Speaking of Nintendo coming after SM63...

[Doram]

Yup. Here's an article talking about not just another Mario clone w/LD that was shut down, but the reason Nintendo has been going after them suddenly: Nintendo is making one themselves...

Slate.com: Nintendo’s Mario Maker Could Be a Minecraft Killer

Also discussed in the Gaming Forum

[Venexis]

As an avid Minecraft player I can say right away that it won't "kill" the appeal of Mojang's most popular game. At all.

Partly because the WiiU (despite its recent success with E3) still has a long way to recover, partly because the WiiU as a console just can't compete with Minecraft's accessibility, but mostly because comparing Mario Maker to Minecraft is like comparing a novel to a newspaper. Totally different audiences, formats, distribution methods, and content- despite both being text.

That being said, it's pretty weird for Nintendo to be so power-hungry lately. Like for real, what the hell? They've been fine letting their fans advertise for them with Youtube channels and fan projects like SMBX or SM63 for years. I guess this is what staying competitive in the gaming industry looks like, but they've never felt the need to be so aggressive about it before. It's kinda unsettling, and doesn't bode well for the future of fan content or gaming in general.

[Oranjui]

Let's take a moment to bash that headline here. See, SM63, LL, and countless other games with level designers not by Runouw have coexisted with each other for quite a while now. Why should one new first party game disrupt that? I can see the release of something like Mario Maker mildly changing play of closely similar games (in this case, Mario themed level designing games, but not necessarily long-standing ones like SMBX or SM63), but it's not going to affect anything like Minecraft much, if at all. They're for different platforms, they have different play styles, different themes/characters, and different audiences. I definitely agree with what Ven said above; it really can't be stressed enough. A lot of these media outlets don't exactly know what they're talking about.

About the game itself: Nintendo has released games with level designers before. Some of the Mario vs Donkey Kong games had designers with a level portal, SSBB definitely had a stage editor, and likely others I haven't come across have some form of one as well. Of course, a single game focusing on this feature is a different approach than their past trials have been, but I don't see it radically changing anything in the general gaming world. We've seen this kind of stuff before. Nintendo can do all it wants to try and eliminate its competitors, but I think they're smart enough to realize that strategy would cost them more fans that it would bring in. Nintendo seems pretty desperate for ways to innovate their products at this point. I don't doubt that they've been looking at this for a while since the release of LittleBigPlanet and such. Stepping into this trend, especially with the sudden attempted destruction of several fangames, is more than a bit alienating, but Nintendo's a company that seems like it can learn from past mistakes. Nintendo's certainly not going to kill anyone off with this Mario Maker, but it's not necessarily going to bring them down too terribly, either.

I remember something along the lines of "we're not afraid of change" or "change is crucial" from Nintendo at this year's E3 something or other. I guess they can roll with that, since it's honestly a much better idea than spitting out sequel after sequel in the same franchise with each being almost identical. This experimentation phase, though, I really hope won't last too long, or it's definitely going to do a number on their fanbase. Some of the things they've done have stirred up some pretty bad ♥♥♥♥ already (cough Sticker Star). This hostile way of going about their new idea is likely going to cause more problems than it's worth. But hey, the music is taking a turn for the better. Not that it was bad before or anything, but this whole jazz thing they've got going on recently is pretty awesome.

[ChaosYoshi]

This experimentation phase, though, I really hope won't last too long, or it's definitely going to do a number on their fanbase.

This is Sonic's career in a nutshell.

[NanTheDark]

SM63 is danger of getting taken down?

I can't help but have a little déjà vu here... weren't we in this situation last year too?

Relax, people. This game is staying right where it is. ^_^ It's been here for a really long time already, I don't see why would it go now.

[brandoprojectm]

Lmfao, that article is so very the definition of clickbait it's hilarious. Don't know why you'd take it seriously.

[Buff_]

It's not like that game was taken down because it was an exact copy of the original Super Mario Bros.

[~MP3 Amplifier~]

Well we sorted it out that last year, we'd still have the designer, just not the game. Also- I can't help but feel like Nintendo is basically feeling threatened by their own fans, I mean come on. XD

[nin10mode]

I think it's just their legal team. Nintendo was extremely fan-oriented at E3 this year.

I wouldn't worry about it. A better thought might be the potential rise or loss of level designers.