WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 00:11, 8 September 2024

WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, known in Europe as WarioWare, Inc.: Minigame Mania and in Japan as Made in Wario, is a GBA game by Nintendo and the first entry in the WarioWare series. The game is built around a collection of 213 minigames of very short duration, unlocked in phases loosely organised by theme.

History[edit]

According to designer Goro Abe, the game's genesis was a desire to create something atypical of Nintendo's usual style (to the point where he wasn't entirely sure the company would actually release it).^[4] The concept for the gameplay has roots in Mario Artist: Polygon Studio's Sound Bomber mode, which used very similar minigames incorporating player-made models. The staff worked on the game in secrecy at first, only approaching their manager after some time had passed - he gave his approval without much comment. The team decided to use Wario because they felt his idiocy fit the game like a glove.^[5]

Every programmer on the team proposed individual microgames by writing their ideas on sticky notes and putting them on a table before going through and removing ones that they didn't like. (They ended up getting contributions from others in the same department once word of the project started spreading internally.) The staff wanted to avoid games that were excessively obscene, "Japanese," or difficult to immediately comprehend.^[5]

While the game was a passion project, no one at Nintendo initially thought it would be much of a success. The developers were not sure how to properly market the game - Shigeru Miyamoto helped out on that front, approving of its Japanese slogan ("More! Shorter! Faster!") and insisting it be put on the cover.^[4]

"New Mario and Wario GBA Games" (IGN covers the announcement of Mega Microgame$! and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3; January 7, 2003)

Previews[edit]

Impressions by GameSpot (April 9, 2003)

Advertising[edit]

Print advertisement
🇬🇧 2003

from Cube #19

Download PDF

Print advertisement
🇺🇸 2003

from GMR #6

Download File

Print advertisement
🇯🇵 2003

from Nintendo Dream #87

Download PDF

Covers[edit]

Edge200(April2009)(cover119-WarioWareInc).jpg

Edge
🇬🇧 April 2009

One of 200 covers for issue 200

Download File

Reviews[edit]

Games™
🇦🇺 May 2003

reprint of review from UK edition

Download PDF

Edge
🇬🇧 June 2003

(Edge listed review scores separately at the time — this was a 7)

Download File

Game Informer
🇺🇸 June 2003

Download File

Electronic Gaming Monthly
🇺🇸 June 2003

Download PDF

Edmonton Journal
🇨🇦 6 June 2003

Download File

NGC
🇬🇧 July 2003

Download PDF

Cube
🇬🇧 2003

Download PDF

Electronic Gaming Monthly
🇺🇸 February 2006

Mega Microgame$! places 138th on the magazine's top 200 games of all time

Download File

Video review from GameSpot (May 27, 2003)

IGN (May 22, 2003)
GameSpy (May 25, 2003; archived via Wayback Machine)
GameSpot (May 27, 2003)
The game's spot in GameSpot's Month in Review: May 2003 (circa June 8, 2003; archived via Wayback Machine)
Nintendo World Report (June 22, 2003)
Game Informer (circa June 2003; archived via Wayback Machine)
Declared 2003's "Most Innovative Game" (alongside other titles) by GameSpot (circa December 26, 2003; archived via Wayback Machine)
The game is #78 on Official Nintendo Magazine UK's list of the "100 Best Nintendo Games" (February 18, 2009; archived via Wayback Machine)
The game makes #40 on Edge Online's "100 Best Games to Play Today" (March 9, 2009; archived via Wayback Machine)
Eurogamer

Sales[edit]

Japan[edit]

Date	Copies sold that week	Total sold	Chart position
2003-03-23	100,119^[6]		2
2003-03-30	69,558^[6]	169,677	6
2003-04-06	48,986^[6]	218,663	4
2003-04-13	37,132^[6]	255,795	5
2003-04-20	29,453^[6]	285,248	3
2003-04-27	25,632^[6]	310,880	5
2003-05-04	38,132^[6]	349,012	6
2003-05-11	22,728^[6]	371,740	6
2003-05-18	14,126^[6]	385,866	3
2003-05-25	13,470^[6]	399,336	4
2003-12-28		556,806^[7]
2004-12-26		622,898^[8]

Websites[edit]

Miscellaneous[edit]

References[edit]

↑ Official Japanese website
↑ Official Australian Nintendo database search (archived via Wayback Machine)
↑ Official Chinese website
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Iwata Asks: WarioWare Smooth Moves - "Everyone in the Room Will Have a Grin on Their Face!" (part 4)
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Kikizo interview with Nintendo R&D1 (April 7, 2006)
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 ^6.4 ^6.5 ^6.6 ^6.7 ^6.8 ^6.9 Niche Barrier's record of Weekly Famitsu's sales charts
↑ GEIMIN's chart detailing Weekly Famitsu sales data for 2003 (saved via archive.today)
↑ GEIMIN's chart detailing Weekly Famitsu sales data for 2004 (saved via archive.today)

[1] Official Japanese website

[2] Official Australian Nintendo database search (archived via Wayback Machine)

[3] Official Chinese website

[asks-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Iwata Asks: WarioWare Smooth Moves - "Everyone in the Room Will Have a Grin on Their Face!" (part 4)

[kikizo-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Kikizo interview with Nintendo R&D1 (April 7, 2006)

[niche-6] 6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 ^6.3 ^6.4 ^6.5 ^6.6 ^6.7 ^6.8 ^6.9 Niche Barrier's record of Weekly Famitsu's sales charts

[7] GEIMIN's chart detailing Weekly Famitsu sales data for 2003 (saved via archive.today)

[8] GEIMIN's chart detailing Weekly Famitsu sales data for 2004 (saved via archive.today)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Infobox
+{{InfoboxGame
   |image  = 40639-warioware-inc-mega-microgame-game-boy-advance-front-cover.jpg
   |developer = Nintendo R&D1
   |publisher = Nintendo
-  |platforms = Game Boy Advance
+  |platforms = {{plat-gba}}
   |date = <div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">'''March 21, 2003 (original)'''
 <div class="mw-collapsible-content">{{Flag-JP}} March 21, 2003<ref>[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/azwj/product/index.html Official Japanese website]</ref><br>{{Flag-EU}} May 23, 2003<br>{{Flag-US}} May 26, 2003<br>{{Flag-AU}} June 6, 2003<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030606210104/http://nintendo.com.au/nintendo/games/index.php?action=search&pagenum=1&sortby=title&platform=&rating=&title=warioware&releasedate=&genre= Official Australian Nintendo database search] (archived via Wayback Machine)</ref><br>{{Flag-CN}} 2005<ref>[https://www.ique.com/games/G_mwario.htm Official Chinese website]</ref></div></div>
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
   |mobygames = https://www.mobygames.com/game/9250/warioware-inc-mega-microgame/
   |tcrf = https://tcrf.net/WarioWare,_Inc.:_Mega_Microgame$!
-  |related = [[WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Games!]]
+  |related = [[WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Games!]]}}
-}}
 '''WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!''', known in Europe as '''WarioWare, Inc.: Minigame Mania''' and in Japan as '''Made in Wario''', is a GBA game by Nintendo and the first entry in the WarioWare series. The game is built around a collection of 213 minigames of very short duration, unlocked in phases loosely organised by theme.
@@ Line 27: / Line 26: @@
 == Advertising ==
 {{GalleryStart}}
 {{GalleryCard
@@ Line 49: / Line 47: @@
 |country=JP
 |description=from Nintendo Dream #87
+}}
+{{GalleryEnd}}
+== Covers ==
+{{GalleryStart}}
+{{GalleryCard
+|file=Edge200(April2009)(cover119-WarioWareInc).jpg
+|title=Edge
+|date=April 2009
+|country=UK
+|description=One of 200 covers for issue 200
 }}
 {{GalleryEnd}}
@@ Line 59: / Line 68: @@
 |date=May 2003
 |country=AU
+|description=reprint of review from UK edition
+}}
+{{GalleryCard
+|file=2003-06 Edge (UK) 124 - p103 (315946f5).jpg
+|title=Edge
+|date=June 2003
+|country=UK
+|description=(Edge listed review scores separately at the time — this was a 7)
+}}
+{{GalleryCard
+|file=2003-06 Game Informer (US) 122 - p118 (3f528de3).jpg
+|title=Game Informer
+|date=June 2003
+|country=US
 }}
 {{GalleryCard
@@ Line 65: / Line 88: @@
 |date=June 2003
 |country=US
+}}
+{{GalleryCard
+|file=Edmonton_Journal_Fri__Jun_6__2003_.jpg
+|title=Edmonton Journal
+|date=6 June 2003
+|country=CA
 }}
 {{GalleryCard
@@ Line 97: / Line 126: @@
 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120926074423/http://www.edge-online.com/features/100-best-games-play-today/7/ The game makes #40 on Edge Online's "100 Best Games to Play Today"] (March 9, 2009; archived via Wayback Machine)
 * [https://www.eurogamer.net/r-warioware-gba Eurogamer]
+== Sales ==
+=== Japan ===
+{| class="wikitable"
+|-
+! Date !! Copies sold that week !! Total sold !! Chart position
+|-
+| 2003-03-23 ||colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"| 100,119<ref name="niche">[https://nichebarrier.com/game/9179-warioware-inc-mega-microgame Niche Barrier's record of ''Weekly Famitsu'''s sales charts]</ref> || 2
+|-
+| 2003-03-30 || 69,558<ref name="niche" /> || 169,677 || 6
+|-
+| 2003-04-06 || 48,986<ref name="niche" /> || 218,663 || 4
+|-
+| 2003-04-13 || 37,132<ref name="niche" /> || 255,795 || 5
+|-
+| 2003-04-20 || 29,453<ref name="niche" /> || 285,248 || 3
+|-
+| 2003-04-27 || 25,632<ref name="niche" /> || 310,880 || 5
+|-
+| 2003-05-04 || 38,132<ref name="niche" /> || 349,012 || 6
+|-
+| 2003-05-11 || 22,728<ref name="niche" /> || 371,740 || 6
+|-
+| 2003-05-18 || 14,126<ref name="niche" /> || 385,866 || 3
+|-
+| 2003-05-25 || 13,470<ref name="niche" /> || 399,336 || 4
+|-
+| 2003-12-28 ||style="background-color: gray;" | || 556,806<ref>[https://archive.is/44wF0#selection-1339.0-1339.8 GEIMIN's chart detailing ''Weekly Famitsu'' sales data for 2003] (saved via archive.today)</ref> ||style="background-color: gray;" |
+|-
+| 2004-12-26 ||style="background-color: gray;" | || 622,898<ref>[https://archive.is/xNz9a#selection-8225.3-8231.8 GEIMIN's chart detailing ''Weekly Famitsu'' sales data for 2004] (saved via archive.today)</ref> ||style="background-color: gray;" |
+|}
 == Websites ==