All of the current-gen consoles have their version of a content creation game. Xbox One has Project Spark, PS4 has LittleBigPlanet 3, and now the Wii U has the tentatively titled Mario Maker.
Mario Maker in its current form doesn’t offer the same breadth of game creation possibilities as the other two, instead equipping Nintendo gamers with the necessary tools to simply build custom Mario platforming courses. The GamePad allows for quick and intuitive touch screen editing so that players can place and edit blocks, pipes, Goombas, Piranha Plants and other staple Mario Bros. objects with drag-and-drop ease. With the push of a button or tap of an icon, players can seamlessly switch between edit mode and play mode to playtest each element of a course and swap the graphics style between classic NES 8-bit or the lush HD of the New Super Mario Bros. U engine.
How will level sharing and downloading be structured? Will players be able to create not just single-run courses but connected sequences of levels like their own custom Mario games? Will there be a music/sound editor? Important questions like these have not been answered, but Mario Maker currently isn’t scheduled to release until sometime during the first half of 2015, so there’s plenty of time for Nintendo to nail down key details. Needless to say, this concept has amazing potential.
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