!! I'm shooting ducks with a piano!"

[@sanmoon3543]

FrequentNewt45 they are the same thing

[@concr3t3]

Was that LGR doing the voiceover?

[@snecolsslocens7498]

Thank you for another thoughtful and passionate video. Loved the addition of interviews. Mario Paint was a favourite of my brother and I. I was so excited to see the Mega Man 1up sprite in the stamp portion- I spent hours making my own and all sorts of other sprites by studying my Nintendo Power and duplicating them exactly. There was a special Mario Paint insert in the 50th (I think??) volume of Nintendo Power. It had sprites for Metroid and a slew of other games to recreate scenes from video games. I own an Escape Room now, and my business partner programmed a video game with a puzzle inside. I got to do some of the sprite work, recreating the rooftops of an iconic street in our city. I was really proud of my work on that game, and I owe to Mario Paint.

[@frankiethewaffle1071]

There is so much great about this video. I will comment on one of the last lines. “Does limitation inspire creativity?” Absolutely! If everything is given to you, you don’t have to be creative. I had this on launch and it made me far more creative! Great video!

[@WhoniverseReview]

I still don’t understand how, after Mario says his name himself in Super Mario 64, there are still people that say “Merry-O.”

[@darknesslight3100]

FINALLY!!!! Someone who understands!! The mispronunciation of Mario is the most cringiest thing EVER!

[@poshko41]

Just shut up and go play your Nintendo tapes.

[@ClintEPereira]

@Erik Thank you for giving an example of one person with their name pronounced "Merry-o." I never thought that was a thing. Like, I would ask friends/classmates twenty-odd years ago (and I still have a bug up my ass about it, obviously) why they think it's pronounced that way when Mario Lopez and Mario Andretti exist and all I would get was a shrug.

[@wschippr1]

Erik I am Canadian and I have never heard anyone pronounce Mario as merry-o

[@Elohist2009]

poshko41 and stay off my lawn!

[@NintendoCapriSun]

43:58 MPTV was the winner of the Nintendo Power Mario Paint contest that they had in the early 90's! I had always wondered if the person who made that was still around, or if there was any way we would ever get to see what they made in its entirety, since you could only show so much in a magazine. The shot at 24:06 is part of the page that showed the results/winners of the contest, since there were 16 winners in all; 15 got a free SNES game of their choosing and the grand prize was five SNES games. I remember entering that contest with what was essentially a pixel-for-pixel recreation of LTTP's Dark World map, with an animated Calgon (the bird) flying across it, but the hardest part was trying to figure out how to get the Dark World music into the video. Normally I guess you would need two SNES units, one to play LTTP's audio and a different one to play MP's video at the same time into the VCR. What I ended up doing was putting a microphone up to the TV speakers to record the music, but even then, I still had to figure out a way to transfer the sound from my tape recorder's 3.5mm output into the RCA inputs. Even now I can't recall how I did it.

[@Keithustus]

I’ve got an adapter for that.

[@aimwell8813]

@TheChannel why is your pfp Daisy from "Wow Wow Wubbzy"

[@aimwell8813]

@TheChannel me too, but it's too embarrassing to be a pfp on KZbin. Its a show for literal babies.

[@brettvv7475]

@@aimwell8813 Are you really gatekeeping pfps?

[@wrenkozlowski8362]

@NintendoCapriSun every time I hear the mega man 2 Dr wily theme I think of the lyrics you made up for it. I can't remember how old I was when I first heard your lyrics but they've stuck with me all these years later

[@rockaholictom]

Oh man, ads in good housekeeping and parents magazine were strokes of absolute genius.

[@stealthhydra8298]

This channel is awesome. Thank you! It's comforting and very nostalgic to see the history of this as it is such a large part of my life and upbringing and makes me reflect on when these things were released and how they impacted my life growing up as a kid.

[@MovieGoer-ff4pn]

Gaming Historian could talk about any game's history and yet I'd still listen to him he is awesome

[@DrMurdercock]

Yep. Love this dude. (no homo only bromo)

[@bigboybigdog8643]

Gaming Historian talks Bad Dudes...

[@MovieGoer-ff4pn]

@@bigboybigdog8643 what are you saying

[@solokbaron]

Same here

[@dannyplourde2293]

What I like is he is not trying to be funny or overacting.

[@spindalis79]

I can't be the only one that still has the hours of Mario Paint art, music, and animations captured on VHS tapes. I remember Mario Paint quite vividly being that I was 13 at the time it came out (Shortly after Hurricane Andrew decimated south Florida). Still, I was very creative, and was looking forward to using this new program since I saw it advertised in Nintendo Power during the summer of 1992. At the time, I was hoping Mario Paint was going to be what Mario Maker became 23 years later. The technology just wasn't there at the time. So last July I bought a Nintendo Switch and Super Mario Maker 2 as a 40 year old man. But Mario Paint will always have a special place in my memory.

[@eyemyth]

I only have one tape. I uploaded it recently if anyone cares to watch. You should too!

[@Geeksmithing]

Dude. I would give anything to have those VHS tapes I made as a kid.... I can trace much of what I do today to the exposure to digital art and animation from this amazing game!

[@MrAndersonAFK]

My only memory of Mario Paint was that it was setup at my local doctor's office in the kid's play area. I was never intrigued enough to play it much though lol

[@MaxOakland]

It would be cool if everyone started uploading the stuff they saved on VHS and tagged them or added them to one big playlist

[@1000Gamernerd]

“A small but vocal minority of parents” yeah it’s definitely not a new thing.

[@AssociationAdmirer]

It's always "a small but vocal minority". Historically, vocal majorities are very rare; apathy and timidity are far more common than the urge to speak out for social change.

[@NeighborSenpai]

Karen!

[@deathbydeviceable]

The worst part is if you just ignore them they become louder. It's a never-ending cycle part of kife

[@Dowlphin]

_No one expects the Parental Inquisition._

[@superpokemonbros.9441]

Its especially not new when it comes to them and video games

[@daeraloth1115]

My memory of Mario Paint is cleaning the mouse ball

[@wakkasoblitzed7970]

That shit got filthy real quick lol

[@aredub1847]

it came with a special cleaning thing.

[@daeraloth1115]

@@aredub1847 Yeah, exactly!

[@aredub1847]

@@daeraloth1115 i actually used to bite the ball. it had this nice hard/soft thing going on. i was like 8.

[@MegaManNeo]

Frankly, my Mario Paint mice always survived fairly well. It has been my 486 mice that died like crazy on me as a kid. That said, I am happy for lasers in today's mice and the possibility to play Mario Paint on PC using emulators.

[@Patralgan]

I was like 10 or 11 when I saw this game in magazines and I was incredibly hyped about it. It was a lot of fun at first but in the end, as I was not very creative, rather soon I realized it was not for me really and I didn't use it very much.

[@gbarrancos1]

Heartwarming! Thanks so much for this trip down memory lane. I got my Mario Paint set in 1995 and although I was a terrible drawer (still is today haha) it was such a unpretentious and chill environment that I spent hours around it in a free flow, eventually landing on something funny that made it all worth.

[@I.rod.2022]

That young James Rolfe clip always speaks into my soul.

[@rogregg29445]

What a rad cameo 😂😂

[@ErectedGasCan]

@@rogregg29445 True that, i think it might be the first time the term "rad" fits in! 😄

[@ghostchaser1631]

And he lost all of his items because of one simple slip up. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?!

[@Pantystealer]

That was so cool

[@andrewrobert5019]

😂

[@XT-8147]

Mario Paint having a title screen that requires you to use the mouse to get into the game is actually genius. That one screen teaches you how to use the mouse and lets you play around with it to get used to it, before requiring you to use your newfound skills to click Mario to actually start the game.

[@elYisusdelaNazza]

4:40 Nice cameo there, the moment James Rolfe became ANGRY

[@name_not_avail6708]

“It even includes Japanese characters like katakana and Kanji” *Hiragana character set clearly on screen* What am I a joke to you?

[@Mario583a]

Moonrunes are all the same to me ~~~ Westerners

[@Zylph]

Everyone is loving the AVGN clip and i'm just sitting here thrilled that I recognized Clint's voice from LGR 4:00

[@chibiRikku]

And I thought I was the only one!

[@squirrelguy2195]

Greetings.

[@WarfareRidge]

I know right

[@senseicorey9979]

BLURBS!

[@illustriouschin]

you thought you were the only one.

[@AJR-zg2py]

18:40 GET THE FUCK OUT I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT. That is absolutely ingenius!

[@miahthorpatrick1013]

This episode is on a whole nother level, Norman. Great job! I was definitely one of those kids that hooked up my Super Nintendo to my VCR and recorded my art projects so I could save them! Might still have the tape somewhere!

[@sammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm7]

5:47 donkey Kong Jr math is an underated masturpeice and I am heartbroken at the fact that this complete gem of a game was sold poorly. I personally believe that it is the greatest game on the nes and it deserves more recognition.

[@MrTimotei]

In WarioWare D.I.Y., if you create a new minigame and name it "Mario Paint", the Mario Paint theme will replace the normal background music while working on your minigame. (Sadly, you can't use it as the actual music for your minigame.)

[@AverageSynth]

You can use a re creation if you take it from 9 Volt's Records

[@kriscynical]

I'm a digital illustrator for a living partly because of Mario Paint. That game along with the VTech VideoPainter were my first exposure to digital art, and it enchanted me. I've upgraded to a 22" Cintiq since then, but I definitely remember where my roots are. 💜

[@explodingegg123]

Kristin Bergh thats awesome man!

[@kriscynical]

@@explodingegg123 My main social media outlets are Tumblr/dA/Twitter as an artist but I _do_ have a speedpaint of one of my Zelda pieces on my channel here on KZbin if you're interested in what Mario Paint eventually led to about 25 years later.😅

[@Goofy8907]

34:43 Mike Matei TMNT Intro in Mario Paint might be the most amazing thing ever

[@CaptainWyatt]

This video brought back quite the flood of memories. I never owned Mario Paint myself (was a Sega kid), but my cousins had it and I would sink hours into it everytime I went to visit. Nicely done - you've got a new subscriber!

[@shayne1062]

Christmas '92, my Mom got an SNES, Super Mario World and Mario Paint for the family. I wasn't aware of Mario Paint before hand, but my Mom wanted to bolster my creativity further as I was drawing all the time. I spent so much time with Mario paint, I created animated videos recorded on VHS, would collaborate with friends, and make music...it's no exaggeration for me to say that I owe significant credit to Nintendo and Mario Paint for becoming an animator and starting me down the path to making music. 28 years later, and my kids have had a blast playing and coming up with goofy and wacky stuff in the game and both have said they'd love a version on the Switch. Thanks for this video, Norm; Mario Paint deserves to have its story told.

[@thecomicwonk]

I was always jealous of friends who had Mario Paint. Just something as simple as a mouse peripheral made it seem so fancy. Fascinating backstory on the pressure parents were feeling to give their kids something more creative. I think "edutainment" toys and tech like Leap Frog get shit on simply because they're easy targets. Mario Paint proves you can make that kind of content worthwhile.

[@Keithustus]

Also important that it wasn’t about teaching basic reading or math. Too many years later academics would retort that NES, SNES, and Game Boy games were actually fantastic at teaching kids about exploration, agency, applied mathematics (particularly RPGs like Pokemon and other stat-heavy games), but that was not helping in the 90s.

[@jabrown]

How wonderful to hear that all these people got their creative careers started due to Mario Paint! As a guy who's been working on drawing, animation, music and gaming stuff on and off for about 20 years, but never professionally, and also as a bit of a Mario nerd, this is really inspiring.

[@charliemirus4124]

I appreciate all the interviews and such from those affected! An additional aspect to already great Gaming Historian videos!

[@Akfamilyhome]

Real talk, WarioWare D.I.Y. is a masterpiece

[@FigureFarter]

Too bad you can't play it on an emulator. My brother recommended me to get that game.

[@mystman1210]

WarioWare D.I.Y. is the main reason I checked out this video, haha. I just wanted to see if it got a mention! It's probably one of my most played Nintendo games. It really helped kickstart my interest in game development in a time of my life where I really curious about that sort of thing! Here's hoping Nintendo makes a sequel some day. With the way internet culture is today, it could be as big as Mario Maker!

[@oktaperdana9414]

@@FigureFarter why we can't play it on emulator ?

[@FigureFarter]

@Okta Perdana It shows a black screen

[@Norweeg]

Nick From Wii Sports It’s listed as having near perfect compatibility with Dolphin. I haven’t tried it myself yet though.

[@SarahLJP]

15:42 That's Totaka's song. A song sound designer Kazumi Totaka sneaks into games he works on.

[@TheACanning]

I think they know that, did you even wait until the end of the video?

[@SarahLJP]

@@TheACanning No, I didn't wait. Why does that matter? I just figured I'd point it out for whoever that didn't know it. I didn't think I was posting any big revelation.

[@SarahLJP]

Snowcone Guy You know for a fact that everyone knows? Just because you know doesn’t mean everyone knows.

[@CesarCordova]

I didn't know

[@nthgth]

I never knew what that sound was even though I have read about it

[@lief-darling-stills-film]

This has been my favorite episode. I was too young to really enjoy the artistic side of Mario paint, but I've become a creator none the less. I liked the music par the most and I am a musician these days. Maybe it had a bigger influence on me than i imagined. You do a great job showing the artistic and development side of video games when doing your histories, and I really appreciate that. It is easy for me to think video games have sapped me of my childhood, they are unproductive, etc. But they are beautiful forms of art, and mario paint gave it back to us as players to become the artists. Thank you for this video.

[@exzisd]

Just wanted to say thank you for these fantastic documentary style videos. They are not only information rich and well narrated but the production is top notch and the preservation aspect is really well done.

[@xenos_n.]

This channel is going to go down in history for future generations as the primary source to learn about old videogames.

[@Keithustus]

But not to learn about the experience of playing the games. For that we need AVGN.

[@nthgth]

Yes, we need both. The yin and yang of classic games

[@RhythmGrizz]

And AVGN

[@PRdeSO]

And there will be the Gaming Historian Historian

[@Davidortiz-yy2zd]

Agreed

[@mikematei]

Thanks for the shout out at 34:45

[@tchitchouan]

Bro

[@TheFoodieCutie]

I used to hate in the 90s when I would go play Nintendo with my cousin in the living room and the adults would stare at our faces when we played instead of the game. They said we were hypnotized by the game.

[@andylindsey]

This was a really neat retrospective. The interviews give greater perspective and endorses the game well. Those examples of art are impressive! I never attempted such art on Mario Paint as a kid. This video makes me want to give it a try again! Especially the music portion.

[@princeofpop8]

There was a contest on CTV during the Christmas holidays in 1993 called “A Magical Mario Paint Christmas Contest” where kids all over Canada sends their drawings and the winning drawings will be shown TV and won SNES, Mario Paint and $500 worth of other SNES games.

[@TheRatedOniChannel]

That age is still magical even to these days.

[@oktoberK]

I remember that. My mom entered me and my brother in the contest. Sadly I didn't win.

[@lampdevil]

I remember that, too! I'd have entered, but I'd only JUST gotten Mario Paint for Christmas that year. Isn't Mario Paint it's own reward in the end, though? Aah, I had so much fun with it.

[@Octolicia]

Nowadays, contests like these would exclude Quebec because of their politics on contests.

[@mrvanimal]

@@Octolicia I don't know about the politics being from the States, but Quebec ticks me off because thanks to them I have to have French language on a bunch of my games and on the ESRB ratings. It's annoying and makes the boxes and carts look weird.

[@dazza7321]

I'm a Motion graphic designer for a television company in Britain that you have definitely heard of. This was my first tool.

[@justinandrews520]

I'm American so unless it's Thames or BBC, I probably haven't heard of it LOL

[@dazza7321]

I'm with the BBC now, I started at ITV, well actually I started on Mario Paint.

[@chriskoopa6310]

16:25 why does that dude think that other video games have bad introductory design but mario maker is revolutionary with it? i hate to break it to him but that is every first level of every video game every made.

[@andreimina7494]

It’s ma’am

[@christopherrice4816]

Mario Paint Composer (the PC version, with less restrictions such as 5 notes per line, being able to save as much as you want) was my first music program and really inspired me to play music later on in life. It was a great introduction, and this was a great documentary to really get a scope of the original Mario Paint! Thanks!

[@joshreiman]

My parents got my sister and me Mario Paint for Christmas the year it came out. Many years later I still have it, and was overjoyed to watch my own kids play and create with it. So many memories!! Thanks for putting this together :)

[@TheRatedOniChannel]

That is one of the coolest things about this and other games, they are timeless.

[@Keithustus]

The Rated Oni Channel, and they don’t break! Meanwhile, joycon drift.

[@SuperSmashDolls]

I am now going to use the word "Nintemper-tantrum" to describe every gaming controversy going forward.

[@superpokemonbros.9441]

Even Non-Nintendo console related?

[@hhoop3876]

@@superpokemonbros.9441 Everything is a Nintendo

[@superpokemonbros.9441]

@@hhoop3876 So my MacBook is a Nintendo MacBook?

[@Oksenberg]

When my sister and I asked my grandparents to buy this game for us and told them it came with a mouse, they backpedalled and said they cannot take a mouse across the border. Amazing comprehensive work here. Thank you for this and your other docs over the years. A great companion piece would be Game Boy Camera and Printer.

[@michaelstoel]

Yeah, I have a very similar experience with the game boy camera! bought it from a bargain bin for 10 guilders (pre-euro Dutch currency) and spend weeks making Lego stop motion movies combined with hand drawn animations. But had to delete everything every time I'd hit the 30 pictures limit (or 60 cause my buddy had one too). so we would plan, make and then show whoever was nearby a short story that was finished in 60 frames. and then do it again but better. Was very a very useful creativity lesson in hindsight when I became a musician as an adult. eventually I bought a rom flash/reader device that connected with my printer port from Bungie in china that could rip the pictures and I could turn them into gifs and connect multiple animations of 30 frames together. all in glorious 128x128 black and white, nearly unwatchable on my 480x640 windows 98 CRT monitor XD. I might have some saved in my old backup folders, will upload and share them if I find em!

[@coreymyers5321]

4:42 “They said children suffered from the ‘Nintendo-tantrums.’” Showed a video of the AVGN when he was younger.

[@Cholez_]

It's such a shame they didn't make a mario paint for the wii u, it was the PERFECT console for it. I mean obviously I'm very happy we got mario maker but I still wish they did make one, it would've been so cool !

[@GlitchyJames]

Chloe Mario maker is pretty much the sequel to Mario paint.

[@Cholez_]

@@GlitchyJames eh, kinda

[@CanalAleblasco77]

And technically there was a series based on digital art known as Art Academy which had two entries on WiiU, and holy shit people made amazing paintings with Art Academy: SketchPad, the DL game

[@ccricers]

The Switch Lite is a perfect system for Mario Paint because its smaller touch screen is more comfortable than the original one

[@GlitchyJames]

ccricers it would be for switch In general because the switch lite is basically a switch in portable mode and cheaper.

[@DomyTheMad420]

"my jam in mario paint as a kid was to remake MK scenes, frame by frame." i can see how/why you became a Game Dev. lol

[@Janitorjoe22]

I just wanna say thanks for all the great videos ive been watching alot of your stuff the past week and they are all really great. Keep up the awesome work!

[@vanillabeans32087]

4:37 omg that james rolfe/avgn clip was perfectly timed. well done norman

[@DeepFreeze7575]

I'm someone who got in to the Mario Paint scene when the first wave of Mario Paint music videos was hitting KZbin, back in 06/07. It was a mix of SNES Mario Paint arrangements and the improved spinoff Mario Paint Composer at that time. Without the likes of TomBobBlender and cat333pokemon, I probably would've never found out about Mario Paint. I messed around with Mario Paint Composer back in the day myself, and, well, I'm still messing around with it, albeit a super souped-up version of it nowadays. Mario Paint has left such an impression on so many people that there's even a community still thriving to this day. We used to hang out on an old Proboards forum called the Mario Paint Hangout, though we've since migrated to our own Discord server of the same name. I don't know where I'd be without the years of Mario Paint; this old SNES game and it's derivatives have given me countless hours of fun and creativity.

[@MsTokyoBlue]

I've always found it striking how, in those news segments, parents were often resentful of the development of the Super Nintendo, and angry that the new games wouldn't work on the old system. Obviously questions about whether parents could or should spend the money to buy the new system are valid, but the fact that they didn't understand that the technology was advancing and changing and that the newest technology is usually more expensive says a lot about how little so many people knew about computing back then.

[@Keithustus]

Oh come on, I’m angry about lack of backwards compatibility every five years. Don’t pretend you’re not too.

[@MsTokyoBlue]

@@Keithustus You're not wrong about backwards compatibility, my point is that these parents seem to express anger over a lack of FORWARD compatibility. Also a lack of backwards compatibility in the 1990's on a cartridge based system is a lot more understandable and forgivable than a lack of backwards compatibility in the 21st century on a disc based system.

[@Keithustus]

Dana West, sure, of course, but that was the stupid vocal inept mom minority. Dads and the kids knew about 8- vs 16-bit processing from the great increases from Commodore to 286 to 386 to 486 to Pentium around the same time.

[@ashkitt7719]

The Switch should be backwards compatible with the Neo Geo

[@aimwell8813]

Keithustus The Series X and PS5 are going to be backwards compatible so you won’t have to worry another time.

[@jeffreyshelton3073]

Wow this is the freaking best channel I’ve seen for watching stuff like this in a long time feels like I’m watching regular TV thank you thank you and thank you so much

[@tehrinny7031]

I was 12 when this came out, and I got it for Christmas. Around that time, whenever we'd go into any stores that had Windows computers on display, I'd open up paint and spend the whole time drawing while my parents were shopping. I loved this game so much. I wore down the mouse pad and the paint was worn off the mouse. A year later, The Lion King came out. By that point, I wanted to be an animator. At the time, it took almost 9 months or so for a movie to come to VHS. So armed with Mario Paint, my little TV/VCR combo, and my lion king music book, I recreated the whole movie in Mario paint (along with a few scenes from the snes game because of the limits to the frame rate). I wish I could say I grew up to be an animator, but I had kind of a rough time in my early adulthood. Though I am an artist and do a lot of digital work. Professionally, I work in graphic design as well as web development. On the side, I'm learning game dev. Mario Paint was my first foray into pixel art and I still love doing pixel art to this day. And I'm back to learning animation. I hope to make some indie games and use games as a method for storytelling. Thanks Mario Paint.

[@mickyholland1281]

Listen, if it wasn't for Mario Paint we probably wouldn't have homestar runner cartoons, so thanks for that Mario Paint!

[@louisdellalucca8969]

I was about to say that!

[@mlmskates]

I was patiently waiting for someone to mention that. Seriously.

[@mickyholland1281]

@Lizardguy My good sir, anyone that watches HomeStar Runner is a man of culture

[@charliestoops8815]

Now I MUST draw Homsar in Mario Paint

[@kevinrhea7332]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2qcmWqAZquWh9k

[@Jarod_Schultz]

I remember playing Mario Paint as a kid, and it was the first time I used a mouse. My family didn't have a computer at the time. I remember using the stamps that looked like characters from Mario World. I would set up some bricks and put Mario and the enemies on the screen and made it look like a level from Mario World. At the time I wished I could create playable levels, then years later Mario Maker comes out.

[@GenXGrownUp]

22:08 Awwww, this poor Mariopainter won't be able to record his creation because the write-protect tab is busted out of his VHS cassette! 😊

[@BigJoker]

Just put some masking tape over it

[@GenXGrownUp]

@@BigJoker Exactly!

[@stahlhort]

1:18 he will be history soon too.

[@nrrork]

Nintemper Tantrums? My dad used to call it "Nintendo burnout" when my brother and I were kids. But he'd also tease us when we died to frustrate us more and egg on our angry outbursts. Presumably for his own amusement and also so he could go "Okay, you kids have had enough. You need to take a break and calm down" sooner and get his TV back.

[@fullriver1234]

big brain dad moves

[@ChrisLeeW00]

As a Dad, I can relate to having to force gaming cooldowns. Knowing when to take a break is an essential life skill.

[@nrrork]

@@ChrisLeeW00 As a dad, I hope you're grown up enough to know it's bad to INSTIGATE that anger and frustration, though. Unlike how MY dad was.

[@GD-iy8mb]

I made a butt-load of weird baby-sound "songs" as a kid. Laughed for hours with my buddy. Ah, good times.

[@kevinrhea7332]

m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2qcmWqAZquWh9k

[@locke103]

my father recreated the meow mix jingle with the cat note/tone/sound/whatever you call it.

[@AltimaNEO]

That low note is disturbingly naughty sounding

[@GD-iy8mb]

@@AltimaNEO uh - UHHH

[@Mafr0]

Mario Paint was pivotal in my early obsession with video production! When making skate videos, I'd create the intro logos and credits in Mario Paint, dub them one by one onto VHS with a totally guess-timated 3 second duration, then continue to edit the skate video in continuity using multiple VHS units, editing tape to tape until finished, and then doing one final dub of the whole thing with music, hoping the whole edit would suit the pace of the chosen song. Those the good ole days! Thank Mario Paint - I don't think there was a game I spent more time on without even realizing it.

[@shelbyherring92]

Honestly, this game was the reason we still have so many pixel artists and tilesetters today. That Stamp editor really was baby's first pixel art maker... besides MS Paint.

[@SeeD1985]

Parents: Ninja Kid is dangerous and bad for my child Mortal Kombat several years later: hold my beer

[@GamingHistorian]

I thought it was pretty funny that the writer name-dropped Ninja Kid

[@JadenYukifan28]

@@GamingHistorian I've played Oregon Trail when I was younger and it was fun

[@KairuHakubi]

90s parents longed to purge the world of vice and sin and they saw corruption everywhere, except within

[@RippahRooJizah]

Cripes I disliked Ninja Kid, haha.

[@ashkitt7719]

@@JadenYukifan28 Learning what dysentery is was probably more violent than most things on the NES.

[@ModernVintageTV0]

We need a Switch remake of this game.

[@neverstepd7]

Like Mario maker 2? People make pixel art, music, and actual stages

[@kamengamer5372]

@@neverstepd7 I think he meant a actual sequel to mario paint. So people can continue to enhance there creativity

[@satyamSaha]

Mario Maker on Wii U was more like a spiritual successor to Mario Paint so its technically on Switch via its sequel

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@neverstepd7 Yeah, you can make an autoplay level and use music blocks to play music, but it's not the same as an almost-fully-featured MIDI sequencer like Mario Paint had.

[@EnzoRoberto]

This is a obvious sequence/remake since WII, but i think Nintendo fears what users can do with this tool

[@ewanwickward8587]

Thank you for doing a video on the one Super Nintendo game I have. At first, I was a little dissapointed that this game is all I have, but this video has gotten me excited to play it again. Thank you!

[@LaytonKudoHolmes]

This video brought back some great memories. I don't know how I totally forgot about this game... maybe due to my lack of creativity when it first came out. Great video as always.

[@jewelianperez7038]

4:41 That kid looks like he would become some kind of angry video game nerd. Hmmm...

[@Icehowl]

This has to be the most sophisticated gaming channel on youtube. Oh, the joy whenever there is a new upload...

[@emeraldsound1]

Very well said

[@030604lill]

Then you haven't seen "My Life in Gaming" channel. Gaming Historian is great, but nothing beats MLIG👌🏽

[@Icehowl]

@@030604lill Thanks for the tip

[@mongrel_97]

'sophisticated' is the perfect word

[@EmpressKdms]

@Fuert Neigt _*w h a t*_.

[@kfd784]

Hearing him say "MEH-RIO" paint, physically hurt me.

[@vDomMusic]

You can't accept other peoples accents?

[@ricamus]

Those Sesame Street games (as well as Mario 3) were some of the first games I ever played as a kid. I have such vivid memories of playing them, which just came flooding back to me.

[@DrGonzoChronic]

The Angry Video Game Nerd as a child Throwing a tantrum to Ghosts 'n Goblins... Classic. What kid didn't throw a fit when they played Ghosts 'n Goblins, that game was the epitome of NES tough.

[@Dowlphin]

On that topic, I find it funny when these days in nostalgia talk about NES games I keep hearing "Mission Impossible was Dark Souls" and such, "one of the if not the most difficult NES game", and I'm like... huh? 😐😎 (How fun things can be when you accept a challenge, and when you do, that makes things easy because you don't experience resistance, tension. - I do remember some tricky spots in the game, but it was part of the experience. - The pitfall before a late boss was pure troll-genius and a test of brute persistence.)

[@dylanhuculak8458]

That nerdy video game kid at 4:40 seems very angry, but I'm sure it's just a phase he'll grow out of.

[@woaddragon]

That hilarious

[@ComePoopAtMyHouse1]

That "nerdy video game kid" is JAMES ROLFE. Google avgn and youll see he never grew out of it. Maybe do your research next time to avoid looking stupid

[@corporalkills]

He was making a joke

[@theCycleReport]

I got mario paint the year it came out - i was 11yrs old. I was into drawing and art already, but it was absolutely my first taste of digital art. Countless hours messing around with it and a few years later I took a photoshop class in high school - and it just fell to hand instantly having the simple background of Mario Paint. That led to majoring in graphic design in college, and i've been doing it for 20 years now and can absolutely point back to Mario Paint in 1992 as the absolute catalyst that shaped my career.

[@johnmcclaneftw13]

Had so much fun. It was so amazing to grow up, and own NES, SNES, N64, Wii, WiiU, NS, GB, GBC, GBA, N3DS, GEN, SCD, S32X, GameGear, SS, DC, PSX, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Xbox, Xbox360, I bought my dad a Xbox one, never played it. And, a gaming PC. My parents spoiled me rotten, but because of that, my old gen always paid to enter the next gen easy. Now, just have my Switch, PS4, and PC. I was there, and I will always cherish being there for the whole start of console gaming.