Why does Mario have nipples but no belly button? That’s what Super Mario Odyssey gamers really want to know about the hit Nintendo Switch game. Thankfully, Nintendo has finally addressed the question in an interview. But don’t get too excited. A belly button isn’t necessarily in the works, although Nintendo is considering the design change.
Nintendo features a shirtless Mario suit in the game, and the popular character has nipples but no belly button. Gamers quickly noticed that detail and started to wonder why Nintendo might have made this particular design choice. All humans have to have belly buttons, even the digital ones, is the logic behind this “controversy.”
Super Mario Odyssey producer Yoshiaki Koizumi finally solved this mystery during a question and answer session in a short video posted on Nintendo America’s Twitter feed.
We sit down with Mr. Koizumi, the producer of #SuperMarioOdyssey, and ask him some of those questions we have all wanted answers to! pic.twitter.com/9TjOC9ig3o
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 5, 2018
He said he didn’t really expect this question to come up, but that Nintendo is considering whether they should revisit the design topic. “Once I heard that people were talking so much about Mario’s belly button it made me start to think about whether we should revisit the topic on the design side,” Koizumi said. The producer also revealed that Toad’s head is not a hat. That’s just what his head looks like.
If you want to play the game with the shirtless Mario outfit, you’ll have to pay 1,000 coins for it in the Cascade Kingdom.
