My Counter against ''Why Does Wario Fart''

[warelander]

Anyone who follows me knows that I have a very low opinion of Source Gaming's Why Does Wario Fart, article. After some extra work on it, I finally completed my counter that tries to debunk the notion of Wario being so supposedly different between regions and why his in-game self matters more to begin with:



But why do this?

Because people to this day take this article at face value and parade a very distorted view of Wario around, especially if you say anything critical about his Smash incernation. As someone who has been a Wario fan for basically his whole life, I want to speak up when I think someone spreads incorrect information.

Is this supposed to be a attack against Source Gaming?

No, regardless of my distaste towards the article, I have no personal ill will against Pushdustin or anyone at SG, this is just me wating to challenge a article that, as far as I see it, has warped the perception of Wario in a really bad way.

 

[Domi]

Thank you for another informative article! I also agree on your "there are not 2 Warios" take. Back when Brawl released I was pretty disconnected to Wario and I didn't think much of the fart jokes, thought the article was probably accurate... it wasn't the image I had of Wario but since I didn't touched anything related to him in a long time, I only played some of the games and I was totally not engaging in anything Wario related... I didn't question a thing. But now- yeah, I agree that article isn't the best. I even believe the article convinced me of a reality that wasn't... very real lol kind of rewritten my memories of him.

Oh, and since you did say days ago you were working on an European perspective on the subject, I was going to offer mine. I don't remember Wario being played as some sort of evil being back in the day in Spain. If anything, it was more like a (at times chaotic) funny / goofy troublemaker. "When you see Wario, you know he means trouble!"

Let's look at one of the first official ads by Nintendo España:

WANTED
Known as "Wario"
Big, fat and ugly
Tends to switch his looks
And above all he's bad
very bad

His only obsession:
pestering Mario
and turning into the main character of every single video game.
​

Damn pestering Mario?? Truly an evil villain. Another example:

THIS MEANS WAR.
[I can't read everything down there, but the gist is quite simple: ever since Wario appeared, he and Mario declared war on each other. You can either pick the good or the bad guy... or both.]
​

Let's look at the only Wario cover I could find by the official Club Nintendo magazine:

​

It doesn't say anything at all about him, but I wanted to show it anyway.

There's also Nintendo Acción, an official Spanish Nintendo magazine. I barely touched these, but their Wario Land 4 review states he's the "anti-Mario" and that's pretty much it. Also this WL4 commercial:

They sting him. They crush him. They bite him. And that's not counting being frozen, or set on fire.
I'm warning you: playing as the bad guy is not easy.​

Not exactly a villain role. It focuses on how tough (therefore cool) he is and that's not an easy task.

Now, this is not officially endorsed by Nintendo, but in what way did people see Wario back on the day? Is it "evil", just "like official advertisement"? What does a Spanish video game magazine think of Wario?

Wario wants to be the star

​

Here the writer describes the game and its features... through a humorous interview with Wario himself. While the "interviewer" can't stop raising his eyebrows every time Wario talks, Wario himself likes to talk big about his game and even badmouths Mario once. It's clearly written as a joke. This almost reads like... official Nintendo material. Wait, why is this so on point like those Wario Japanese interviews?

What's really questionable to me Source Gaming's article is this:

There seems to be a divide in how Wario Land games were marketed in the United States and Japan.​

This is something that is actually part of Wario’s design and is never used in American commercials.​

the U.S. interpretation of Wario focuses mostly Wario’s greed and wickedness​

The difference between Japan’s and America’s Wario is a localization choice.​

The author compares American vs Japanese Wario. Sure, fine, but...

That is not to say that I haven’t seen some Japanese users complain about the lack of Wario Land representation, or “powerful” Wario representation in Smash. However, it’s simply not on the scale in the West. I believe the reason many fans in the West have such a hard time accepting Wario’s character in the Smash Bros. series is because a lack of understanding of how the character has been portrayed in Japan.​

Wait a sec, how is the America-only characterization a way to generalise how Wario was portrayed in the West?

This is my biggest problem with the Source Gaming: the massive American-centric take, as if only the US pov mattered and had any relevance. Truly an "American moment". I can understand why the author came to the "two Warios" conclusion, but this generalization is extremely biased. What about Europe? South America? Australia? It doesn't count I guess.

I admit my research is limited, but I feel like the way Wario was portrayed and seen as in Spain was pretty far away from SG's article. if you ask me, he's pretty authentic from what I can find.

 

[warelander]

Thanks for the added perspective! I decided to just go for a european perspective I can comment on, so I'm really happy to get some additional imput!

As you said, the Japan vs US Wario comparison doesn't cover the west as a whole, even if I agreed with it, I would certainly not have my experience with how I saw Wario, covered and discussed at all.

 

[GreenToxic]

I never considered how US-oriented these opinions really are, wow.

 

[warelander]

It's yet another example of how fundamentally flawed the article's stances are. I mean, I brought this up before, but one of the very few german Wario ads we ever got was literally a slightly shorter version of the one Japan had:





Along with all the other stuff I brought up in my european perspective and how Wario as a bad boy, as presented by Nintendo of Europe, has never gone beyond him being a goofy, light-hearted trouble maker.

There is also just how universal so much of Wario's character is. Even his obsession with talking about poop on the japanese websites is really just the usual of Wario having a crass sense of humor, something we already knew. It's more vulgar then usual for him sure, but not only is it not the norm, but excessive toilet humor isn't specific to Wario either:

You got Baby Luigi peeing into Bowser's mouth in Super Mario-kun.

Mario getting crapped on by a bird, in a Club Nintendo comic.

Heck, literal official art of Yoshi farting, something Wario still doesn't have. So where's my Yoshi Yaft Sakurai?

Putting so much stock into website dialogue, over literally everything else, is just one of many examples of how the article uses it's conclusion to support it's arguments, instead of the other way around.

 

[Domi]

Holy moly Mario commanding birds to shit on enemies confirmed as Mario's new Down B for the next Smash????

Oh, I did notice this the other week on twitter but huh... if there was interest on old Nintendo/Wario Spanish ads, I'm more than ready to find as much as possible. It would take me weeks to find everything though. What I can say so far is that by the time WL1 was published, Nintendo España finally became a thing, which had a very positive impact: Nintendo itself would take control of advertising instead of relying on other companies. Therefore, the quality of these commercials increased by quite a lot.

I have found a few more things lately, from Nintendo Acción. Numbers 18 to 29:

Spoiler: Magazine ads

I'll try digging ads from South America, but so far I've found this one for MK64:

​

Also, remember that "Wanted" ad for Wario Land? There's another one that was published at the same time:

Alternative scan, probably higher in quality.

If you find him, you can become
the baddest

If you always wanted to be the bad guy and you were never allowed to, now you have the chance
thanks to the best platformer game known so far: Wario Land. With it, you can be the baddest,
but mind you, don't leave from the limits of your Gameboy.
You have no idea what's in store for you! More than 40 levels, secret passages and alternative routes.
Furthermore, and just to remind you of how bad you are going to be, you'll have
your very own battery to save the progress of your game.
Now that you can, become bad. Very bad.​

Just in case... Remember: there's a big difference between being bad and being evil. This reads like an invitation to mess around rather than anything. I'm sure the idea was to lure kids into Wario Land by claiming it's ok if they want to be bad... in the game they'd have to buy somehow Just the usual "bad guy" character from that era that kids used to love.

Now on higher quality! I can read now the full text, but it states Mario always had easy rivals... until now. You just don't want to mess with Wario!

​

Wario's bouncing head promoting prices and sales.

As an extra... here's their Wario's Blast preview!

Spoiler: Wario Blast

"[...] to a not so evil Wario [...]"

Fun facts: their Wario Land review had the "honour" of being the very first GB game showcased in their magazine with the Super Game Boy colours. Also this magazine had a monthly top 10 games and Wario Land was number 1 for many numbers in a row

I'll post more in the future, if that's ok.

 

[warelander]

More then okay! I really appreciate getting this kind of context on materials I can't read due to language barrier. You're doing me a big favor by giving me even more material to adress!

 

[GreenToxic]

The first ad next to the Preview 24 (based on my crappy Spanish):

"The trick is based on what's simple. Also in the combination of among the best heroes from the same arcade. This time, Nintendo has "hired" Bomberman so that he makes for a worthy rival for a not so evil as before Wario. It will happen in a program full of bombs with potencial options for four simultaneous players."

 

[GreenToxic]

"THIS MEANS WAR.

Not too long ago,
Mario only had way too easy rivals.
But ever since Wario appeared, this has changed
considerably. They have declared war against each other
mutually and now... it means everything.
It's a matter of going with the good guys, with the bad guys,
or with both. You decide.
Arm yourself to the teeth! and be Mario, Wario, or both."

The signs all say "Vote Mario".​

 

[GreenToxic]

The text advertising the game:

"Now that Nintendo has chosen a new spoiled kid and that the platforms don't seem to convince their programmers, there's nothing better than trying a new double formula that breaks the portable way of thinking. Something like this."

The gameplay captions on the side:

"Special weapons. Every time that we clear a stage, we'll get special weaponry. That's how we'll trample the bombs.
Special spectators. The Wario Super Game Boy framework gathers an endless amount of Bombermans.
Simple and always addictive. The Wario game area scrolls towards his sides. On the surface, it expands with respect towards a typical Bomberman game but the objects, obstacles, items and other arrangements are a throwback to a classic style of Hudson madness."

The article itself:

"Nintendo prepares its first "duet".

The latest shout in incandescent pairs is from Nintendo and promises its beginning in scorching spring. Wario and Bomberman, one against the other, will have their faces shown in the next cartridge for (Super) Game Boy that the multinational Japanese have on point. Can someone imagine how extensive it is?

Naturally, the theme will be about bombs, and for that reason we'll go to the natural stage of the Bombers. And the protagonists, the malefic Wario and the cunning Bomberman, already know this. If you play alone you'll have to choose Bomberman, if you do it with three friends the mixture becomes more like like an all-or-nothing bet. But let's continue. The concept of the game is based on the great Super Bomberman of Hudson. Very simple graphics, an aerial perspective and squared stages in which you'll only find two types of blocks: some bombs that swell and de-swell themselves, and an almost always beneficial series of objects. The challenge is about elimination, without any other complications. You have to put the bomb in the right place, corner the bad guy, and win all the possible combats. Could it be that you already knew this?

Wario Blast will invite you to put bombs in 8 levels with 4 rounds per person. It will start out pretty easy so it can get crazy towards the end. One enemy, later two, three, the boss and the overflowing special items to play with an advantage could not be missing! The appealing part of these games is the multiplayer competition. And in Wario Blast up to 4 players via Tribal Tap (SN) or a 4 player adaptor if you play on a Game Boy can lay bombs!"

The other gameplay captions:

"Time to choose. Before starting to place bombs, you will be able to choose whichever of the two playable heroes: Wario or Bomberman.
Final enemies. If you want to get rid of them skillfully, do it with all of the items before anything else.
The most addictive game. Having one of those peripheral multiplayers will be enough for Wario Blast to become the most addictive Game Boy game of all time."

And finally, the red box (sort of hard to read, sorry):

"A luxury cocktail.

Nothing but the duets will go into fashion. And us delighted people, prefer to have vain heroes at our disposition, in one cartridge rather than look for them between hundreds. In Wario Blast we will be able to choose between Wario and Bomberman at the time of placing bombs. To the consumer's pleasure, as they say. If the magnetic (?) image of Wario is in style, choose the one with the W (?) and there it is. If the typical (?) image of Bomberman goes better with you, then choose the one with the spacesuit and go towards the other house (?). Because you will already see that there will be tiny differences between both."​

 

[Domi]

Thank you for the translations Pizza Time! There was no need for it yet you did it. Thanks man! For some reason I thought you were a native Spanish speaker, I don't get the feeling your Spanish is crappy

More then okay! I really appreciate getting this kind of context on materials I can't read due to language barrier. You're doing me a big favor by giving me even more material to adress!

You're welcome! You know, I've been using old magazine scans for finding these ads, but they also feature much more, like game reviews, articles and even fan art from readers. At this point I'm saving anything that either shows Wario or could be related to him. There are also scans from two more magazines. Put together, there are more than... I think 500 numbers I believe. So, yeah, it's going to take me quite awhile. And I want to do more than just that, like writing more of my reviews about the WL series and some threads. if only I didn't have to work...

By the way, as much as we dislike that SG article, I believe it has a little bit of truth. While I agree that Wario is mostly the same in most of the world, I feel like each region/country focused a little more on different Wario aspects depending on what Nintendo perceived people would enjoy more. For one or another reason, Wario as an unstoppable chaotic troublemaker seems like a pretty good fit for Spanish humor, and we have our own share of troublemakers, specially in comics (many comic characters would either fit or resemble a bit that description).

At this point I think I'd rather go and open a "Wario in Spain" thread, but aside from old magazines and commercials, I'm not sure where else I could find information about Wario's perception in Spain.

Back to topic... I didn't know this commercial existed!

 

[warelander]

By the way, as much as we dislike that SG article, I believe it has a little bit of truth. While I agree that Wario is mostly the same in most of the world, I feel like each region/country focused a little more on different Wario aspects depending on what Nintendo perceived people would enjoy more. For one or another reason, Wario as an unstoppable chaotic troublemaker seems like a pretty good fit for Spanish humor, and we have our own share of troublemakers, specially in comics (many comic characters would either fit or resemble a bit that description).

Absolutely! It's a natural part of marketing to emphasize what would be particularly well recieved in any given region.

Wario's love of talking about crass stuff being more crude and frequent in certain japanese marketing is a true statement. My issue is really more with how the article presents that fact as proof of Smash being this loving showcase of how Wario really is.

Even ignoring everything this statement disregards, you really have to question how, if farting was Wario's main stick, it is that it took until Brawl entered development in 2005, for it to ever even become a thing in the games themselves at all and why even post-Brawl, so many games continue to leave out any farting.

 

[warelander]

A friend of mine was so kind to adapt my counter into video form.

Very happy with the results, this is still something I care about a lot.

 

[JorgeTheOddity]

The definitive answer to the question "Do you fart with that ass?"
Seriously though, this is pretty interesting, always saw Wario as more than a gross, greedy dude.

 

[Just a Wario Fan]

always saw Wario as more than a gross, greedy dude.

Well, of course he's more than just that. But they're also his defining traits. I think you can't really see Wario and his defining traits as separate from each other, but that's just what I think of it.

 

[warelander]

Even after the video I am still researching and adding to the Counter whenever possible.

Turns out Nintendo Power had this postcard, which plays into the poop humor of the japanese websites. Barely talked about because naturally, it doesn't affect how Wario acts in the games and is really just a reflection of his crass sense of humor.

Above all else though, it's another example of how the idea of Two Warios is absolute rubbish. He's consistent and none of the marketing toilet humor justifies Smash Wario.

 

[Just a Wario Fan]

Even after the video I am still researching and adding to the Counter whenever possible.

Turns out Nintendo Power had this postcard, which plays into the poop humor of the japanese websites. Barely talked about because naturally, it doesn't affect how Wario acts in the games and is really just a reflection of his crass sense of humor.

Above all else though, it's another example of how the idea of Two Warios is absolute rubbish. He's consistent and none of the marketing toilet humor justifies Smash Wario.

There's indeed only one Wario, and he may be different from region to region (i.e. Japan and the West), but you can't really see the one without the other; Wario as portayed in Japan has definitely influenced his portrayal in Westren media, and vice versa. This indeed doesn't mean there are two distinct Warios, but you can quite readily see how they influenced each other, and also why this is.