---
title: "Which came first, Netflix or Mario?"
description: "Netflix vs Mario: Mario came first, by 16 years — 1981 against 1997. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/netflix-vs-super-mario/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Netflix or Mario?

**Which came first, Netflix or Mario?: Mario**

1981 — 16 years before Netflix

Mario came first, by 16 years. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong.

## Side by side

|  | Netflix | Mario |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1997 | 1981 |
| Date | 1997-08-29 | — |
| Category | technology | media |
| What happened | Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company. | Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong. |

## Netflix

Netflix was founded in August 1997, a year before Google, and posted DVDs for a decade before streaming launched in January 2007. The famous origin story — Hastings founding it after a $40 late fee on Apollo 13 — has been called a useful myth by co-founder Marc Randolph. Blockbuster declined to buy the company for $50 million in 2000.

## Mario

Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981, credited as Jumpman, four years before Super Mario Bros. of 1985 made him a household name. He wears a cap because animating hair at that resolution was impossible, and dungarees because they made his arm movements legible against his body — the design is entirely a consequence of an 16×16 pixel sprite.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Netflix or Mario?

Mario, by 16 years — 1981 against 1997.

### When did Netflix start?

1997. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company.

### When did Mario start?

1981. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]