Today’s episode of Hotnewz includes the story of how Mario got his name – the character apparently bore a resemblance to the landlord of the old Nintendo of America warehouse… Mario Segali. You’ll find this story all over the internet.

The thing is, nobody has ever managed to confirm there is such a person as Mario Segali. Even the mighty BBC came up dry. For a while, it seemed like IGN had come up with a monster scoop, posting a black and white picture of Segali. The folks at Go Nintendo, however, revealed that the picture is just a photoshopped image of one of their own staffers.

And so the mystery of Mario Segali remains. Is he just a legend? Did he die years ago? Or is he still out there, stroking his mushtache proudly everytime he sees a kid glued to his Nintendo DS?