Browsing the highest-rated games on Metacritic, you might come across some well-known names. Nintendo franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. make an appearance, of course, as do classics like Half-Life and several GTA titles. Among these beloved games, one name stands out as being completely out of place.
Rated 93 and nestled right between World of Warcraft and Forza Horizon 4 on Metacritic is the 2009 Nintendo DSiWare title, Flipnote Studio. How did an animation-making program even make it onto a list of games, and why did it get such high praise from fans and critics alike? To find the answer to that, we have to go back to a time when internet culture and Nintendo consoles were a completely different place.
What Was Flipnote Studio & How Did It Score So High?
The Free Program Was A Must-Have For DSi Owners
When the Nintendo DSi was rolled out in 2009, it struggled to win over fans. The system was too similar to the DS Lite, no longer included a Game Boy Advance slot, and suffered from a poor launch lineup. Nintendo’s solution was DSiWare, a marketplace separate from the Nintendo eShop that housed exclusive DSi games and programs.
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Flipnote Studio was a free Nintendo title available for download from DSiWare. Users could draw or create animations from scratch or from photos, using the stylus to draw and mark up pages like a flipbook. The “game” was bolstered by an active online community and the freedom to create whatever players wished using intuitive controls.
Looking back on it now, it seems like a strange “game” for Nintendo to push out, but it worked. In fact, it worked so well that a 2009 review of the program on IGN inironically declared Flipnote Studio to be “the system seller Nintendo really needs,“ stating:
“After toying with the program for hours and seeing co-workers’ reactions and excitement, both in what I produced and how easy it is to use, I’m now comfortable in saying that there’s a real reason to own a DSi system.“
Flipnote Studio Couldn’t Happen Today
Conditions Were Perfect For Its Success When It Launched
Flipnote Studio was a product of its time, launching when fan-made animation sites like Newgrounds were still huge, and stickman battles (anyone else remember those?) were making the rounds. The internet hadn’t yet become oversaturated with memes, and the idea of making shareable content was just beginning to take off.
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The program wouldn’t have been able to find the same level of popularity today as it did when it arrived on the scene in 2009. For those who got to experience the phenomenon, finding Flipnote Studio at the top of the best games of all time on Metacritic just makes sense. In a 2009 edition of Iwata Asks, the late president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, had a hopeful outlook for the mighty little program:
It would be great if, when this software goes out into the world, the number of people who draw animation would increase. I also strongly hope that… Flipnote Studio spurs people on to become animators, video and film creators and video-game makers.
Judging from the fond memories fans have of the free Nintendo title, Flipnote Studio did manage to make a lasting impression on the minds of many who played with it. It was a simple but incredibly powerful program that influenced many creators and even led to some fans starting careers in animation, as Iwata had hoped. Today, it’s certainly earned its spot among other influential video games on Metacritic.
Source: Metacritic, IGN, Iwata Asks
Date Founded
September 23, 1889
CEO
Satoru Iwata
Subsidiaries
Nintendo EPD, Nintendo SPD, Nintendo EAD
Consoles
Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Switch Lite
Services
Nintendo Switch Online