STUFF Vol.3
If you would think back to the days leading up to Super Mario Sunshine, if you can remember. Game was thrown into a flurry of hyphy, y'see. Actually, it just seemed this way. I don't recall seeing billboards, magazine ads, cardboard displays, posters, tv spots or anything of this ilk during its late August 2002 discharge to the public. I'm not saying they weren't out there, I'm saying I don't recall 'em. You would think that, this being Mario's first adventure in over a console generation, all the stops would be pulled out.
You'd think that. In actuality, all this was just imagined. The thought of getting to play another Mario adventure after six years off was probably all it took for gamers everywhere to believe they were sick of it before it hit the stores. But as for actual publicity? I mean outside of the preview screens from the major game news sites? No. I can confidently say this because over the past several months, I've been skimming eBay every now and then for various Mario Sunshine promotional items. Not a cardboard standee or cube, semi-sticky poster or buzzing neon sign to persuade people to drop coin on Sunshine was spotted by my gaze. Like I said, if they're out there, I hain't seen them.
This isn't to say items with the words "Super Mario Sunshine" emblazoned thereon don't exist. These are the Sunshine-related wares I currently do possess.
Holy crap I need to get a better (or actual) digital camera. The game and guide are pretty standard stuff, I'll just gloss over them in right here. The game is the non-Player's Choice version, complete with manual, game and case. $15 is the suggested price I have for it now. The guide is equally non-descript and you can get it for $10 shipped. I believe I got both in a package deal for $20-25. I'll say $22 Go me. I think I'll use that cash I saved to buy Urban Champion on the Virtual Console, or buy several meals for some starving kids overseas. I think we all know the answer to this one.
Before I move on, I'll point out the guide did reference a piece Sunshine-related of memorabilia I keep forgetting to jump on, the red Sunshine t-shirt. I'll have to snag that up soon.
The interesting piece here, though, is the baseball hat you see right there. It was $8 shipped bringing this whole package to an even $30.
The picture on the left is of the back of the hat. It's the Nintendo logo, so you know this thing has like a 2/3 chance of not being a cheap knock-off. Just a cheap real thing (does Nintendo Power still do those Power Club things where they give subscribers a catalogue of overpriced Nintendo crap and a couple $1 Nintendo Power Stamp coupons? If so, I reckon this comes from that). The image on the right is FLUDD Mario as found on the lower brim of the hat. It is this image that pushes this hat into the realms of 'more effort was put into this than other hats' as most have maybe a logo in front and a company logo to the side. Word to that!
That hat actually has some practical background. You see, the place from which I do the work for ArkFullofSorrow is without heating, so for all I felt, the indoor and outdoor temperatures were trying to match each other. Because I figured half your body's heat exits through your head, I knew it was pneumonia time without something to cover my head. The Super Mario Sunshine hat was right there.
I might as well credit it from saving me from the hospital. In February 2007, a couple of cold snaps hit my neck of the woods. Those watching this site a little more diligently know that the content flow ebbed during that time. While I was able to function thanks to the cap, I still couldn't keep from chickening out to warmer pastures/rooms. Sorry guys. And don't bother pointing out the pseudo-irony in using paraphernalia for a game taking place entirely in the tropics in a very cold situation. It's been done.