Facebook's two-day Hackathon, held at its headquarters in Menlo Park, saw over 100 employees create Super Mario levels that are apt for millennials.
While Facebook has hosted several Hackathons in the past, which have led to the creation of novel features such as chat, timeline and the "Like" button, this particular event did not aim to create new features for the social networking sites but new levels for the impending Super Mario Maker game.
On Wednesday, July 29, Facebook employees got early access to the game and set about developing their own novel levels thanks to the company's partnership with Nintendo.
"We are millennials and we grew up playing Mario," said Amanda Maler, a Facebook employee. "We thought, 'Let's bring Facebook to Nintendo. Be bold.'"
Super Mario Maker is set for a Sept. 11 release this year and will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the iconic franchise. The game has been designed in such a manner that gamers can create and share the levels they make and play as Mario. One will also be able to download levels that other people have designed, which means gamers will have innumerable levels to attempt.
The Facebook Hackathon saw boards with themes such as "Move Fast And Brick Things" and "Bowser's Timeline."
"As we were looking at the values that Super Mario Maker embodies, there really seems to be a lot of crossover with Facebook. It seemed like a really good partner for this event. And, of course, they have that great tradition of hackathons," said Nintendo's Kit Ellis.
Facebook Hackathon's winning team will also get the chance to make a level that will be featured in Super Mario Maker when it launches in September.
Nintendo hopes to infuse a new lease of life into its Wii U console, which is currently struggling in the face of competition from Sony's PlayStation 4, and lift its fortunes.
