Stiq Figures, March 17 - 23: User-created content edition
Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter.
Game developers can make some pretty great content, as evidenced by the games we've collectively been glued to over the past few decades. It makes sense, too - they've got the knowledge, the tool set and the experience to know what makes for a good time. From my perspective while growing up, their aptitude was highlighted by countless user-created Starcraft maps, many of which weren't exactly the work of future Blizzard designers.
The exceptions to those botched efforts, however, were phenomenal. In comparison to Blizzard's official content, I put way more hours into user-created tower defense and Mass Attack maps, the latter being a gametype where clearing killcount milestones upgraded a player's perpetually-spawning units. Obstacle course-style maps were easy to retry due to their short playtimes, but in terms of content supporting longer matches? Nothing topped the Final Fantasy 7 or Super Mario RPG-themed maps, which interpreted the storylines and locales of each game with Starcraft assets. It wasn't so great when my dial-up connection gave out 90 minutes into those journeys, though.
Over the last several years, developers seem to have grown fond of allowing players to create what they want. It's a welcome trend proved most strongly by Minecraft's popularity, but it's also supported by the LittleBigPlanet series and TrackMania, with Project Spark seemingly just as keen to let players experiment.
As someone who used to goof off all the time in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2's level creator, or just tried to make up unconventional races with friends in Mario Kart 64, I'm really enjoying the recent openness to player creativity. I'm certainly no future level designer, but there always seem to be plenty of people ready to make up for me with fantastic ideas. Are there any games that stayed in your queue because of the content its community was making, or are you one of those people that can build a masterpiece of your own? Share your best creation-related moments in the comments, right after you check this week's data for Japanese hardware sales after the break!
[Image: Blizzard]
Vita: 35,374 [UP] 7,104
PS4: 30,201 [UP] 524
3DS LL: 28,291 [UP] 4,919
PS3: 15,455 [UP] 1,327
3DS: 11,985 [UP] 1,213
Wii U: 9,982 [UP] 2,328
PSP: 3,563 [UP] 102
Vita TV: 1,754 [UP] 307
Xbox 360: 288 [UP] 10
