GameCareerGuide Announces DSiWare Design Challenge Winners, Mario Competition
Our sister site GameCareerGuide has announced the winners of its first Nintendo DSi design challenge, which challenged readers to submit original concepts with the DSi's specific hardware in mind.
Many GameCareerGuide.com reader responses expressed enthusiasm for the DSi's cameras, and several concepts toyed with the idea of integrating real-world scavenger hunts into gameplay. Others contributed game ideas that exploited the DS's multiplayer WiFi capabilities, and a few suggested intriguing ways in which the DSi's audio playback could make for compelling gameplay experiences.
What follows are the best and most original entries we received - here's some top picks:
Best Entries
Matthew Rollins, Systems Analyst, Ultimate Scavenger Hunt
Ultimate Scavenger Hunt's scope pushed it ahead of similar entries, promising gameplay variety aimed at multiple audiences and demographics. Sponsored challenges and downloadable content expand an already robust gameplay offering.
RiCah Anne Vanessa R. Baltazar, Game Designer, Director's Cut
Director's Cut successfully integrates the DSi's many unique hardware features into one complete product that allows users to cut a film using photos, sound samples, and downloadable scripts. Film sharing features ensure that players will seek to hone their filmmaking abilities in order to show off their work to friends and family members.
Vladimir Villanueva, Artist, Beat Box
The DSi's music playback functionality may be one of the device's lesser-promoted features, but it's central to Beat Box's unique take on the vertically scrolling shooter genre. With simple gameplay and replayability that scales to the size of the user's music library, Beat Box would make an ideal candidate for the DSi Shop.
The full GameCareerGuide feature goes in-depth on the winning concepts, each of which utilizes the DSi's functionality in innovative ways -- read it now for all the details!
In addition, there's a new Game Design Challenge starting now. This latest challenge is, simply enough: "Change Mario's career." The justification for Mario and his brother Luigi's foray down into the sewage pipes of the original Mario Bros., released to arcades in 1983, is that the pair were plumbers.
It's said, even, that the Mushroom Kingdom, where Mario met Princess Peach and his nemesis Bowser, lay on the other side of a pipe, and the traveling-via-drainpipe motif figures heavily in the original Super Mario Bros. and its sequels.
But what would the series be like now if Mario had been, say, a chef? A taxi driver? An accountant? That's what we want you to do: change Mario's career and change the course of gaming history. Envision the game that would result from this new profession.
(Note: we obviously realize that quite a lot of Mario games don't rely on his plumber persona, but we'd like you to make a game that heavily relies on his new job!)
More information on this latest competition, for which the deadline is Wednesday, May 13th, is available on GameCareerGuide.com - and you can also discuss the Challenge in the GameCareerGuide forums.
Comments
Hmm.. what if Mario was a washed-up celebrity, abused and enslaved by Nintendo? He'd be forced to use his image to promote almost every Nintendo game, no matter how irrelevant! :)
p.s - Here's a game concept for DSi: fuck the camera, stylus, and all that other gimmicky crap and just make a fun game using the d-pad and a couple buttons! ;p
Posted by: raigan | May 2, 2009 8:34 AM