The return of E3 has a big impact on the video game industry. It's generally assumed that, in the weeks leading up to the conference, developers big and small will go quiet on many projects, saving up material to show it off at E3 instead. On the whole, Nintendo has done that, remaining quiet on things like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 rather than teasing them constantly. However, Nintendo just broke convention by actually announcing a brand new game with only a month to go before E3. That game is Game Builder Garage, and it looks like a pretty unique addition to the Switch's library.
Game Builder Garage, at a glance, is less a game and more a tool. It's Nintendo's take on products like RPG Maker, intended to teach users some programming basics and give them simple tools for making their own games. Nintendo didn't tease Game Builder Garage in any way before its announcement, but in retrospect it only seems natural. Nintendo has a long history of creating tools meant to encourage fans to get creative. In a way, it seems like Nintendo was building up to Game Builder Garage all along.
Nintendo's History with Creativity
Naturally, Nintendo is best known for all the games that it's made. Franchises like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and so on are practically household names. They've had a huge impact on their respective genres and continue to release highly influential AAA titles. However, Nintendo has spent a long time releasing tools and creative "games" that received a ton of praise. It's been nearly 30 years since Mario Paint came out, but it's still remembered as a strange but interesting SNES title meant to make art rather than offer traditional gameplay. Mario Paint offered both painting tools and a music maker, pushing the boundaries of what a video game console could be used for.
Decades later, Nintendo has found a really different way to channel the same spirit. Super Mario Maker was revolutionary when it first came out. For years, fans of Super Mario dreamt of making their own Mario levels and games. Nintendo brought that wish to life in extraordinary form through Super Mario Maker and its even more ambitious sequel. Even years after this spinoff franchise began, it's hard to think of another game about game design that's as simple and approachable. However, Mario Maker still comes with plenty of limitations; there's only so much that fans can do with the Mario formula, but the Mario Maker sequel released so quickly after the first game suggests that Nintendo is really interested in parting the game design curtain for fans.
The Game Builder Garage Era
That's where Game Builder Garage comes in. At a glance, the start of the trailer makes it looks like a bare-bones Mario Maker about making simple IP-free platformers. It's clearly much more than that, though. A montage toward the end of the trailer promises that fans can use Game Builder Garage to many everything from fighting games to side-scrolling shooters. The programming capabilities are probably a lot richer than the simplistic opening suggests, considering all the additional functions that Nintendo later teases. Game Builder Garage is probably much more on par with powerful engines like Dreams than the cutesy trailer suggests.
Nintendo fans should probably expect it to push Game Builder Garage pretty hard. Nintendo loves to find unorthodox uses for their software, something the experimental Nintendo Labo attests to. Game Builder Garage launches the day before E3, which can't possibly be a coincidence. Odds are good that Nintendo will talk about it at E3, possibly highlighting its plans for the game, teasing future updates and expansions, and discussing its interest in more projects of its kind. At the very least, it's a real power move for Nintendo to release a new Switch game so close to E3, claiming attention from the industry right before the convention.
Details on Game Builder Garage are limited for now, but odds are Nintendo will revisit it and explain its approach to teaching game design in the next couple weeks. It seems like it's much more than just putting Mario parts together on a map. Game Builder Garage really wants to teach users all facets of game design, right down to a simulation of programming. It remains to be seen just what Game Builder Garage is capable of. However, if Nintendo fans' recent Miitopia creations and a rich legacy of brilliant Mario Makers are anything to go by, there's bound to be some incredible things made with Nintendo's latest design tool.
Game Builder Garage releases for Nintendo Switch on June 11, 2021.