Joystiq [Nintendo]

Plumber

Job experience: ???

The role of plumber is Mario's canonical profession, but aside from his overalls, the occasional appearance of a wrench and his means of transportation through unusually oversized green pipes, there isn't a great deal of down-and-dirty plumbing going on in his games. Okay, he does exorcise giant, man-eating piranha plants from the Mushroom Kingdom's piping system which could theoretically be construed as plumbing, albeit with the use of highly unconventional methods (i.e. fireballs and raccoon pelts). Seems like after all of these years we'd have seen Nintendo R&D incorporate a good old-fashioned toilet plunging or bathtub snaking into level design. Isn't that what real plumbers do? Possibly one of those lovely activities is a hidden "game" in one of the dozens of subpar Mario Party titles we could never bring ourselves to play. Otherwise, excuse us while we ignore the popular vote and call into question the legitimacy of Mario's plumbing practice.

29/06/08