About

SMG4 is a YouTube channel run by Australian-Thai YouTuber Luke Lerdwichagul that produces machinima videos featuring characters from Super Mario 64 and other Nintendo IPs. The videos are released weekly on Saturdays at 9 a.m. PST and feature well-known video game characters and audio samples mashed together in a fast-paced and chaotic way. SMG4 is perhaps best known for his Mario Reacts To Nintendo Memes series.

Career

The channel began on February 14th, 2009, and has over 5.8 million subscribers^[1] It describes its mission as, "I make animated videos of Mario and random losers going on dumb adventures."

The channel was created by Australian-Thai YouTuber Luke Lerdwichagul, working closely with his brother Kevin Lerdwichagul.^[3] The series picked up virality in the mid-2010s, running various “arcs” and several seasons featuring a series of characters including Mario, Luigi, and SMG4, an in-show version of the show’s creators.^[2]

The Lerdwichaguls have created several different web series and also run a company called Glitch Productions.^[4]

Online History

Most episodes of SMG4 content seem to participate in broader story arcs, resembling the season-long plots of conventional TV shows despite their absurdist, difficult-to-follow and often nonsensical content. Most episodes are also about 10 minutes long, usually with an advertisement or product promotion taking up the first minute. Often, Mario plots are driven by Mario taking part in foolish behavior and needing the assistance of SMG4 or other animated characters.

The first SM64 blooper uploaded to the channel, in 2011 (seen below) was titled "super mario 64 bloopers: the cake is a lie!"and garnered over 1.4 million views over the course of a decade.^[7]

The highest viewed video ever uploaded by the channel (seen below) “super mario 64 bloopers: Who let the chomp out?”^[5] has a plotline of Mario getting into foolish mischief. It was uploaded on September 7th, 2014, and has almost 60 million views.

The videos rely on pastiche and sampling, using copyrighted video game characters, sounds and songs. They are made by machinimation, a process in which the graphics engine of a video game is used to create original animations.

SMG4 focuses heavily on memes and meme culture, and one of the most-watched series on the YouTube channel is a meme review series, in which machinimated Mario and various other characters react to memes in the style of YouTube reaction videos. One video (seen below) posted on June 21st, 2022, shows Mario and Luigi reacting to Nintendo memes, and received over 3.2 million views over the course of five days.^[6]

Search Interest

Fan art

External References