The tools for users to generate their own levels, tracks, characters and more have been around on Nintendo systems for years, see where they started, where they are now and where they are headed.
Providing tools to users did not stop with the GameCube, naturally. The Wii and Nintendo DS have both already started to offer user created content in big ways.
With the touch screen and stylus, the DS is designed to exemplify direct user input. Even Pictochat, the simplest of DS software, allows users to communicate with friends with their own handwriting, as well as create their own drawings which can be shared and modified on the fly.
Pictochatting with Friends
The DS has also offered some unique titles focused in user created content. Drawn to Life asks players to create their own character, weapons and level attributes. Race Driver: Create and Race allows players to create their own tracks with an easy to use, drag and drop interface.
Drawn to Life Character Creator |
Race Driver Track Creation |
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis on the DS also has a level editor where players can create new puzzles and share them over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. In a typical puzzle title, once the player has exhausted the puzzles found in the single player adventure there is not much to come back to. With Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 players are able to gain infinite enjoyment from the title, especially if they have a group of friends with the game to share puzzles with. The same holds true for Nintendo's Picross DS and Polarium DS, both of which feature a puzzle creation mode and a way to share those puzzles across the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 Level Editor |
Solving a Custom Picross DS Puzzle |
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is yet another DS title where a drag and drop interface is utilized for custom map creation. The cartridge can hold up to 50 custom maps, and maps can be shared and downloaded via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The combination of both the Internet and a creation mode seems to provide the player with an unlimited amount of content that can be enjoyed far beyond the normal span of the game. The Game Boy Advance games in the series also included a map editor, but it's so much easier to trade created levels wirelessly instead of needing to plug in a clunky cable each time.
Design a Map with Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Of course, the DS is not the only Nintendo system providing the player with both creation modes and Internet distribution. The Wii is also delivering this type of experience in spades.
One needs to look no further than the Wii's core functionality to see tools that offer the user the ability to create their own content. The Mii Channel allows users to create their own digital caricature of themselves, as well as representations of their friends, family members, favorite characters, and celebrities. Miis are not just for show either.
Miis can be used in a variety of places. They appear within Wii Sports, Wii Play and a variety of other Nintendo offerings. Players can play as their favorite Mii character. Users can also use their Miis in other Wii Channels, such as the Everybody Votes Channel and the Check Mii Out Channel. The Check Mii Out Channel offers users the ability to post their favorite Miis as well as vote on and download other Miis that they like.
Creating a Mii
Third parties are also offering user created content. Two titles from Konami, Elebits (Eledees) and Dewy’s Adventure, feature level editors which allow you to share your levels with friends via WiiConnect24.
Retooling an Elebits Level
It is, of course, impossible to overlook the biggest Wii title to offer a level creation tool: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Brawl, players can create their own stages and share them amongst friends. Nintendo also offers a daily download of a featured stage, submitted to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Service by a global player of the game. Seeing as Super Smash Bros. Melee stayed popular and relevant for the entirety of the GameCube’s lifespan, it is exciting to see a mode within Brawl that will provide players with new content for the entire lifespan of the game.
Stage Creator in Super Smash Bros. Brawl |
In-Game Shot of a Created Brawl Stage |
Finally, the recently-released Boom Blox for Wii is another excellent example of a game that provides the player with amazing creation tools. Players have the ability to make anything from complicated puzzles to screwy stages that are just fun to blow up. Of course, this is only made better by the ability to trade all created levels amongst friends over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Boom Blox
Upcoming titles on both the Wii and Nintendo DS will continue to offer similar content to what we have seen already; level editors, custom characters, and other assorted creation tools are appearing in an assortment of upcoming games. Some of these titles include Bangai-O Spirits (DS), N+ (DS) and Eternity’s Child (WiiWare).
