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An Italian plumber created by a Japanese artist somehow became one of the most recognizable characters on earth. Featured in over 100 games, it’s hard to imagine Nintendo or even video games without this moustached man in red. But where did he come from?

Our story begins in the early 1980’s with a struggling card and toy company – Nintendo – trying to break into a then-expanding market – arcade games. The company’s few attempts at making games were mixed at best, and a game called Radar Scope barely sold at all – leaving Nintendo with empty cabinets in need of a new game.

Looking to try something new, Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi approached an artist named Shigeru Miyamoto – who until then worked on art for Nintendo’s games – and asked him to design a game for the cabinets. Miyamoto was not a programmer, and thought of a story before starting work on gameplay – perhaps the first time this has happened....

When it comes to the latest gadgets, dads can get pretty hyped. It’s impossible to say, but likely even cavemen circled up to compare their new and improved rock-based weaponry around the open fire BBQ.

These days, dad-tech looks a little different—but the obsession remains the same. However, buying tech gifts for men who love gadgets isn’t always easy. The tech-obsessed guys in our lives are often ahead of the game, buying up the latest toys before we even know they exist. So, in an effort to help you find the gift that will beat him to the punch, we’ve rounded up some of the coolest gifts for gizmo-loving dads that he might not already have in his collection.