Year of Luigi
The Year of Luigi was the 30th-anniversary celebration of the fictional character Luigi. He was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for the 1983 arcade game "Mario Bros." and has appeared frequently as a minor or supporting character in the "Mario" franchise since. Due to Nintendo's decision to develop "" and "" at the same time, they declared 2013 the Year of Luigi to see fit. According to "Mario" creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo staff members also had the urge to develop games focused on Luigi, and the company felt the character was underrepresented in comparison  to Mario. It was announced via Nintendo Direct on February 14, 2013, by Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata and ended on March 18, 2014. Throughout the year, The Year of Luigi saw the release of "Dark Moon", "Dream Team", "New Super Luigi U", and "Dr. Luigi", all of which feature Luigi as the protagonist and have little use of Mario or have him omitted from the game entirely. References to Luigi and a remix of "Mario Bros.", titled "Luigi Bros.", were also featured in "Super Mario 3D World". All games were received generally positively, and critics praised the use of Luigi  as a main focal point and the gimmicks centered around him. Nintendo also released a wide array of Luigi-themed merchandise via Club Nintendo exclusives across the celebration, such as limited collectible pins, coins, a soundtrack selection, and an exclusive Nintendo 3DS XL in July. The company also rebranded a Chicago "L" train and Clark/Lake station with Year of Luigi and "New Super Luigi U" promotion and released a parkour-themed mockumentary about the character, both in August. Canadian actor Danny Wells, who portrayed Luigi in "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!", died during the celebration in November. In  October 2019, Nintendo celebrated the "Month of Luigi" to promote "Luigi's Mansion 3". History. During a February 2013 Nintendo Direct, the CEO of Nintendo Satoru Iwata, wearing a replica of Luigi's cap, announced that Nintendo would be observing the "Year of Luigi" to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the character's inception. In the Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced "" and "New Super Luigi U", alongside additional information for "". According to Iwata, Nintendo often used Luigi as a supporting character behind his twin brother Mario, and to celebrate the occasion, they would release content that centered around Luigi as the  primary character. According to "Polygon" and "GameSpot" interviews in March with "Mario" creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo "never really had much in the way of games that have Luigi in the starring role". He stated that there were fans of the character internationally and that many staff members at Nintendo had wanted to develop titles focused exclusively on him. He deemed this to be because he is a timider and a weaker link in comparison to Mario. When they began development for "Dark Moon" and "Dream Team", both of which use Luigi as a primary protagonist, they declared 2013 as the  Year of Luigi. In March 2013, Nintendo made three Miiverse chatrooms—two about the Year of Luigi and one specifically for "Dark Moon"—for posts and drawings concerning the character. Some Nintendo employees, such as Takashi Tezuka, Yoshihito Ikebata, and Miyamoto made posts on the chatrooms to encourage user interaction, of which was also Miyamoto's first post on the network. Later, on August 12, Nintendo partnered with the Chicago Transit Authority to temporarily redesign a Chicago "L" Brown Line train with a green color scheme and Luigi artwork for the celebration; the Brown Line was renamed the "Luigi Line" for  the day. A Luigi costumed character was on that train during the day to meet riders. The design also included promotion for "New Super Luigi U", and there were kiosks placed at the Clark/Lake station so people could play a demo of the game. The Luigi-designed train remained in service through September 8. Also in August, Nintendo released a mockumentary titled "Finding Luigi – Legend of Parkour" to their official YouTube channel; the video opens with various interviews with parkour athletes, who praised Luigi's popularity and skill in the parkour industry before mysteriously vanishing. In an attempt to  interview him, two men go on a quest to find his current whereabouts. The mockumentary was made to justify why Luigi could jump higher than Mario in "New Super Luigi U" and "Super Mario 3D World". On November 28, 2013, Canadian actor Danny Wells died in Toronto, Ontario at age 72. Wells voiced and acted in various films and television shows, most notably portraying a live-action Luigi in "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!", a television series spanning 52 episodes. His death was mourned by critics. In a December Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced "Dr. Luigi", which was released in  late December in North America and in mid-January internationally. When "Siliconera" asked Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime if the Year of Luigi would end in 2013, he confirmed that Nintendo planned on releasing exclusive Luigi-themed content into the following year. On February 18, 2014, and the one year anniversary and therefore the end of the Year of Luigi, Miyamoto made another post on Miiverse declaring that the celebration would continue until March 18, also stating the three Miiverse rooms would close the same day. The Year of Luigi officially ended March 18; Miyamoto made a final  post on the Miiverse chatroom expressing thanks for the celebration's reception, and some posts on the chatroom were displayed on Nintendo's website. During and following the event, critics speculated future celebrations that could focus on other characters or franchises by Nintendo. Games. Full releases. Section::::"Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon". In the beginning of the February Nintendo Direct, "" received major announcements on its gameplay and new game-modes, marking the first Luigi-oriented title for the celebration. A "Luigi's Mansion" sequel was announced at E3 2011 tentatively titled "Luigi's Mansion 2", and revealed the title and a  2012 holiday release date at E3 2012. The game was delayed to the first half of 2013 for an unspecified reason. In the February Direct, being presented by Iwata, Miyamoto entered with a prop Poltergust, a tool used by Luigi in the Luigi's Mansion series; Iwata gave Miyamoto another Luigi cap, dubbed the two of them the "Luigi Brothers", and Miyamoto continued the announcement. The game released March 24 that year to coincide with the celebration. Iwata stated in an Iwata Asks interview with developer Next Level Games that "Dark Moon" will hopefully kick the Year of Luigi "off  to a magnificent starting dash"–all attendees were also wearing Luigi caps. Miyamoto expressed appreciation in Next Level Game's work and its timing with the Year of Luigi, considering how a sequel to "Luigi's Mansion" was highly anticipated by fans. In "Dark Moon", Luigi is tasked by Professor E. Gadd to capture the ghosts invading the Evershade Valley complex, who have become hostile due to the effects of the Dark Moon crystal, which was shattered by King Boo. Luigi is equipped with the Poltergust 5000, a vacuum repurposed to capture ghosts, and Luigi captures ghosts occupying the mansions via  mission-based levels. In a cooperative multiplayer game-mode, and players complete objectives on floors of the "ScareScraper" in a level-like fashion. Critical feedback for the game was positive, being praised for its worldbuilding and puzzle variety, Poltergust mechanics, and centralization on Luigi, and criticized for gameplay padding. Section::::"New Super Luigi U". Also featured in the Nintendo Direct was "New Super Luigi U", downloadable content (DLC) for the 2012 Wii U title "New Super Mario Bros. U". It originally served as an expansion pack that would be downloadable from the eShop at an unspecified date, and would include an  additional 80 levels on top of the base game. The levels were designed to be much more difficult, so the time to complete them was made shorter so less experienced players would be encouraged to continue, according to producer Takashi Tezuka. At E3 2013, Nintendo announced that Mario would be completely omitted from "New Super Luigi U" and would be replaced by Nabbit, a now playable non-player character who originally appeared in "New Super Mario Bros. U". In addition, Nintendo also announced that the expansion pass would be released as a separate physical purchase for a larger price and  would be released the same time as its downloadable counterpart. The physical copy used a green box instead of the Wii U's traditional blue ones. Both retail variants were released July 13 and 26 in Japan and Europe respectively and August 25 in North America. Gameplay of "New Super Luigi U" retains most aspects of "New Super Mario Bros U". Instead of Mario, the player controls Luigi, who has a higher jump and less friction in the movement, but after completion the player can switch back to regular controlling. The new levels have a harder difficulty and a shorter  time to complete them, and some are designed with Luigi-themed decoration. The game received generally positive reception, being praised for its level design and content size; critics also had mixed opinions on Luigi's handling, as well as its difficulty and the time allotted to complete levels. Section::::"Mario & Luigi: Dream Team". In the same Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced the fourth installment in the "Mario & Luigi" series, "", scheduled for a summer release. During the Direct, Iwata specified that the majority of the game would take place within Luigi's dream, where he "might not be as traditionally cowardly" to better  centralize Luigi's role. The game released July 12 in Europe, the day after in Japan, and August 11 in North America. Alongside the release, a demo was made available on the Nintendo eShop. Due to the last entry in the series, "", focusing primarily on Bowser instead of Mario and Luigi, series developer AlphaDream conceived ideas for another title focusing solely on the latter. After conceptualizing the idea of "having a lot of Luigis on the screen that you could control and who would run around", they set "Dream Team"s setting within a dream to justify its inclusion. According to  game director Akira Otani, AlphaDream felt that they used Luigi to the expense of gag jokes too often and wanted to put Luigi in a situation where he was just as important as Mario. In another Iwata Asks interview on the subject of "Dream Team"s development, Otani was surprised to see the Year of Luigi's announcement and was shocked Luigi was as old as he was, meaning AlphaDream's emphasis on Luigi was pure coincidence. In "Dream Team", Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach are invited to vacation at Pi'illo island; when the trip goes awry and the three are  put under threat, they investigate the island's central castle to investigate. When Luigi gets distracted and sleeps on a bed in the castle's artifact room, a "Dream Portal" opens up, and its hostile inhabitants kidnap Peach and wreak havoc on Pi'illo island. Mario sets out to retrieve the "Dream Stone" artifact to contain the inhabitants, which involves frequent use of Luigi's dreams to his advantage. Gameplay centralizes around Pi'illo island in an overworld fashion, with Luigi's dreams, the "Dream World", involving platforming elements. When Mario is in the Dream World, a sleeping Luigi can be physically  interacted with to alter what happens in the Dream World; for example, making Luigi sneeze will create a gust of wind in the Dream World. Reception for "Dream Team" was positive, being praised for its writing, characters, and turn-based combat, and criticized for its plot length and use of backtracking. The game was also revered for its Dream World elements, especially the dynamic between the real-world Luigi and his more superior Dream World counterpart. Section::::"Dr. Luigi". The last full title was "Dr. Luigi", which was announced via Nintendo Direct December 18 and released December 31 in North America  and January 15 internationally the following year. The sixth entry in the "Dr. Mario" series, "Dr. Luigi" has four different modes: "Operation L", which uses L-shaped pills instead of traditional "Dr. Mario" pills; "Virus Buster", which uses the Wii U GamePad and stylus instead of standard button controls; multiplayer, which includes both local and online gameplay; and "Retro Remedy", which doesn't use any gimmicks and is rather unaltered "Dr. Mario" gameplay. Luigi replaces Mario, and stands on a pedestal that has a Year of Luigi theming. Critical reception was positive, being praised for the inventiveness of the Operation  L gamemode and multiplayer features, and criticized for its lack of new content in comparison to the "Dr. Mario" predecessors, and some critics reevaluated the series as a whole to be non-inventive and too simple to hold interest. Other. Section::::"Super Mario 3D World". If a player who purchased "Super Mario 3D World" and also had data for "New Super Luigi U" saved on their Wii U, they were given access to "Luigi Bros."; "Luigi Bros." was accessible via "3D World" and featured gameplay identical to that of "Mario Bros." but used Luigi as the main character instead of Mario . Nintendo also placed multiple 8-bit depictions of Luigi in hidden locations throughout "3D World". Merchandise and promotions. Coinciding with the release of "Dark Moon", Nintendo began "Luigi’s 72 Hour Sale", which turned their website green temporarily and many games were put on sale. To encourage people to purchase the physical copy of "New Super Luigi U", Nintendo posted a survey on the Nintendo Club America website; anyone who completed the survey received virtual currency and was also entered in a draw to win a pin depicting Luigi. 980 of these pins were given. In October, Nintendo released a  collectible coin on the Club Nintendo Europe site. The coin was designed with the Year of Luigi logo and came packaged in a green felt bag. In July, Nintendo released an exclusive Nintendo 3DS XL depicting various Luigi's as he appears in "Dream Team" and a green color scheme; the handheld had a copy of "Dream Team" pre-installed. It released July 12 and 18 in Europe and Japan respectively, and August 11 in North America. Also in August, Nintendo Club received the purchasable "Year of Luigi Sound Selection", which contained song tracks from games Luigi had starred or  been a part of, such as the original "Luigi's Mansion". Similar to the 3DS XL bundle, a bundle of a Nintendo 3DS released in November with a cobalt blue color and had "Dark Moon" preinstalled on the console. In December, also on the Club Nintendo America and Europe cites, a diorama depicting Luigi, the Polterpup, and a ghost in a "Dark Moon" mansion setting was released. When the Year of Luigi ended Nintendo donated four collectible coins to "Nintendo Life" UK to give away to readers in a treasure hunt fashion. Legacy. 2013 was an appearent financial failure for  Nintendo—losing $457 million in total—primarily due to the poor reception of the Wii U and its respective games; however, an internet meme spread in the end of the year that declared Luigi the cause of Nintendo's financial loss. "Nintendo Life"s Thomas Whitehead called the Year of Luigi a success in comparison: "he led the rescue mission, ensuring damage control and smiling gaming faces with his humorous terror, clumsy mannerisms and awesome platforming athleticism. He bailed Mario out in this Year of Luigi, and we'd better not forget it." Month of Luigi. In 2019, Nintendo declared  October to be the "Month of Luigi", mainly used for promotion of their new "Luigi's Mansion" title, "Luigi's Mansion 3". Coinciding with "Luigi's Mansion 3" promotion, the official Nintendo UK "Super Mario" Twitter account posted daily trivia about the character and was temporarily renamed to read "Super Luigi UK". Despite "Luigi's Mansion 3" releasing on October 31 and the technical end of the Month of Luigi, daily Luigi trivia continued into mid-November.