Nintendo games have been synonymous to parents as the go-to games for their children, particularly the “Super Mario” franchise. Parents know that their kids are playing a family-friendly game whenever Mario’s image is on the screen of the TV due to its colorful design and simple game mechanics. The Entertainment Software Rating Board agree, as they have given all “Super Mario” games an E rating, which means the games are suitable for all audiences.
However, Nintendo took a different approach with its upcoming “Super Mario Odyssey” and opted to include a “real world” setting.
This resulted in an E10+ rating by the ESRB, which means the game is only suitable for children 10 years of age and older. This is the first time a “Super Mario” game has received this kind of rating.
'Odyssey' has the 'real world' New Donk City
An E10+ rating to a Mario game has been a surprise to many. However, this is also the first time Nintendo decided to put a “real world” setting in the franchise so it may have played a factor.
The ESRB did not reveal their specific reason for the rating; they only said that due to some themes, mild violence and dialogues in the game, it did not fit in the category of an E rating. The agency is taking precautions as Mario is taken to the “real world” called New Donk City for the first time and nobody knows what to expect.
New Donk City is the virtual counterpart of New York City.
Nintendo changes the “Super Mario Odyssey” box art
It seems that Nintendo is taking a step further to be as family-friendly as they can be. The box art for the “Odyssey” apparently received a slight makeover.
If you have seen the game’s box art, you must be familiar with the beloved plumber at the lower left side corner to be sporting a sombrero.
Nintendo replaced that with an image of Mario snorkeling. Some of the online retailers, such as Gamestop, Amazon, and Target, now have this updated box art but Best Buy and Walmart still use the original one as of this writing.
Nintendo slightly changed the Super Mario Odyssey boxart, removing Sombrero Mario for Snorkeling Mario pic.twitter.com/8v9hgNi9JM
— Nibel (@Nibellion) August 2, 2017
It isn’t sure what prompted the company to make such a change because it’s very unusual for a box art to be changed after it’s officially been revealed.
Perhaps Nintendo is only being cautious to avoid any controversy it might cause.
“Super Mario Odyssey” is the latest Mario game for the Nintendo Switch, scheduled to launch on October 27, 2017. The game will feature a local multiplayer mode where one player controls Mario while the other controls Mario’s Hat.
