Super Mario

If you know me well enough, you'll know I'm a huge Super Mario nerd (I even have a 'shroom to prove it). Maybe it's one part of my childhood that I can't just let go of -- a spell that Nintendo's flagship character cast on me the first time I played a Mario game on the Famicom. Whatever it is, I experience a sense of childish glee each time I encounter well made games or paraphernalia featuring the pudgy plumber.

So of course I jumped at the chance to read Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America.

As the title suggests, the book is a retrospective of Nintendo, tracking the company's growth from its humble beginnings manufacturing playing cards in Kyoto to its emergence as global video game giant. The company's story is one of struggle, serendipity and shrewd strategy; of placing big bets on innovative technologies (rightly, for the most part), launching an industry and becoming a cultural icon for an entire generation of consumers in the process. Along the way, the company's various highs -- such as the Gameboy and the Wii -- and lows -- namely the Virtual Boy -- are discussed at length, as is Nintendo's penchant for cashing in on its inimitable mascot Mario, both in good times and bad.

Inevitably, Super Mario is also the story of the video game industry's growth and maturity, albeit with Nintendo front and center.

Author Jeff Ryan is himself a gamer, and it shows throughout his book. He has a knack for regaling readers with trivia from Nintendo's history (apocryphal or otherwise). However, like others' work on the gaming beat, there are times when his enthusiasm gets the better of him, as the quality of writing in certain sections of the book tends to suffer by comparison. It's also worth noting that the book appears to lack in primary sources, reading like a compendium of information readily available about Nintendo yet curated quite ably by Ryan.

Super Mario is by no means hard-hitting business journalism, nor is it meant to be. If anything, it's an informative and fun look at a company whose mascot has become synonymous with video games. Without a doubt, the book is recommended reading for all Nintendo nerds out there.

[Jeff Ryan's Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America will be published by Portfolio on 4 August 2011. This review is based on a pre-publication proof obtained through NetGalley.]