Talk:Family BASIC

Split the minigames

This talk page proposal has already been settled. Please do not edit this section or its subsections. If you wish to discuss the article, please do so in a new section below the proposal.

Split 8-0
Each other minigame or microgame from other Super Mario games, including the WarioWare series, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the Mario Party series, has its own article. While these minigames are very short, I think there's enough here to warrant split pages for each minigame that features Super Mario content. I suggest this in the aim of consistency, as no other game page - to my knowledge - has all of its minigames merged to the game's article. Due to the game also featuring Super Mario sprites, plus how Wrecking Crew is compatible with the Data Recorder peripheral, I'd say there's enough meat on the page to split off the minigames. The short summaries on the article itself can be kept, the articles themselves would just go into more detail on the minigames. Some of the summaries themselves are quite short (for instance, one minigame is referred to only as "Horse betting but with Shellcreepers"), meaning standalone articles could expand on the details of the minigame.

To note, this would include both the V3 minigames and the minigames featuring Super Mario content from the original release.

Proposer: Nelsonic (talk)
Deadline: February 12, 2026, 23:59 (UTC) Closed early on February 6, 2026, 23:59 (UTC)

SUPPORT

1. NELSONIC (talk) PER PROPOSAL
2. Camwoodstock (talk) 10 PRINT "Makes sense to us, and to be honest, we chalk this mostly up to Family BASIC's relative obscurity and general weirdness. Giving each of the sample programs pages that explain how they work and what they're like would be very nice to have! Per proposal." / 20 GOTO 10
3. Rykitu BASIC V3 (talk) Per PROPOSAL.
4. Keegster2 (talk) These minigames are interesting enough to deserve more in-depth detail, especially considering the original sample games have to be personally made by the player. Per proposal.
5. Bro3256 (talk) Per proposal.
6. Altendo (Single BASIC) Per.
7. EvieMaybe (talk) per all
8. Yoshi18 (talk) Per all.

Licensing status of certain third-party minigames

I want to preface this by saying that the Shogakukan and Hudson Soft minigames are not part of the issue here, as those are from confirmed-licensed developers. The issue I am running into is with the other ones, mainly the ones made by Natsumesha and similar devs. I'm noticing the trademark on the front of the magazine, but apparently Japanese copyright law dictates that using the trademark on the front cover could actually protect from legal issues for using a character you don't have the rights to, which is something I was NOT aware of when I wrote the article.

I have done my digging, and I can't find any concrete evidence; were Natsumesha and the other non-Shogakukan/Hudson devs actually granted a license to publish their magazines, and, if not, how does this impact the pages for the minigames?

I.. really hope they were granted a license, but I cannot actually tell. Nelsonic (talk edits) 23:40, September 22, 2026 (UTC)

The Unlicensed Elephant in the Room

This talk page section contains an unresolved talk page proposal. Please try to help and resolve the issue by voting or leaving a comment.

Current time: October 2, 2026, 03:01 (UTC)

To note, this only involves Jumping Mario (Family BASIC minigame), Morita‑san chi no Mario‑kun, and Fire Kyūjotai. All of the other minigames were submitted to Hudson, Shogakukan, or Tokuma and then released via official means in a manner akin to a purchasable version of Easy Racer.

I.. screwed up. I thought one was not allowed to use a trademark symbol on something without having a license, but apparently you can. Oops. And that's just what Natsumesha did. They trademarked their thingy to show that they didn't own it, and I was not aware that that was how that kind of thing works. All of the other minigames aside from these three were coded by hobbyists, sure, but they were sent in to an official partner of Nintendo and then distributed and sold via official means (akin to Easy Racer or the Nintendo 48-Hour Wii U Video Challenge). THESE, however (the three mentioned above), do not appear to have been that.

Unless I'm wrong, these do not appear to be official minigames.

So, I present three options;

• Delete the pages: I mean, unofficial content is unofficial content.
• Keep the pages: To be fair, even though these were unofficial, Nintendo INTENDED for people to code their own minigames with this thing; it's sort of like Super Mario Maker.
• Merge to a List of unofficial Family BASIC minigames: If there's no reason to keep the pages, then this is my preferred option. We keep the documentation in a space that makes sense for it, as these are rather interesting and unlikely to be covered anywhere else.

To note, if it is found that there was any element of licensing involved before or after this proposal includes, it will render either the first or third decision void.

Proposer: Nelsonic (talk)
Deadline: October 15, 2026, 23:59 (UTC)

PRINT "MERGE"

1. NELSONIC (talk) My preferred option if there's no reason to keep the articles.
2. WANDERING POPLIN (talk) Per NELSONIC.
3. RYKITU (talk) Per ALL. (Which is pretty much NELSONIC.)