Mario Artist: Paint Studio

Mario Artist: Paint Studio (マリオアーティスト　ペイントスタジオ) is a Japan-only game released on December 11, 1999 for the Nintendo 64DD, as part of the Mario Artist series. It was one of the only games released for the system and was never popularized as a result.

Mario Artist: Paint Studio worked like the earlier title, Mario Paint, in that players used different paint tools to draw images. Frequently bundled with the Paint Studio was the Nintendo 64 Mouse controller, which made painting on the game similar to painting on a computer.

Gameplay
The game has four modes, total. The modes are as follows:


 * 2D Paint, for traditional painting like in Mario Paint. There is a unique four player drawing mode where four players could collaborate to make one drawing together. Pre-existing pictures of some other Nintendo characters could be used and manipulated on screen, and additional images could be imported from an source using the Nintendo 64DD or a Game Boy Camera. The stock Nintendo-themed graphics include all, and various renders from ', ', ', ', , Diddy Kong Racing, Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and Yoshi's Story. There are much more additional pre-made stock images, such as animals and food.
 * Animate, which can be used to create multiple frame animations in a flipbook type format. The max amount of frames for these animations are 35 frames long. It was possible to import animated figures into a player's city as a citizen in .
 * 3D World, where players can explore various worlds and interact with it. The player can explore three worlds: Mars, Underwater and Dinosaur Land. The player can travel through these environments and take pictures of the creatures who inhabit it. This feature is similar to Pokémon Snap. In addition, players can edit the environment's textures, adding their own drawings and creations to surfaces. Once a photo is taken of a creature, the player is also given the ability to edit their textures.
 * Gallery, acts as a sort of slideshow. The player can create a slideshow of their images with music.

Development
was commissioned by Nintendo of America in 1995 to create a sequel to Mario Paint in 3D for the Nintendo 64. It was initially pitched as a 3D "living playground" called Creator where the user edits the attributes of premade models such as dinosaurs—playing with sizes, behaviors, aggression, speed, and texture design. It was then re-named Mario Paint 64 and later to Picture Maker (shown at Nintendo's Space World 1997 trade show in November 1997), with the last working title being Mario Artist & Camera. Nintendo's Japanese departments eventually took control of the project, rejecting many of Software Creations' and Nintendo of America's ideas, before finally releasing the game in December 1999.

Prototype "Gnat Attack"
An early prototype build of Mario Artist: Paint Studio was found and preserved in June 2020. This build of the software features a fly-swatting game, similar to Mario Paint ' s Gnat Attack; it was completely removed in the final product.

References to other games

 * Diddy Kong Racing: Artwork of various playable characters can be utilized as a stamp.
 * Mario Paint: As the game began as a Mario Paint sequel, various assets, ideas and concepts are borrowed and reused. A dog's head serves as the "Undo" icon, as a reference to Undodog.
 * Mario Kart 64: Various different artwork from the game can be used as a stamp, including all playable characters.
 * Super Mario 64: Various artwork from Super Mario 64 (including Mario, Bowser and miscellaneous items) can be used as a stamp, including original artwork of Wing Mario never previously used.
 * Yoshi's Story: Various artwork from Yoshi's Story can be used as a stamp.

Trivia

 * Mario Artist: Paint Studio is the only Nintendo 64DD game to use the Transfer Pak; by using the Game Boy Camera.