MENLO PARK: Amanda Maler wasn't even born yet when Nintendo's beloved Super Mario made his debut 30 years ago.
But, the playfully heroic video game character became fodder for fierce rivalry between Maler and her brother as children and she pounced on a chance to create a Facebook-infused level during a two-day hackathon at the social network's headquarters in the Silicon Valley city of Menlo Park.
Maler and fellow 20-somethings named their team "Move Fast and Brick Things" in a merging of a Facebook hacker-mindset motto "move fast and break things," with a reference to brick blocks that are well-known obstacles in Mario games.
"We are millennials and we grew up playing Mario," 23-year-old Facebook employee Maler said at the hackathon on Wednesday.
"We thought, 'Let's bring Facebook to Nintendo. Be bold.'"
More than 100 Facebook employees took part in a hackathon that sprang out of an invitation by Nintendo to create a level for a new "Super Mario Maker" game set for release on September 11.
The event sprang from a partnership in which the Japanese video game veteran gave Facebook early access to the game so the social network could create its own level of play.
Nintendo will mark the 30th anniversary of its iconic "Super Mario" franchise this year with the new game, which will let people create and share levels for play.
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