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Nintendo Games

'Waluigi Was Robbed and Humiliated by Nintendo' (washingtonpost.com) 88

Gene Park, writing for The Washington Post (shared by numerous readers): In the Nintendo universe, Waluigi is supposed to be as villainous as his cartoonish mustache and perpetual frown would suggest. But what made him that way? Perhaps it is Nintendo's insistence on humiliating the character in front of his friends and the general public. On Tuesday for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Nintendo announced new details on the much-anticipated Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for its Switch console. The 25-minute presentation was long on details. For one thing, the latest game includes every single playable character in the fighting-game franchise's 19-year history. It seemed to exceed fan expectations, except for fans of the meme-ready Waluigi. Waluigi, again, was snubbed by Nintendo. He will not be a playable character in the new game.

Waluigi has traveled a long road. Once he was hated by Nintendo fans, who listed him highly among gaming's most annoying characters. His origin story is unimpressive. Waluigi is simply a bizarro version of Mario's less famous but more charming brother Luigi. In his 18-year existence as a minor character, he's had virtually no back story. But that blank canvas ended up becoming Waluigi's greatest gift. Since he stood for nothing, supporters could project their wildest hopes unto him, like Barack Obama in 2008 but actually good at golf. He can be described in a single website as anyone from a "true nowhere man" to "the logical end point of capitalism" and the "triumph of capital over creativity." In other words, Waluigi became the perfect meme fodder.

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'Waluigi Was Robbed and Humiliated by Nintendo'

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  • ummmm....... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rockout ( 1039072 ) on Wednesday June 13, 2018 @10:03AM (#56776798)
    what the hell is this??
    • by Anonymous Coward

      waaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!

    • by Anonymous Coward

      msmash.

    • what the hell is this??

      I would click the link but I can't read it.

  • Really? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by theurge14 ( 820596 ) on Wednesday June 13, 2018 @10:08AM (#56776816)

    Is this really a Slashdot post?

  • Let alone Slashdot covers this, but did the Washington Post seriously dedicate column inches to this?!!!!!!!

    • Sure, why not? Everything else was boring.
    • by arth1 ( 260657 )

      Let alone Slashdot covers this, but did the Washington Post seriously dedicate column inches to this?!!!!!!!

      Summer is here, and dries up riverbeds and news. It used to be that newspapers would then post front page material like "Cucumbers are now ripe!" or people's birthdays.

  • by Eloking ( 877834 ) on Wednesday June 13, 2018 @10:29AM (#56776926)

    Since the story is on /.

    Waluigi was a dump and uninspiring attempt to give Wario a partner for team game like Tennis. But, honestly, what a bad attempt that is.

    While Wario did (surprisingly) manage to get some personality and some fanbase, Waluigi was anything except that.

    Like his name, pretty much everything about the character lack imagination and there's no surprise that Nintendo didn't bring him in the latest Smash Bro game. Credit to Charles Martinet though, at least the voice is funny. Still, to this day, Waluigi remain to my eye the most unimportant character of the franchise. In fact, the only thing more unimportant than him is maybe this news.

    • by Eloking ( 877834 )

      While I'm at it, if anyone have some love for Mario Franchise, you have to check this interview with Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario : https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • by Volanin ( 935080 ) on Wednesday June 13, 2018 @11:22AM (#56777222)

      Actually, his name is one of the only redeeming characteristics. In japanese, we have MARIO and RUIGI... and we also have the term WARUI, which means "bad person". So in order to create bad Mario and Luigi, we ended up with WArio (which, when translated, has the charm of the inverted M) and WARUIgi (which is actually an even better fit in japanese, but is unfortunately completely lost in translation).

    • Luigi is the second player Mario
      Wario was suppose to be the Anti-Mario
      Waluigi is just the second player to the Anti-Mario character. So he is the Anti-Luigi

      The real issue was Wario. Being an Anti-Mario but not an Evil Villain just an greedy version Mario, kinda of an Anti-Hero. In terms of story that is a fun angle. So it isn't an opposite of Mario, but a twisted version of him. So compared to Mario, Luigi has little in terms of personality so trying to make a twisted version of him to complement Wario jus

    • by ph0rk ( 118461 )

      Still, to this day, Waluigi remain to my eye the most unimportant character of the franchise.

      Worse than $random_toad_02 in New Super Mario Bros.? They simply made different color Toads because they couldn't be bothered to add a real fourth playable character.

    • I disagree. I'd wager the primary reason you see him as unimportant is because Nintendo hasn't done anything with him. Including him as a full fledged character would help to do so. Kind of a catch-22.

      I actually really like Waluigi. His character is different from Wario in my mind, in that Wario is a not very good bad guy, while Waluigi is a comically incompetent bad guy. His design is clearly inspired by Snidely Whiplash and Whiplash himself is parodying, but his idiom is more like Wile E Coyote (Wal

  • by Anonymous Coward

    .. and stole my lunch money once.

  • by paulpach ( 798828 ) on Wednesday June 13, 2018 @10:35AM (#56776962)

    I am with your Gene Park. I also want justice:

    * Jerry should stop bullying Tom
    * Squidward should be granted a restraining order against Sponge Bob
    * Dogs should stop chasing cats
    * Cockroaches should rent their own apartment
    * Bullet ants should dip their butts in anesthesia before stinging a person
    * Someone should tell Gene Park that Waluigi does not actually exist.

    • by Xenx ( 2211586 )
      He's a fictional person, but he still very much exists. Saying he doesn't exist would be the same as saying words, music, stories, etc.. all don't exist.
  • by cyberchondriac ( 456626 ) on Wednesday June 13, 2018 @10:40AM (#56776984) Journal

    Despite it's fall from quality years ago, apparently slashdot has not yet reached it.

    • Heck it is better then some of the stuff that has been popping up. At least it is news for nerds. Heck people debating cartoon characters is the stereotypical nerd.

      Besides why does all the news need to be hard news, why can't we discuss fun topics as well.

      • by Xenx ( 2211586 )
        How can you consider Waluigi's blatant ostracization in the new game a fun topic!! This is tragic!

        All jokes aside, I get why some people would be upset. It isn't front-page newsworthy, but it's a letdown for some people.
  • Waluigi: Caresses entire doll creepily.

  • supporters could project their wildest hopes unto him, like Barack Obama in 2008 but actually good at golf.

    Other than to troll the non-conservative minority here on slashdot, was there a purpose to that statement? I'm surprised it wasn't followed up with a line praising Trump by comparing him to Mario or Kirby.

    • Are non-conservatives a minority here? I seem to see conservatives here constantly complaining about the liberal bias of this place.

      • Are non-conservatives a minority here? I seem to see conservatives here constantly complaining about the liberal bias of this place.

        And what does Fox News do?

        If they do the exact same, do you think it is because the conservatives are a minority on Fox?

        • Do the hosts on Fox News complain about Fox News having a liberal bias? (Honest question because I don't watch it, but I expect the answer is "no").

      • by DeVilla ( 4563 )
        Perhaps I'm wrong but I think I know several people who had high hopes for Obama, being very excited with his election to only end up disappointed, calling him "Bush the Third".
        • I think I'm missing how that connects to the prior conversation.

          Though I'm kind of one of those people myself, except I never really bought into the hope hype, being more of a wait-and-see type, but I was still unimpressed with what I saw compared to what could've been. More the lack of undoing much if any of the harm done by the Bush administration than the lack of progress beyond the status quo ante. I had thought "hey, maybe things will go back to how they were" at the start, and ended up thinking "well,

      • Are non-conservatives a minority here?

        Yes, without a doubt. Look at how often front page articles are praising conservatives and/or demonizing non-conservatives. You can find several in any given week. Try to find an article that does the opposite of that; you might come across one in a month. Then go look at the comments here, see which political positions get moderated up and which ones get moderated down. Which ones get a large number of people jumping in stating their agreement with and which ones get a large number of people shouting

  • Say no to paywall articles! Especially say no to paywall articles when the summary makes no frigging sense and one would have to click said article to figure out what the hell is going on.

     

  • It's like one of those adorable Family Circus comics when the kid takes over for the day.

One man's constant is another man's variable. -- A.J. Perlis

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