After just three years, Nintendo's aggressive move into the North American videogame market proved a complete disaster. Out of three thousand units built, its much-hyped, last-ditch arcade shooter Radar Scope only sold one thousand units. The rest gathered dust in a warehouse.
Minoru Arakawa, the man who placed the bold Hail Mary order, begged his father-in-law (Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi) to reprogram the useless Radar Scope machines into a new hit game.
These groundbreaking video games changed gaming forever and drew in scores of fans in the process.
From Toadsworth to King Wart, several Mario characters have been sidelined by Nintendo.
Besides leading his own franchise, Mario has appeared in many crossover games that capitalize on Nintendo's greatest hero.
