Nintendo has announced a new “educational” software/game application, Game Builder Garage, which has been designed to be the perfect way for kids to start learning the logic and structure of game development.
“For anyone who has always wanted to make their own video games, Game Builder Garage is the perfect place to start,” Nintendo of America senior vice president of sales and marketing Nick Chavez, said via a press release. “Through the use of guided lessons and memorable Nodon characters, Game Builder Garage helps make creating video games just as much fun as playing them!”
While the “game” is simple and accessible in scope, we’re promised that it will be possible to create all kinds of experience, from platformers, to card games, racing games to shooters. There will be a “Lesson Mode,” where you’ll learn the ropes, step-by-step, at your own pace. Once confident of your skills and knowledge, you can enter “Free Programming” mode, putting those skills to the test.
Finally, of course, you’ll be able to share your creations, though the wording of the press release is a little odd – I’m not sure if you’re able to share your creations online, or just over a local wireless connection. One would hope it’s the former, but knowing Nintendo it might well be the latter.
Either way, Nintendo’s entry into the “learn how to be a game developer” software will surely be a hit. These things are valuable edutainment, and something parents will like seeing their kids learning the kind of logic and thinking that Game Builder Garage will encourage.
