In the 1980s, a Seattle real estate developer named Mario Segale rented rented a 60,000-square-foot warehouse to Nintendo, the Japanese video game maker.
As legend has it, on a particular day during that era, the Nintendo team were trying to think up a good name for a new video game character when Segale stopped by to demand rent money.
The heated exchange became the inspiration for Nintendo’s most well-known character, Super Mario, who has since starred in more than 256 games, selling more than 350 million units worldwide.
Which is to say that Seattle’s video game roots run deep.
