It’s Official: I’m Developing Nintendo Games Now!

WarioWare, as most Nintendo fans know, is a series of games that require you to beat small, three-second micro-games in rapid succession. Each title has plenty of innovative and quirky gameplay. The latest in the series, WarioWare D.I.Y., lets you design your own three-second mini-games and share them with the world. You can read more about WarioWare D.I.Y. in an earlier article I wrote here. Anyway, Nintendo has contests where they’ll feature themed games every so often. So guess who got one of his games featured recently? That’s right, me! Read on for an in-depth review of my ‘award-winning’ game “Feed a kitty!”

In WarioWare D.I.Y., you can connect to the Internet on your DS via WiFi and go to a special NinSoft section where you can download weekly new micro-games as well as micro-games designed by popular game developers (like the guy behind Cave Story). Nintendo also has Design Challenges on WiFi. Every few weeks or so, they prompt you with a theme to make a game out of, like robots or sports. Once you make a game based on that particular theme, you can send it off via WiFi to be judged by Nintendo. Then, a few weeks later, they’ll post a selection of featured games based on that theme!

One of the themes they had recently was to make a game about creatures. Any kind: animals, aliens, mythical beasts, and all sorts of other critters. Well, the game I made and submitted for this contest was called “Feed a kitty,” and it was one of the ones selected to be featured! It’s a small victory, to be sure, and many of the other featured games were WAY better than mine. But it’s nice to get a little extra attention every now and then. Plus, brother Jeff said my game was stupid, so it was even better to have it win so I could rub it in his face! Well, okay, my game really IS stupid!

In “Feed a kitty,” a little grey cat sits in the middle of the screen. He’s hungry, but can’t decide which brand of cat food to eat. It’s up to you and your stylus to point the kitty in the right direction to help it choose the most nutritious meal. On the left is Meow Power!(TM) brand cat food. It’s packed full of nutrition and vitamins, so that’s the one you want the kitty to eat. On the right is Fatty Cat(TM) brand of cat food. That’s the one you want to avoid!

To win, simply tap the bowl nearest the box of Meow Power! You can tell it’s the right bowl because it’s the same color as the box, it’s closest to the package, and it has a glowing aura of power around it, so you know it’s good. As soon as you tap the bowl, a flash of light fills the screen and the bowl is empty. Guess the kitty was hungry. But look! Now the kitty has transformed into a strong, hulking, buff Supercat! And he instantly gets a little red Speedo to wear, too. Not sure how that happens, must be the extra vitamins. Remember kids, Meow Power!(TM) brand is the only cat food that turns your cat into a muscular monstrosity. And who doesn’t want that for their furry feline friend? Now he’s ready to make some catgirls swoon and teach some dog bullies a lesson!

Uh oh! But if you tap on the bowl of Fatty Cat(TM) brand of cat food, the kitty gets all fat and you lose the game (you can also lose by letting the time run out). Hopefully the little animated stink lines I put above the bowl of Fatty Cat will help players further know to avoid this junk. And just look at that poor gray kitty! He’s so fat he can’t even move! He also gets these crazy googly eyes from the confusion, and you can even see his little belly button on his rotund tummy! Now his only hope is to be a TV star on The Biggest Loser!

Yes, I did provide all the artwork for “Feed a kitty.” You draw graphics by using an art program similar to the SNES classic Mario Paint. You can also make your own background music, so for that I composed a little ditty that sounds like the Meow Mix commercial. “I know you can read my thoughts, boy…Meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow…” Sorry, had to put that Simpson quote there.

One of the reasons why I’m surprised my game was featured in the contest is that my creation is a little flawed! It has a bug in it! To make things happen on screen, you piece together simple ‘if, then’ sentences, like a computer program. Unfortunately, I neglected to play test my game thoroughly enough, because after winning or losing, you can still tap the other bowl and make the cat transform. The programming tools you have in D.I.Y. are simple enough. Unfortunately, I’m not a very logical-minded person, so that’s still the hardest part of game design for me. This is why play testing a game is most important before you ship it out!

Anyway, if you have a copy of D.I.Y. and can connect to WiFi, you can download my game through the end of July! And try out the other featured winners, too! In the main game, you can also use extended versions of the music and art making programs to make your own records and comic books. So in honor of me winning, I made a comic book that’s like a strategy guide for “Feed a kitty.” (Like it really needs a guide) But in order to download the exclusive strategy guide for my game, we have to exchange friend codes! So below is my code. In the comments section, give me your code if you have WarioWare D.I.Y., and we’ll share our stuff together! It’ll be fun!

Name: Cary

Friend Code: 4082 7946 9306

And that’s the game I made! Look out, Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Yuji Naka, and the rest. There’s a new game developer in town, and his name is Cary Woodham! Ha ha!

You know, I just thought of something. The kitty in my game doesn’t have a name! So, in the comments section, why don’t YOU come up with a name for him! Do it!

No Responses to “It’s Official: I’m Developing Nintendo Games Now!”

  1. You should name him either Streeter or Oreo

  2. How ’bout “Sooty”?

  3. wow i love the stink lines that are on the fatty cat food!

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