There are two things that always excite me: video games and tech. Something that is even more exciting, though, is human ingenuity, especially when it combines both games and tech. Thinking about it, Minecraft taught me Boolean and logic gates. Ever since playing Minecraft years ago, I’ve been amazed by the creative things designers include in video games; from running Game Boy games in Minecraft, to making an FPS in Little Big Planet, and lately, programming a calculator in Super Mario Maker.
Yes, Mario. The simple game where you’re a plumber who likes mushrooms and jumping on Goombas, whose quest is to rescue the Princess by simply moving to the right. In the newest installment of the franchise, Super Mario Maker, players create their own Mario levels utilizing many different tools and resources. The game has been out for roughly six months and people have created some crazy levels! As of last week, someone figured out how to make a simple calculator that can add or subtract two integers. Upon loading the level, the player has Mario pick two numbers from one to seven, and jump down a pipe. From there, the player is carried through the level, finally approaching the end, and revealing the sum or difference of the numbers. It’s always interesting to me what people do to extend the limits of video games by applying traditional computer knowledge.
