WarioWare posts(Subscribe to this feed)

So you want to make a video game. Most folks would tell you, "Start simple." Well, it doesn't get much simpler than the "microgames" of the WarioWare series, which are about as long as ... that pause right there. WarioWare D.I.Y. is all about building your own teeny-tiny titles -- as talked about in our recent preview of the game app game-app -- and Nintendo's attempting to show how easy it can be with a series of brief tutorial videos. We've plugged in the one above, as well as another after the break for your educational needs.

You'll notice that the guy in the videos is using a DSi XL -- we can tell you that, after seeing the hardware running D.I.Y. in person, the hefty handheld's humongous screens really are great for editing sprites and other details, as is the pen-sized stylus. Either that, or our eyesight really is getting worse.

In an Iwata Asks interview about the upcoming WarioWare DIY, Nintendo president and expert interviewer Satoru Iwata revealed a previously unknown codename for the system that would become the Nintendo DS: Iris. "Iris was the codename of a next-generation device we were exploring to succeed the Game Boy Advance-in other words, before development of the Nintendo DS," Iwata explained. "Eventually, it became a two-screen device with the codename Nitro, which went out into the world as the Nintendo DS. So, broadly speaking, Iris was the foundation for the Nintendo DS."

And surprisingly, Software Planning Development's Gorou Abe had been thinking about a WarioWare microgame creator since the DS was called Iris. WarioWare DIY has been a long time coming. Elsewhere in the (fascinating) interview, it's revealed that some of the included microgames were made by debuggers during the QA process, who made microgames as part of testing.

[Via Siliconera]

Meeting with Nintendo reps yesterday to check out the interoperability between WarioWare D.I.Y. for DS and WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase for WiiWare, we were informed that the publisher itself will be making two original games available for download each week after the titles launch at the end of March. Not only that, but there are plans to distribute D.I.Y. microgames created by "famous" game developers in the future -- which, of course, you'll be able to study the inner-workings of in detail using the DS version of the latest WarioWare.

Think you should be both "famous" and a "game developer?" The trio of tidbits we jotted down is rounded out by word of contests Nintendo is planning to hold, in which specific microgame themes will be presented to the D.I.Y. community, it'll take submissions (for, say, a game based on your favorite food) and the best of the best will then be chosen and distributed by the Big N. Got that notebook full of (tiny) game ideas handy?

Nintendo certainly knows no end on iterating on its franchises. Yet, we can't help but think that WarioWare D.I.Y. will be the last game of the microgame franchise. Don't think of that as a bad thing. Nintendo's Intelligent Systems has truly outdone themselves with D.I.Y., mixing a full-fledged sequel with a creation tool that's, quite frankly, much too comprehensive.

Players that lack the creative drive to make their own levels will still appreciate what D.I.Y. has to offer: More than 90 pre-made games are included on the cartridge, and WarioWare vets will find themselves in rather familiar territory. The seconds-long micro-games stream in quick succession, giving players mere moments to respond to the one-to-three word directives. Progression is reminiscent of previous games in the franchise, with new collections of games unlocking after "boss" rounds.

Of course, what makes D.I.Y. the potential end-all for the WarioWare franchise is the ability to download new user-created levels into the cartridge. Potentially, you'll be able to download an infinite number of games, provided they fit into the cartridge's allocated memory. (You'll be able to keep 90 additional games at one time.) You'll be able to download new levels wirelessly, but there is a caveat: only Nintendo-approved "best submissions" will be available for download freely over a Wi-Fi connection. Otherwise, you'll be relegated to trading with friends via a local wireless connection or ... the Nintendo Wi-Fi Friend Code system.

WarioWare DIY's simplified game design interface, used to create five-second microgames in the style of previous WarioWares, seems a lot simpler in these screenshots, mostly because it's now in English and we can read it. Quite helpful, that.

And now that we can see it, it looks like an extremely user-friendly, but still complicated, programming language presented as if it's plain English. The game guides you through the creation of animation and sound, and then the development of the in-game actions and conditions. And with those tools, you can create the five-second DS microgame of your dreams!

One of Nintendo's most exciting announcements from E3 was the localization of WarioWare DIY, a DS app that lets players create their own WarioWare games, with custom graphics, sound, and gameplay. Nintendo didn't happen to offer a date during the thrilling E3 presentation, and it's said nothing at all about what should be a major part of the publisher's DS lineup -- until today.

In its Q1 schedule, Nintendo provided a date of March 28. You're not buying anything in March, right? The company also offered a Q1 date for WarioWare DIY Showcase, the WiiWare game through which WarioWare DIY games can be uploaded and played on a big screen.

This Black Friday, November 27, Nintendo will release DSi bundles containing pre-installed software to the value of $20. The metallic blue DSi bundle (a new color for the States) will feature Mario-themed DSiWare, while the white is for those with "a passion for brain teasers."

• Blue version: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, Dr. Mario Express, WarioWare: Snapped!, Mario Calculator and Mario Clock.
  
• White version: Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Sudoku, Brain Age Express: Math, Clubhouse Games Express: Card Classics, Photo Clock.

There is no altered price to go with the announcement of these bundles, so we're guessing the units will retail at the normal $170 price. Of course, it is Black Friday, so check various retailers for the best deals.

---

Between Virtual Console and WiiWare this week, Japan has seven new games to download. Well, six if you don't count Konami's WiiWare edutainment screensaver thing (which also acts as kids' introduction to offensive DLC) as a game. And 79 if you do, and also count each available minigame in Asobu! Made in Ore. It's a big week, is what we're saying.

WiiWare is especially sparkling this week, with the aforementioned Asobu, which lets players upload and play games made in the DS Made in Ore (also out this week), as well as the Japanese debut of Bit. Trip: Beat and the Harvest Moon WiiWare spinoff. As for Virtual Console, we're hoping to see Banamco's arcade sci-fi track and field game Numan Athletics make the long, long, long jump out of Japan!

Virtual Console

• Kirby's Dreamland 3 (Super Famicom, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
• Numan Athletics (Arcade, 1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Youkai Douchuuki (Arcade, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)

WiiWare

• Asobu! Made in Ore (1-4 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Bit.Trip: Beat (1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Kodomo Kyouiku Terebi - Aiue-O-chan (1-2 players, 700 Wii Points)
• Harvest Moon: Ranch Store (1 player, 1,500 Wii Points)

Nintendo of Japan just opened up a site for Made in Ore, featuring new screenshots and even video of the DIY minigame creator, including shots of the process of creation. Many of the 90 (!) included samples look just like real WarioWare minigames, which speaks highly of either the creation tools or the staff at Intelligent Systems.

In fact, it's basically as if there were a full WarioWare game included in the package. The sample minigames, like those in other Wares, are divided into groups based on which WarioWare employee "created" them. Mona's games are "Strange," like in the original GBA game. Jimmy T's theme is "Sports," Ashley's is "Food," Orbulon's games are "IQ" themed, and 9-Volt is "Nintendo."

Not only can you play these sample minigames, you can open them up and mess with them! You can alter the art and music (and look at, but not alter the base gameplay) in the samples, as well as games that you get from your friends.

We've heard very little about one of Nintendo's most promising DS titles for this year, Made in Ore, which is essentially a toolkit for making your own WarioWare minigames. The April 23 Japanese release is totally sneaking up on us! As the unexpectedly close release approaches, a bit more info has started coming out about the game.

According to 1up, Made in Ore is divided into three sections: "My House," the portion of the game in which you make minigames, "WarioWare," presumably Wario's game company, which contains tutorials, and "My Shop," in which you line up your microgames into a game. There are also utilities to create music and four-panel ("yon-koma") comics -- and all of this can be uploaded to Nintendo "for contest purposes." The Asobu Made in Ore WiiWare player is still on the way, as well!

Update: Nintendo got back to us and had the following to say: "Facial recognition works best when the camera can properly see your face." We tried to drill them for more, but that's all we could get. So, try to play in an area with a lot of light, we suppose.

Have you tried to play WarioWare Snapped! yet? We have, and we couldn't get past the camera calibration tool. The game says that our skin tone too closely resembles the color of the background. Considering our skin is a light peach and the walls are completely white, we're wondering what the problem is. Also, trying to use the game against, say, a dark blue background has been no help either. Have any of you had trouble playing the game, or has it all been smooth sailing?

We've put word in to Nintendo and will be sure to update you as soon as we receive a response.

So, Nintendo has announced all the games you'll be able to purchase for your brand new DSi in the online DSi Shop on April 5. The list is ... well, we were going to say "eclectic", but it's just plain weird. You can Nintendo's full descriptions after the break, but here are the titles:

• WarioWare: Snapped!
• Bird & Beans
• Brain Age Express: Math
• Master of Illusion Express: Funny Face
• Art Style: AQUIA

You can level a lot of complaints at Nintendo and be well within reason, but you can't say that it's not trying some different stuff. As previously announced, you'll also get $10 in credit (1,000 DSi Points) if you log on to the store by October 5, which leads us to ask: Which game will you be picking up?

Tucked away in a press release that Nintendo dished out following Satoru Iwata's GDC09 keynote earlier today, was confirmation that certain Japanese DSiWare titles would be making their way out of the Land of the Rising Fun. But that's not all, as Nintendo also revealed that Japan's pricing structure will also make its way over here, with apps and games falling into the following price brackets: free, 200 points, 500 points, and 800+ points.

Art Style: Aquia and WarioWare: Snapped! are among the first titles mentioned for the US DSi Shop, along with Moving Memo (tentative titlel). A date for these titles has not been set, but we're hoping they'll be available around the launch of the DSi in North America on April 5.

A recent Japanese trademark threw up some flags over at Siliconera, as Spencer managed to find an odd one. Apparently for a motion-sensing DS card, the title for the trademark reads as "DS Houi Sensor Card". Curious, to say the least.

Houi means direction, so it leads one to deduce that it's a card that senses direction or, more likely, motion. What's most interesting about this is Nintendo apparently means to include this technology directly into a DS card. It'd be like being able to play WarioWare Twisted! on the Nintendo DSi. Yeah, that would be awesome.

We can't exactly trust the validity of the numbers used to create this list of best-selling games across the three home platforms, since it's just some guy on Geocities doing it (and he claims that he might alter numbers to deter copying) but they're close enough to our expectations for most games. These numbers are purportedly derived from Enterbrain and Famitsu sales data. Kotaku reproduced the top and bottom-selling games on each platform, and we think that's a nice way to organize it.

The top ten Wii games are not too surprising, including stuff like Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, Brawl, and other big Nintendo franchises. The only third-party game on the list is Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, which, of course, is a Mario game!

But the bottom ten is a lot more entertaining, revealing, for example, that poor Opoona sold only 5,000 copies, as did Dewy's Adventure. D3's motivation for putting their Simple games on WiiWare is made clear by the fact that their disc-based releases totally bombed. Though not as badly as Hudson's Puzzle Series Vol. 1 Sudoku, which apparently sold 482 copies total.

It's hard to pick interesting tidbits out of the middle of the list (which we won't reproduce after the break in the interest of brevity) but apparently No More Heroes sold just 27,873 copies -- much less than the 84,224 copies of Mysterious Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3 that went out!