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Messages - nrathjen

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Site Discussion / Re: Talkback: Super Mario's Release Date Is Missing!
« on: January 02, 2011, 06:52:12 PM »
Hello TMK denizens: I'm the aforementioned Wikipedia user "Xenon54".

I came across this article just recently, and after reading it I decided to do a bit more research in the New York Times archive.

Since this matter began on Wikipedia a little over a year ago (I think), I've been a strong supporter of the side of the discussion that believes 18 October is the incorrect date. And while this may still be the case, I've found a couple of documents that shrink the "window of uncertainty" to less than a week.

Both documents are attached to this post.

 The first is an ad from FAO Schwarz in the 24 October edition of the Times. It emphasizes the ROB of course, but the main point is that it mentions there are "15 additional game packs available". This seems to confirm Tilden's memory of 15 games being available at launch, plus the pack-ins. Assuming David's assertion that Mach Rider and Donkey Kong Jnr Math were not available,and that Soccer and SMB were the two "missing games" is correct -- and I see no reason to doubt him right now -- then SMB must have been available on that date.

The second is the registration certificate for the trademark "Super Mario Bros."

An entity can register a trademark covering multiple categories of goods. For example, A can hold the trademark "Foo" for clothing and board games, but B can make "Foo" food and not infringe on A's trademark.
The category starting on the first page and continuing onto the second covers all sorts of "games and playthings", including "video game software".

An oddity of the trademarking process, as I understand it, is that an entity may not register a trademark until it is actually used in commerce.  (Commerce is defined as anything that can be regulated by Congress under A. I, s. 3, c. 8 of the Constitution -- the commerce clause.) The date of first use in any situation, and the date of first use "in commerce" must be given when registering the trademark.

The trademark "Super Mario Bros." is recorded as first being used on a video game on 15 October, and in commerce on 18 October.

However, I don't believe the term "commerce" has to mean "sale to the public", just the transport of the game in some form -- for example, the first shipments from wherever it was manufactured. So, there is still the possibility that the game was not actually on sale until the 24th or slightly before that date. As you can see from the trademark certificate, the trademark was not registered until 1989 -- plenty of time for Nintendo to "forget" the actual circumstances surrounding the release.

In any case, this is a far cry from the "by March 1986" that I thought was correct some time ago. To quote Tom Brokaw: "We don't just have egg on our face, we have omelet all over our suits."



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