http://www.gonintendo.com/stories/250234-nintendo-patent-from-1994-shows-similar-idea-to-super-mario-maker

- focused on a proposed hardware platform which would allow players to pause the gameplay and edit parts of the game 
- used a streamlined UI and no programming experience was needed 
- create a unique video game through an icon driven, interactive computing system 
- permits a video game to be executed, stopped, edited and resumed from the point where the editing began 
- stand-alone hardware system 
- developers would be able to specify which elements of the game the user could alter at the programming stage 
- anyone could potentially create their own unique video game with this system 
- user-generated content could be sent over a telephone line

WTF? That's a cool idea, but really weird/odd at the same time. I don't know what to think.

Man my childhood would've been completely different had this come out. I would've spent hours upon end on such a system.

Wow that is really weird to see. If Nintendo already had the idea for Super Mario Maker, why didn't they try to release the game earlier on Wii U's life than 2 and 1/2 years after the launch?

Makes you wonder what other game ideas Nintendo has thought of over the years and are still waiting to be developed as well.

I do recall hearing them want to make a Mario Maker game or at least have a level editor for the longest time, but I guess they sat on that idea for the longest time :p

Hmm, interesting.

I wonder what if would've been like to have hardware dedicated to Mario Maker from Nintendo?