It\u2019s-a-us, Marios!<\/p>\n
A horde of \u201csocially awkward\u201d gamers side-scrolled their way into Midtown this week to celebrate Nintendo\u2019s \u201cMario Day\u201d<\/a> \u2014 and join together for what organizers say was the largest gathering ever of fans dressed as as the beloved Nintendo video game character. <\/p>\n A whopping 270 participants flocked to the real-life Mario Party purely for the love of the game and for the decades of joy the Brooklyn plumber had brought them.<\/p>\n More than 270 people dressed as Marios participated in the GameStop event. Courtesy of Game Stop<\/p>\n \u201cMario\u2019s from New York, so New York really showed up for Mario!\u201d said Chris Toro, the district manager for GameStop, which hosted the event. <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people grew up with Mario, but even now, the younger generation is still playing Mario. For a lot of people, it\u2019s their first game and their first movie. It\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n The record-breaking event was held at the Union Square GameStop store<\/a> \u2014 which enticed the hundreds of participants with a $5 voucher and a chance to win a Nintendo Switch for showing up to the event.<\/p>\n Ross Martinez \u2014 who dressed as an all-gold version of Mario from New Super Mario Bros. 2 \u2014 took home the gaming console after being crowned the \u201cbest dressed Mario.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to be a part of history,\u201d said Martinez, who came all the way from Houston for the blockbuster event, adding that he also dresses as the character for parties as a living.<\/p>\n \u201cI love to just be Mario. I have over 35 different Marios. Gold Mario is one of my favorite power-ups \u2026 It feels really, really powerful and it\u2019s gold! We all want to be golden.\u201d<\/p>\n Cristopher Peralta of the Bronx spent upwards of 12 hours making a giant paper Mario head for the occasion. Katherine Donlevy<\/p>\n The shop also had extra costumes on hand for passersby who wanted to participate in the Mario lovefest, all of whom contributed to the final 270 tally.<\/p>\n Though the crowd apparently smashed the Guinness World Record title for the \u201cLargest gathering of people dressed as Mario\u201d \u2014 which was set in 2010 when 230 participants stormed a shopping mall in China<\/a> \u2014 it won\u2019t go down in the record books as there was no official counter from the organization.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t stop organizers from declaring victory. <\/p>\n Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Mario was set in 2010 when 230 participants stormed a shopping mall in China. Katherine Donlevy<\/p>\n DJs BaJah and JayCee played original tracks from the video games. Katherine Donlevy<\/p>\n GameStop enticed participants with a $5 store credit voucher and a chance to win a Nintendo Switch. Courtesy of Game Stop<\/p>\n \u201cWho made Guinness in charge of all the world records? We wanted to do it on our own in the most official capacity that we have,\u201d said Nicolle Robles, GameStop\u2019s director of communications.<\/p>\n The event was intended to be a fun, community-building event centered on Mario, who was first introduced in 1981 as the \u201cJumpman\u201d in the arcade game\u00a0Donkey Kong before ultimately becoming one of the most recognizable video game characters. <\/p>\n The hundreds of participants swapped gamertags and even danced to the original video game\u2019s tracks spun by DJs BaJah and JayCee in the store.<\/p>\n