The plaque’s message has haunted the Internet for 30 years. Super Mario 64 fans have been obsessed with a blurry plaque in the castle courtyard for more than 30 years. We may finally know what’s written on it, according to a report from Video Games Chronicle. This is thanks to a programmer who used open source computational analysis software to get to the bottom of things. This is not graphics enhancement software. The image is simply too blurry for that. Even the modern reissues still have the same blurry plate, so that hasn’t helped anyone. Instead, programmer Mochi64 used the analysis engine to sift through millions of word and font combinations, looking for something that matched the pixels on the plate. The final result? Mochi64 believes that at the top of the plaque it reads “Eternal Star” and at the bottom “We hope so.” This is not an absolute answer. Those are simply the two phrases that provided the closest possible match through the analysis software. There’s still a chance it’s something else, but the software ran millions of comparisons. There were several high-profile rumors throughout the 1990s and beyond that the plate read “L is Real 2401.” This was seen as a tease that Luigi was hiding somewhere in the game. In fact, IGN offered a $100 reward to anyone who could figure out how to unlock Luigi, and Nintendo Power even mentioned the “L is Real 2401” theory in an April Fool’s Day issue. Here’s the only official footage of Super Mario 64 multiplayer from a Spaceworld 95 video kiosk as the camera focuses clearly on both characters. Two player mode. He also said that they gave up on the idea of preserving the memory, but that didn’t stop the rumors. An early version showing Mario and Luigi running through an empty room didn’t help. There you have it. The phrase “Eternal Star” makes sense, as the plaque is located beneath a giant star statue. Perhaps the second sentence of “We hope so” indicates that the developers wanted players to collect all the stars. In any case, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever get official confirmation from Nintendo.