An Expressive Nintendo Fan

A brief look at one Mario fan’s enthusiasm.

On a stroll to a local store, I encountered Chris Greathouse, 25, who at first seemed to be a run of the mill employee. As he saw me walk by he noticed I was wearing a 1-UP beanie and decided that I would appreciate his fandom. He rolled up his sleeves on his arms and legs and showed off his tattoos, of the Super Mario Bros. variety. When I thought there was no more to see, he told me to look out the window which provided a view of his car. The hood was covered in yet more sprites from the classic NES game. Curious about what led him to get tattoos and to cover his vehicle in sprite artwork, I asked him to answer a few questions for me.

NintendoGal.com: Why are you a Nintendo/Mario fan?

Chris Greathouse: I hate Mario…. no I’m joking… I like the simple setup of the NES. A/B on the right and the d-pad on the left (and start/select of course)… Mario is Iconic and it brings smiles to me and usually others, it reminds me that simple can be fun! I really enjoy the SNES, N64, GameCube, and the entire line of Game Boys (including DS) too! The Wii is cool, but it’s frustrating sometimes.

What got you started?

My dad with his system he bought a few years after the NES came out.

How long have you been a fan?

For as long as I could hold a controller! ^_^

What’s your favorite Mario game?

Super Mario Brothers, the original NES cartridge (I have the SMB/Duck hunt combo cartridge… that’s awesome x2)

Mario & Luigi just hangin' out

How long was the process to get the tattoos (Not just time line, but how many visits, how much planning did you do or was this just done on a whim)?

Well, the 1up was my first… I’ve always been obsessed with it, it was all over my computer, and had thought about it as a tat.  Then one day I said what the heck and went for it… about 50 minutes in one trip with no touch up.

The mystery box was more of a whim and it took about 1:15 plus another :40 (4 weeks later) to touch up the light orange again.

I had the Mario Bros tat pic on my computer for a while and knew it would be my next then when I went to Vegas I thought “heehee I can say I got a tattoo in Vegas” and people might want to hear the drunken story behind it (there was no drunk story behind it, I liked the subtle irony in it) I laughed at the thought and got it… 3:00 minus two 5 min breaks… I’ll have him touch it up when I go back down next year.

But wait, there's more!

Why tattoos and not just, say art in your house?

I can’t lug art around and show it off to everyone, I lift up my pants leg a bit and there are the brothers, each shirt sleeve hides the 8bit ones. I enjoy others reactions especially from kids

Hood with sprites

What was the process of decorating your car and what supplies did you use?

Like the tattoos the images were on the computer, so I printed them out the size you see and punched a hole in every corner (kind of like you do with a pumpkin carving) and taped them to the car and I used a sharpie and dotted through the holes then took the images off. I used the images and the dots to paint by. For the supplies I just went to the hardware store and bought those little sample sizes of latex paint and a few 1in foam brushes. I knew the latex would peel off sooner or later but knowing the paint would come off easily appealed to me because then I could change it if I wanted. I used an overcoat to protect it some and its held up for a year so far… longer than I thought, so I’m happy

Jackson Pollock eat your heart out!

Now that it’s cracking, are you planning on redoing it or will you put other sprites on your car?

Probably not, unless I find a way to take the current stuff off (I want to change it). I want to find someone talented with an airbrush and who can expand on the feel of “darker image” and throw some gnarly flair into it and I want that theme on my car. I just like the feel to it, it’s wicked, and I want fireballs bouncing down the lengths of the car too! But I’ll probably get a new car before that… but it’s set in stone that something like that will happen! (I’ve really enjoyed the responses and reactions to my wacky car)

Might need a bit more paint for this one

You’re currently not working in the game industry, but are you looking to work in it?

I love being around it, but I’m really unsure of what I would do in the industry, all I hear is game design, game design, game design… I’m not talented in that area. I’ve never thought about it and further then that. I think it would be a blast!

NintendoGal.com would like to say thanks to Chris for taking the time to answer our questions!