Super Markio, also known as Fry Guy, maintains Nintendo Database, a massive file stuffed with every game Nintendo has ever made.

NF: What are some of the first things you did during the first year you were on the internet?

Super Markio: I started as a Mario fan, hanging out at TMK and SMBHQ. I contributed a lot of SMBHQ, including running the guides section and the fan fiction section. I also drew some fanart - I think some of it is still up at TMK.

NF: What of that, if any, inspired you to make Nintendo Database?

Super Markio: Well, from that I learned what made a good layout and how unreliable HTML What-You-See... programs were. I carried some of the design philosophies I'd picked up from various websites over to my first fully self-coded HTML site, Pocket Monster Island, concerned primarily with lists of Pokémon stats and files. That was when I made helpful connections with people and learned how to build up a site.

NF: How important are user feedback and, as you put it, "helpful connections" to Nintendo Database?

Super Markio: Well, my helpful connections are mainly my site's affiliates. I am very close to the webmasters of (most of) NinDB's affiliates. Feedback from viewers is vital too, as it helps me patch up holes in the site. Originally I felt slightly different, as I received many unhelpful emails about games that were missing, although rarely were they games relevant to the site.

NF: Looking back, how has NinDB improved from its old self and even Pocket Monster Island?

Super Markio: Nintendo Database is a very different site to Pocket Monster Island, as its scale is so much larger. It's very easy to organize a site concentrating on one game series, but when you're dealing with Nintendo's entire game library you have to take different tactics.
As Nintendo Database started as a very short set of game lists the filing system has always been a problem. I've finally got a system I'm happy with though, and I am currently working on that. Hopefully once I've finished with it I will be able to go more than a couple months without changing the layout again.

NF: Have you ever been tempted to stop maintaining Nintendo Database?

Super Markio: Not at all. Even when I was offline for a year I worked on it, ready for when I got a chance to update it again. It turned out to be almost a whole year before I did get the chance, but it was a nice substantial update.
Sometimes I get bored updating a certain section of the site when it needs work, meaning that I trail off a bit, but NinDB is so versatile that there's almost always something else I can do. I have about 10 projects in the pipeline. Some may be completed, some may never see the light of day... I guess in that respect it's a bit like how Nintendo runs their business.

NF: If anything, what has Nintendo Database done for you?

Super Markio: I've always considered myself a Nintendo fan, but upon seeing the SSBM trophies I realised I was just a Mario-Zelda-Pokémon fan... I'd never even played a Metroid game! Nintendo Database has let me experience many games that I'd never played or even heard of before, and has given me insight into how Nintendo works alongside its respective companies.
It's also let me appreciate loads of things that I'd never thought of before. My focus on cameo appearances and other strange easter eggs in Nintendo games has really helped there.

NF: Has it influenced your taste in video games?

Super Markio: It's not influenced them so much as broadened them. I no longer limit myself to games with certain characters in them. This has helped me mature as a gamer, even accepting games on other systems.
In another way it's influenced my views of gameplay quite drastically. Namely that Nintendo makes timeless games, and all you have to do is look past the graphics and sound and you will often find the same solid game mechanics as newer and larger projects. Similarly I also accept that videogames in the past have roughly the same good to bad ratio as games these days.

NF: Do you hope visitors will be changed similarly?

Super Markio: I didn't intend for the change to happen in myself, it just did as I learned more about the company and its various videogame franchises. At best readers will feel the same, at worst I hope they find something they haven't read before.

NF: Can you share what you think is in the future for Nintendo Database? Any ideas for new sections?

Super Markio: Well, obviously there's trying to keep up with Nintendo's news and release schedules. That can be a near-impossible task at times. Other than that I will be finishing off my new system and putting up more detailed guides to sites.
Right at the bottom of my list of priorities, and currently the least likely to be completed within a year, is a list where you can see which Nintendo employees worked on which Nintendo games... like the Internet Movie Database on Nintendo.

NF: Do you have any advice for aspiring web site owners?

Super Markio: Yes! For heaven's sake be original! Stop worrying about how many hits you've got (and bigger sites, stop worrying about how many hits potential hostees don't get) and get back to content.
It's all about the content, otherwise there's no point your site existing.

NF: And finally, any words on why the readers of this interview should go to Nintendo Database, assuming that they've never seen it before?

Super Markio: NinDB is now pretty darn huge, and is always being worked on. It covers every game Nintendo has ever developed and published in Japan and the U.S. (with research on European releases underway for older systems). From arcade classics to Donkey Kong and Sky Skipper through Super Mario Bros. and Star Tropics, up to Pikmin and Doshin the Giant.
And if that's not good enough, then just go because I told you to!

Submissions and rebuttals should be e-mailed to nintendofanssite@yahoo.com. Proper credit will be given, and please tell me if you don't want your e-mail revealed on the site.