Super Mario 64
Impact and legacy
Because of the game's popularity, rumors about glitches and secrets spread rapidly after its release. A common rumor was that Luigi was a secret character in the game, fueled by illegible symbols in the castle courtyard that were said to resemble the text "L is real 2401". This same texture would reappear in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on a plaque in Dodongo's Cavern. IGN received so many questions and supposed methods to unlock Luigi that the staff offered a US$100 reward to anyone who could prove that Luigi was in the game. The number of false codes submitted to IGN dropped dramatically, as Luigi's inclusion was proved to be a myth. The April Fools' Day 1998 issue of Nintendo Power claims that the cryptic phrase would be discussed on the non-existent page 128, and also features a facetious article, "Luigi 64", commenting humorously on the rumor. Several players have discovered coins that were impossible to obtain without glitching the game. Scott Buchanan, under the alias pannenkoek2012, had managed to collect one of those coins in 2014 without tool-assistance, and also creates content about the programming mechanics of Super Mario 64. Super Mario 64 has also been widely used as a game engine for machinima purposes, from as early as 2006. Until Machinima, Inc. abruptly discontinued in January 2019, numerous machinimas using the game had been licensed under them, reaching millions of views by 2011. Major examples of the use can still be seen on video-sharing platforms, keenly YouTube.
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