4. Sharing New Microgames

Now I’m going to ask something a little mischievous. Did you ever think there might not be that many people out there who really want to make video games?

Absolutely. Early on, I said at first it would just look like a way to make games via small changes, but I had to consider various ways to achieve that. For example, you can call up one of the microgames included and change an element of it however you like.

You can even easily change Mario to Luigi.

When you make your own game, you can call up whichever data you like from one of the included microgames and use that. That way, even if you’re no good at drawing, you can easily make your own game. What’s more, everything about how that microgame was made is available for you to look at as reference.

The secrets behind the included microgames are all revealed. You don’t just want people to play the microgames—the various techniques for making games are available and serve as materials.

When it came to choosing which microgames to include, we included as much variation as possible so they could be used as materials for making new games.

How many microgames are included?

Ninety.

That’s about half when compared to other WarioWare games..

But if you connect to the Internet, you can download new microgames distributed by Nintendo, so even if you don’t make a single microgame, you’ll have plenty to play.

In other words, you can download lots of microgames made by people who are good at making them.

But making a fun game can be rather challenging.

It takes a certain sense.

I suppose it does.

The microgames made by people you know, like your friends and family members, may be fun, but much of the time games made by people you don’t know aren’t as much fun.

So first we thought of having it so you could exchange microgames with your friends via Friend Codes.

Then we decided to hold regular contests. We plan to judge them and then distribute the winning works. Of course, we can’t distribute anything offensive or infringing on copyrights, though.

How will the judging be carried out?

Real people will judge, and then we’ll distribute the chosen works.

Will you be a judge?

Yes. Of course, I‘ll have helpers, but…

I bet it’ll be really hard. (laughs)

Probably. (laughs) But Sugioka-san and I are coming up with an efficient way to do it, and each game will only take four to eight seconds to look at, which, compared to other games, won’t be so bad.

Imagine having to judge 1,000 RPGs! (laughs)

RPGs would probably take about three years. (laughs)

(laughs)

In addition, each week we plan to distribute two microgames that we made, and we’re thinking about a category called “Big Name Games” consisting of microgames you can download that were created by well-known people. We’ve asked you to make one, right, Iwata-san?

… (thinking) I wonder if I can find the time…

And, of course, we’ve asked Shigeru Miyamoto. Here’s one that Yoshio Sakamoto made. Try it out. The theme is Metroid.

Sakamoto-san already made his? (playing the microgame) … Heh heh heh! (laughs) Hearing you talk today, I realise you had to clear some hurdles. Hatakeyama-san, earlier you mentioned something that made me worry.

I did?

You said it takes a certain sense. You want me to make a game, but then heap on the pressure.

(laughs)

Setting that aside… You can also read comic strips with this product, right?

I wanted people to play D.I.Y. every day. Like reading comic strips in the daily newspaper. So I asked five professional manga artists to contribute, and now you can read new works by five authors every day when you play.

And players can draw their own comic strips.

Not just comic strips, but you can also write your own fairly long songs.

You can draw comic strips, but some people may not be good at that. I’m actually not very good at drawing, but you can use stamps to make it easier.

So, even if you can’t draw, you can easily make a story by, for example, just lining up microgame characters as if they’re having a conversation, put in some speech balloon stamps, and then add words. And if you download WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase⁹, distributed via WiiWare, everyone in your family can see your content on their big TV screen or listen to the songs you made with big speakers. ⁹WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase: Software to be distributed via WiiWare in conjunction with the release of WarioWare D.I.Y.

I see. Err, is a microgame by Sugioka-san in it?

No, I was too busy with my programming work.

What with the NAND card incident and everything, I guess you didn’t have time. Were you jealous of how much fun everyone else was having?

Terribly. But I really didn’t have time.

Sorry about that. Release your frustration after it goes on sale.

Okay. Secretly.

We’ll be waiting for your contest entry! (laughs)

But what if we don’t know it’s his and really tear it apart during judging? (laughs)

(laughs)