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.
From as early on as the NES days in the late 1980s, gaming companies have been providing tools to create usable content within games. These tools have been used to create an array of things from levels and tracks, to characters, music, themes and more. Though these tools have been around for ages, their importance now is greater than it has ever been before.
With the introduction of unique input mechanisms, such as the Wii Remote and the Nintendo DS touch screen, gamers are now capable of performing quicker and more accurate control inputs than ever before. Services such as WiiConnect24 and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection have also upped the ante, allowing users to share their creative visions with the world, as well as experience other's visions with relative ease.
In order to see where user created content on Nintendo platforms has the potential to go, we must first look at where gaming has been and what has already been offered to players.
Do you have a favorite game that has user tools to create content? What kinds of tools would you like to see in games? Let us know in the forums Talkback thread for this feature.
