EXCLUSIVE: Mario Marathon 3 interview

I had a chance to talk to the guys behind the Mario Marathon and here is the Q&A I did with them.

Question:  First off, can you guys introduce yourselves and tell me which Mario game (s) each of you will be focusing on this weekend?

Brian - My name is Brian Brinegar, aka "Shirt Guy". I've done most of the planning behind the Mario Marathon events and am lucky enough to have a wife and group of friends crazy enough to put up with my wacky ideas. I'm reasonably well versed at all of the Mario games, though I'll likely be the handling the brunt of Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine.

Chris - My name is Chris Deckard, but many of the Mario Marathon fans will know me best as "Slouch Guy". I am married with one child, 16 months, and a second on the way. I work for Purdue University in the same office as Brian. I'll be playing Super Mario World, Galaxy, Galaxy 2, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

John - My name is John Groth, aka "Couch Guy". Like the other guys I work at Purdue

University and am recently a new father to a baby girl. I've been a crazy friend of Brian's for a long time and am happy to support his charity endeavors. I don't have a specific game specialty so I will play whatever needs to be played, but I am no means an expert at any of them.

How do you determine which games each of you will be playing?

Brian - We very roughly organize the games in an order where we can alternate sleeping, but who plays is not fixed. The Mario Marathon isn't about speed runs, it's about getting as many people to share in the experience of Mario as possible. If it comes down to it, anyone in the room could pick up the controller and give it a go!

Do each of you have a favorite Mario game and why is it your favorite?

Brian - They're all great games, but currently my favorite is Super Mario Sunshine. The

FLUDD provides Mario with a different level of control. I could play that game a hundred times and come up with a new approach with each attempt.

Chris - My favorite is probably Super Mario Galaxy. For me, it's the most fun to play. The creativeness to go to a Mario universe where you jump from planet to planet with gravity affecting Mario in different ways is just awesome. Second for me is Mario World. It's really the first Mario game I ever really had fun beating.

John - I am a bigger fan of the "old school" 8-bit games. My first NES purchase came with the Super Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt pack in. I still have that system and game and they still work. That's got to be my favorite cartridge. Runner up would be the arcade Mario Bros. with the endless supply of enemies coming out of the pipes.

Last year’s event was absolutely massive raising over $29,000 for Child’s Play Charity, how do you improve upon that?

Brian - As a kid I sucked at Super Mario Brothers, some might say I still do! I spent as much time watching my friend’s sister play as I did playing myself. It is a game that is as much fun to watch as it is to play, and that has held true throughout the series. If I asked a friend, "Want to come over? I'm trying to beat Super Mario World tonight." it would be an enjoyable experience. We try to take that experience and expanding it to everyone in the world. The more people we can get involved and inform about Child's Play Charity the bigger the more successful the event will become. To answer your question, we're working to spread the word and increase the opportunities for interaction through things like Twitter and Facebook as well as a whole set of contests.

Chris - When we first started doing marathons, it was really just a silly waste of time.

Brian figured, why not try and make a few bucks for a charity, and selected Child's Play Charity. The overwhelming reaction from people who just stumbled across the Mario Marathon is what lead to a second attempt, and now a third. We are really playing to hopefully help some people, children, who are sick and who may not even understand why they can't do the things other children do. Our hopes are that we can help make even the slightest of difference. The only way we can really improve is through the fans. The fans drive this marathon. If it weren't for their enthusiasm we would quickly get tired of sitting around watching each other play one player video games. The fans are why we almost tripled the first year's donation total. I don't like to think of myself as being cool enough to have fans, and I'm sure I'm not. But as a group we seem to have huge entertainment value. Some people give up their whole weekends to watch middle aged men play video games. Every year is different because things happen differently every year. If we don't have some sort of entertainment value, then passers by won't stop to watch us and won't refer us to their friends.

Do you have anything new planned for this year?

Brian - Yes!

Chris - Two new Mario games were released this year. That's an extra 48 hours of game play, easily. So that right there is new. We have some neat new tricks up our sleeves that only watching the marathon will reveal.

How much practicing do each of you do before the Marathon? What is your practicing routine and when do you start preparing?

Brian - It's hard to call it practicing; maybe a better question is how much "playing" do you do before the marathon? I've set aside a few hours on the weekends or nights after my son goes to sleep to play games, but no more time than I would spend playing games otherwise. Much more of my time goes into actually planning the event. I've spent hundreds of hours preparing and improving the website, writing press releases, working on promotional videos, creating costumes, buying prizes, etc. A lot of work and money goes into improving the event each year.

Chris - I think Brian gets the most practice. Somehow he just manages his time better maybe? I basically try and cram for the games a few weeks in advance. I recently picked back up the controls for Galaxy to get a feel for them again. There are some things that just come back to you, but other things need practice. A lot of it is just luck to get it the first time. We won't profess to be masters of any of these games, and I think that shows.  It's not about how fast we do this. Half the fun is failing, so if we are too good, it just doesn't make sense to watch us.

John - I had plans to have a practice routine, but that all went out the window when my new daughter was born. That and other things in my family life have taken precedence over playing video games lately. I'll play any video game though and should only take me ten minutes of failure to get back up to speed. I rely mostly on what Brian refers to "natural ability" and I do have about 30 years experience!

How do you balance such a time intensive event into your lives? Taking time off of work? Telling significant others you will be away for a weekend.

Brian - We planned the dates in early January, which gave us several months to prepare our families. Since we host the event at my house there is no way I could do it without the support of my wife. My work is also very understanding and supportive of the event. I guess it's about making sure everyone is involved in the event, then it's just another part of our lives, much like planning a summer vacation.

Chris - I think a lot of credit goes to our families for putting up with us. My wife enjoys hanging out with me while we do this. Last year got a little crazy with our (at the time 6 month old) son. This year grandparents are going to help out in that area. A lot of thanks also goes to our managers and coworkers at Purdue. They offer up a lot of moral support, and even watch us through the tubes during their work day.

John - This could not happen without the support of our family, friends, and work. I started a new job recently and one of the things I communicated during the hiring process was that I would need a week off work to do this event. Fortunately work is very flexible in this matter. The most important thing was that my wife was on board for this and our family will chip in as needed. It's good to have so much support, and it is for a good cause too.

Last year’s event lasted longer than expected because donations kept rolling in and there were more levels to beat. Same plans for this year?

Brian - Because we're adding hundreds of levels this year we've altered the donation structure such that each level has a donation goal. Initially levels cost less than a dollar, however near the end of the over eight-hundred level list the amount reaches nearly one thousand.

This setup keeps the donation goals reasonable and ensures that the longer we play the more it benefits Child's Play. The donations raised so far, over $800, will easily ensure 30 hours of playing, there's no sign that donations will stop anytime soon. That said, I don't reasonably expect to raise enough to complete everything, but I've got the whole week off work and will go as long as it benefits Child's Play.

Have you ever thought about doing another Marathon during the year, perhaps with another game?

Brian - We've had amazing support from our families, viewers, and video game media, I'm afraid that hosting more than one event might stress those relationships. I also like the build up to a single big event, kind of like the Super Bowl or World Cup of gaming! The event would risk losing that prestige which wouldn't be good for Child's Play, and that's ultimately what this is all about. That said, I'm open to shorter less official events, for example my wife and I streamed Lost Levels last month and the team is planning a "Super Mario Galaxy 2 Premiere" on May 23rd at 12:00 PM ET to celebrate the release of Mario Galaxy 2.

Chris - We did a Zelda marathon with Cameron Banga almost two years ago. That was a lot of fun, and for me was a personal best on A Link to the Past. I'd never played it straight through and it was also the first time I didn't die even once. I think doing other marathons would be fun, but it's really hard to find a game that has the same appeal as the Super Mario games. Those games came out when we were kids. Every few years a new Mario game has come out. It has the most appeal to a vastly larger audience. It's hard to top Mario.

Thanks to the Mario Marathon crew for taking time out of their busy lives to do the interview!