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 I want to take a break from writing stories from my gaming past to talk about a new game I played recently that even though I only spent probably 30 or so minutes on it, the hopes that I have for it are pretty high. As you can see from the title, I'm talking about Warioware DIY for the Nintendo DS. Now, I've always enjoyed the Warioware series. I thought it was a pretty quirky game, and the idea is pretty neat. This game however takes it to a whole new level. In this one you are able to create minigames, music, comics, and all sorts of other things and then share them with other players via the Wii or DS Wireless. It's pretty well executed. 
     I totally recommend this game to Middle School or High School kids who want to get into game design to see the flow of how a game is made. How it works is incredibly simplified, but it allows you to easily visualize the process. First you make your background. It has a lot of nice palettes so you can simulate grass or concrete or fences or even old school Mario backgrounds. Bricks and everything. Then you create objects. You are able to draw these yourself, or even choose some premade stamps (which also include Super Mario Bros. 1 stamps). After that you create the music to go along with the game. You can create it manually using a pretty intuitive piano roll or you can have a maestro create a song for you using different feelings (such as Spicy -> 8-Bit). You can also import songs from other microgames that come packed with WWDIY or ones you download online. Finally you create the AI script for the game. Surprisingly, this is extremely easy to put together and is made with the absolute beginner in mind. You don't have to program anything. It's basically just identifying what commands go with what. As the game says it's basically "When A happens, do B" that's the entire concept. This in my opinion is where Nintendo knocked the ball out of the park. They made it easy for anyone to get into, but it can become complicated enough to make some really fun microgames.     I've already gotten through all of the tutorial levels and even made my own game. I have to say, it's one of the few times that I actually feel good about something I've done game wise. I can see this easily becoming this generations Mario Paint. Which incidentally you can tell is a major inspiration for many of the tools in this game. I'm going to tell you the concept of my game, and if you are interested in playing it, leave a comment and we will trade Friends Codes. Basically it's a simple little Rocket Deflection game. You have your base at the top of the screen with a missile shooting towards your base. You tap the missile, you protect the base. It took me about 20 minutes to make, and I don't think there was a single time that I got frustrated.     There's also a Wiiware game you can get for the Wii, called Warioware DIY Showcase, where you can export your games to your Wii and play them on your TV. It's a pretty nice idea. It's basically like two games (well more like 50) in one. It's a game creating game, and then your results help create the next Warioware game.     In closing, I think all owners of a DS should give this game a shot. Even if you don't make a game, there's plenty of games to play and enjoy from the cartridge itself as well as other people. So, let me know what you think about the game in the comments!



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