With the summer holidays over and grey skies returning, the voice of Mario, Luigi and many other characters in the Mario series; Charles Martinet, came to London’s John Lewis flagship store to bring a day of mario filled fun to hundreds of Nintendo fans.

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Starting from 9:30, gamers of all ages flowed into the store eager to meet the man behind the voice of their favourite Italian plumber, some armed with their own Mario games and merchandise to get signed during one of the day’s two autograph sessions. The lines for the signings quickly grew from the main event area and spanned the length of the 4th floor of John Lewis, filled with fans talking, making friends, sharing mario knowledge and experience and most of all, streetpassing.

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As well as being able to meet Charles Martinet, Nintendo also offered fans to win trophies in their hourly Mario Kart 7 time trial tournament on the Nintendo 3DS. Competitors could race on the selected track and the 1st place time for each event would win a stunning Mario Kart trophy replica to commemorate their victory. Even during the signing sessions, a large crowd could be seen around the time trial leaderboard, all on the racetrack trying to shave precious seconds off their fastest lap times.

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As the autograph sessions went on throughout the day, Charles continued to greet each and every fan with an inviting smile and positive demeanor. It was good reassuring to see that even when swamped with an endless crowd of people, he remained upbeat and seemed genuinely happy to meet and interact with so many fans as talked to each one during the signing.

After hearing his voice so many times throughout the years in some of my favourite games, it was a great experience being able to meet the man responsible for Mario’s iconic phrases, shouts and wails since his first voiced appearance in Mario 64.