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Digging into the creation of one pick-ticular WarioWare minigame

Kotaku has shared an interesting conversation with longtime Nintendo game developer Goro Abe that explores the origins of one particularly memorable 3 second long WarioWare minigame: Gold Digger.

Alissa McAloon, Publisher

October 11, 2018

1 Min Read
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"All that was on the note was a picture of a finger and a nose, and the word ‘Pick!’”

- Nintendo’s Goro Abe recalls the note that inspired WarioWare's Gold Digger minigame

Kotaku has shared an interesting conversation with longtime Nintendo game developer Goro Abe that explores the origins of one particularly memorable 3 second long WarioWare minigame: Gold Digger.

The interview is a quick read, but it fellow game developers a look at the process behind creating rapid-fire minigames for WarioWare that can be both understood and successfully played in a matter of seconds.

“I took the note to my desk and proceeded to draw some 2D sprites,” Abe tells Kotaku. “I made the thickness of the finger the same size as the nostril, thinking how satisfying it would be to have the finger go into the nostril when you succeed, and I made the nose deform a little bit when you fail. Using these, I programmed and completed the basic game.”

Abe digs into the process more in depth in the full story as he talks about how he tweaked the short game for different difficulty levels as well as how the WarioWare team endeavored to create games that were “instantly understandable” across cultures, like picking a nose.

About the Author

Alissa McAloon

Publisher, GameDeveloper.com

As the Publisher of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.

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