How do people get into gaming and game development? Well, here’s my story. The chapters are Nintendo home consoles, so to speak.
Did you ever wonder how game developers at well-known studios came into their position?
Me too!
I know little about famous game designers like Eiji Aonuma or Shigeru Miyamoto, but at least I can tell you a bit about my own gaming ‘career’ — that is, my life as a gamer and why and how I started making my own games.
My Gaming Bio in Nintendo-Home-Console Chapters
Since I’ve always been a Nintendo fan — never even owning a PlayStation or an Xbox —, it might make sense to tie my ‘gaming biography’ to Nintendo in some way. Let’s make the Nintendo home consoles the chapters of this story, shall we?
Nintendo Entertainment System
It all began with the NES, which I think was the perfect start. One evening after dinner, my father went over to the living room and brought out the console. At that time, I had no idea what a game console was or that we had one.
He played Super Mario Bros. — again, perfect, right? —, and I watched. Needless to say, I was fascinated!
My father and I sat in front of the TV almost every evening, playing many more games. The collection, which was surprisingly large, included Kid Icarus and Super Mario Bros. 3, my favourite NES games. I also played A Boy and his Blob, which seems to be considered a classic nowadays, but left me utterly confused back then.
Here’s a list of games I remember playing, at least vaguely:
- A Boy and his Blob
- Ice Climbers
- Kid Icarus
- Super Mario Bros.
- Super Mario Bros. 2
- Super Mario Bros. 3
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
As a child, I drew a lot, and so naturally, I was very interested in the booklet artworks. I tried drawing the characters, enemies and items myself (with the success one could expect of a slightly-above-average six-year-old hobby artist). I’m not sure if I drew anything original, though. Not at this point.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
I got a SNES for Christmas (in 1995, I think). With Super Mario World!
The SNES was the console that got me into RPGs. I’ve written about my favourite games of all time, Illusion of Time (or Illusion of Gaia) and Terranigma, in this article. But I also loved Secret of Mana and Lufia (which you may know as Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals). I did play Secret of Evermore, but I never got far into it.
Full list of games I liked:
- Donkey Kong Country
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest
- Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble!
- Illusion of Time
- Lufia
- Megaman X
- Pop’n TwinBee
- Secret of Evermore
- Secret of Mana
- Street Fighter II
- Super Mario All-Stars
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
- Terranigma
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Drawing was still my primary hobby (and I was getting better at it), and I drew a lot of characters, enemies and items that were more or less original. They were inspired by things I knew from games, of course, but still. I even dreamt of working at Nintendo one day as a game designer and told everyone who asked.
Nintendo 64
I got the Nintendo 64 on launch day. We had a pretty old TV, and we needed some adapter that switched between the console and our satellite receiver. A little annoying, but at least it worked.
My first game was Super Mario 64 — of course, I almost want to say. I remember being pretty bad at 3D games at the beginning, but I got used to them rather quickly, and I did finish the game (though not with 120 Stars).
My highlights for the Nintendo 64? Let’s see …
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Banjo-Tooie
- Bomberman 64
- Bomberman Hero
- Donkey Kong 64
- Glover
- Jet Force Gemini
- Mario Kart 64
- Mario Party
- Paper Mario
- Shadow Man
- Star Fox 64
- Super Mario 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
There were official guide books for some of these games (DK, Super Mario and the Zelda games), and that inspired me to make concepts for my own games in that format. That means I would make lists of characters, enemies and items, then draw level maps and write texts as if I would describe to a player what to do in order to 100% the game.
(I actually began working on a guide of that kind for Game Master in 2015, but never finished it. One day, there will be a full guide for one of my games! Mark my words!)
GameCube
I also got the GameCube day one, but, alas! There was no Mario game for it! So my first game was Luigi’s Mansion.
Games I liked:
- Eternal Darkness
- Luigi’s Mansion
- Metroid Prime
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
- Pikmin
- Super Mario Sunshine
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The GameCube years were the time when I discovered RPG Maker 2000. I played around a lot with this new tool, and I even had a pretty serious project entitled Pfade der Schatten (‘Paths of Shadows’). It took a lot of inspiration from Eternal Darkness in terms of atmosphere as well as Unterwegs in Düsterburg (‘On the Way in Duskyburgh’ would be a pretty good translation, I think) and Vampire’s Dawn, two german RPG Maker games that were popular at the time. I was kinda drawn to dark stuff back then, and I guess I still am to some extent.
The GameCube era also saw the release of RPG Maker 2003 — which I never even tried, as far as I remember — and RPG Maker XP.
I did start a few test projects in XP, but nothing could hold my interest for long enough to be made into even a short demo. I know some people really love the XP graphics with the taller sprites, but I don’t know, it never really appealed to me that much, and some things about XP, which could be thought of as the outlier in the series, seemed … clunky.
Wii
Once again, I got the new Nintendo console for Christmas, with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
These were the games I liked:
- Donkey Kong Country Returns
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Super Mario Galaxy 2
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
A rather short list, huh? Which might explain why I kinda lost my passion for Nintendo at that point in time. I also had another game, an MMORPG, that I spent many, many hours on, so … yeah. The Dark Ages of my commitment to Nintendo, so to speak.
In regards to game development, I tried RPG Maker VX. But just like XP, it didn’t really inspire me to work on any project for a longer period of time. As you may know, my first release, Game Master, was created with the next instalment, XV Ace. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Wii U
I bought the Wii U on launch day too, I think, and I’m pretty sure it was Super Mario 3D World I got as my first game. I remember that I played it myself and then watched my sister play through every level except for the very last one.
I’m not sure if it was for a lack of great games or for a lack of interest, but for a period of time — a year or two, in fact — I didn’t play very much on Nintendo consoles.
Then, in 2015, my father and I visited my sister who was living in Australia back then. During our stay, I borrowed my sister’s 3DS and played The Legend of Zelda: A Link between Worlds. I ended up 100%ing the game, and that somehow reignited my passion for Nintendo consoles and games.
When I got home, I bought my own 3DS, and a New 3DS shortly after. I would buy every single 3DS game I was at least slightly interested in. I did the same with Wii U games, growing my collection so rapidly I had to stop 100%ing every game (which was my ambition initially).
We might call this phase my ‘Nintendo Renaissance’.
Here’s the list of Wii U games I have beaten:
- Assassin’s Creed III
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Hyrule Warriors
- Mario Kart 8
- Mario Party 10
- Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
- New Super Mario Bros. U
- Paper Mario: Color Splash
- Pikmin 3
- Resident Evil: Revelations
- Shovel Knight
- Splatoon
- Super Mario 3D World
- Super Mario Maker
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD (Download)
- The Wonderful 101
- Xenoblade Chronicles X
- Yoshi’s Woolly World
The Wii U didn’t have that many great titles, though. Total time spent: 488.5 hours.
My 3DS list is quite a bit longer:
- Bravely Default
- Bravely Second: End Layer
- Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
- Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the forgotten Past
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the cursed King
- Ever Oasis
- Fire Emblem Awakening
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright
- Inazuma Eleven GO: Shadow
- Inazuma Eleven GO Chrono Stones: Thunderflash
- Kid Icarus: Uprising
- Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
- Kirby: Planet Robobot
- Kirby: Triple Deluxe
- Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn
- Luigi’s Mansion
- Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
- Mario Kart 7
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey
- Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions
- Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
- Metroid: Samus Returns
- Monster Hunter Stories
- New Super Mario Bros. 2
- Paper Mario: Sticker Star
- Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
- Pokémon Moon
- Pokémon Ultra Sun
- Pokémon Y
- Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse
- Star Fox 64 3D
- Super Mario 3D Land
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3D
- Yo-Kai Watch
- Yo-Kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters
- Yo-Kai Watch 3
Total time spent: 1098 hours.
The Wii U era was also the era of RPG Maker VX Ace and RPG Maker MV. I used these to create and release:
- Game Master (2014)
- Game Master Plus (2019)
- LV99: Final Fortress (2020)
And that’s where my game-development career actually started, I’d say.
Nintendo Switch
Being passionate about Nintendo again, I bought the Nintendo Switch on day 1, of course, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I’m still buying a lot of games for it and playing regularly whenever I find the time.
Here’s my current collection:
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
- Aragami
- ARMS
- Astral Chain
- Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack
- Battle Chasers: Nightwar
- Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the lost Demon
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
- Children of Morta
- Cotton Fantasy
- Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion
- CrossCode
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles
- Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
- Dragon Quest Treasures
- Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an elusive Age – Definitive Edition
- Immortals: Fenyx Rising
- Epic Mickey: Rebrushed
- Fire Emblem Engage
- Fire Emblem Warriors
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Hollow Knight
- Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
- Indivisible
- Kaze and the Wild Masks
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe
- Live A Live
- Luigi’s Mansion 3
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Super Mario Maker 2
- Mario Tennis Aces
- Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
- Metroid Dread
- Metroid Prime Remastered
- Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
- Moonlighter
- NEO: The World Ends with You
- New Super Lucky’s Tale
- Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
- Octopath Traveler
- Octopath Traveler II
- Oninaki
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Owlboy
- Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
- Paper Mario: The Origami King
- Persona 5 Royal
- Persona 5 Strikers
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Pikmin 1 + 2
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
- Pokémon Scarlet
- Pokémon Sword
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- Princess Peach: Showtime!
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Sea of Stars
- Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
- Shantae and the Seven Sirens
- Shin Megami Tensei V
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Sparklite
- Splatoon 2
- Splatoon 3
- Spyro Reignited Trilogy
- Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
- Super Mario Maker 2
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Super Mario Party
- Super Mario RPG
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Tales of Vesperia
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- The World ends with You
- Triangle Strategy
- Trials of Mana
- Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
- Unicorn Overlord
- Untitled Goose Game
- Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
- Yoshi’s Crafted World
- Ys Origin
I spent about 2057 hours beating these 98 games (which means that on average, the games on this list take 20 hours to beat).
With RPG Maker MZ — and VisuStella plugins, I should add — I released Wildsilver Zero in 2021, and as you may know, I’m still working on version 1.0.0 of Wildsilver.
Conclusion
Nintendo’s home consoles have been like the backdrop to my life as both a gamer and a game developer: From the early days of pixelated adventures on the NES and re-drawing booklet artwork to the Nintendo Switch and the ambitious projects I now undertake with RPG Maker MZ, each console could represent a chapter of my journey.
Along the way, I have discovered new genres, honed my creative skills and even got to live out my childhood dream of designing games — albeit not at Nintendo (yet! :D).
My gamer/gamedev biography is still being written, and who knows what the next chapter might bring? I’m definitely looking forward to the Nintendo Switch 2 (that is hopefully called something different, like ‘Nintendo Switch Plus’) and the next instalment in the RPG Maker series (which I have written about here).
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What was the first home console you had, and which game from that era left the strongest impression? Were you inspired to design your own games (whether or not you actually did it) by the games you played back then? Let me know in the comments!