Villains are the cornerstones of good games. Stories are created from conflict and the villain supports that conflict. If you have a weak villain, you'll have a weak story. It is, regrettably, very easy to make a lackluster villain. This is especially true when you work backwards and create a villain out of a need, for the plot. The three things that a good villain needs are: plausibility, emotional attachment, and spotlight.

So I felt like trying out that Mario game-hacking I've seen done in various Youtube videos. You know, like that "Mario Frustration" game with the invisible coin blocks and near-impossible jumps. I downloaded two editors, one for Super Mario Bros 2 called "SMB2 Transmogrificator", the other for Super Mario World called "Lunar Magic". SMB2 Transmogrificator is the one I was interested in, as it seemed that SMB2 is the least-popular Mario game to get hacked.

So, after a few days checking out what it's capable of, what's my opinion of it?

Done playing every game in the Game Vault? Hungry FOR MORE?

When it comes to making RPG's, I'm all over the idea. But when it comes to playing others, I'm up a stream without a life jacket.

This is the fourth issue of RPG Maker Magazine Digest. Enjoy it below.

This is the third issue of RPG Maker Magazine Digest. Enjoy it below.

This is the first issue of RPG Maker Magazine Digest. Enjoy it below.

This is the second issue of RPG Maker Magazine Digest. Enjoy it below.

Many great games have fallen because they failed at one aspect, one aspect so important and often neglected that the success of a game is made and broken by its execution. That which I speak is balancing; balancing battles to be specific.

Community Relations agent The Gnasher interviewed one of the very few members of the RPG Maker Magazine site who hold the title of Magonian Legend, Lantis. Lantis is known in the community for his work (together with SarahsKnight) in the game "Secret of Everyone: Arc Arath", for RPGM1, and for his unusual views on relationships. The following is the full interview, unmodified (except for very minor grammatical corrections), which took place between June 28 and July 6th 2007 through Private Messages in the forum.

As we get nearer to 2008, we can look back and notice that there wasn't especially much output from the RPG Maker community. Well, at least in the thought of full game releases.

Over the course of the year 2007, RPG Maker magazine (the Mag) has undergone some changes. And while some were for the good, it seems as though for every good aspect that came into light, at least two aspects of ill intent would raise their ugly head to the community. And all you are left to do is figure out why.

Well, let's try and see if we can't do just that.

Not too long ago, the RPG Maker Pavilion had a special feature featuring the RPG Maker we should've had, RPG Tsukuru 4. For those not in the know, it was the RPGM between our RPG Maker 1 and 2. We got Japan's RPG Tsukuru 3 for our RPGM1 instead due to RPGT4's team dispersing, which would've left Agetec, our guys who have been bringing us the console RPG Makers, without any help in localization.

As you read this, me and SK are playing through Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Got it on a big screen and are just chillin'. Well, SK is finding out for the first time how retarded the laws function of this game is. In fact, some really really unfortunate things have been happening to him in this game due to the laws.

The RPG Maker series is one of the best things to ever hit the gaming scene. In the 6 years since its arrival on the Playstation, it has been used to create dozens upon dozens of different games and concepts. Creative juices have flowed, and the dreams of gamers who have wanted to create their own unique masterpieces have been manifested.

Though RPG Maker is a fantastic tool, it is also a limited one. Developers have struggled for years against the base set of tools given in the RPG Maker titles and have found and used countless tricks to manipulate the software into creating some of the greatest user-made software in RPG Maker history.

This article, written in celebration of RPGMM's 100,000th hit, is designed to showcase just a sliver of the magnitude of talent that dwells in the RPG Maker community. While few people ever agree with lists, this is only the opinion of one mere mortal (Ixzion). Make sure to read our reviews and our user ratings to find the best games out there by developers! Some developers, when the game told them "Hey, you can't do that!", spit in the game's face and told RPG Maker that it better do what they want. RPG Maker then complied with their demands and that how these games came into being. True story.

Or maybe not. Still, these games break the rules, and that's all that matters.

Well, the 2006 RPG Maker Magazine Awards have finally come to an end. It was a long time in the making, but thanks to the entire RPG Maker community helping in the nominations and voting, we were able able to finish this massive event!

The Awards, nominated and voted on by the actual community, are given to the games, produced within the last year, and their creators in recognition of their mutual excellence in the field of RPG Maker.

Duelpro's thoughts on RPG Tsukuru 4.

Draygone shared with us the fact that a new RPG Maker is in development titled RPG Maker MX. The most exciting part is that it will support touch screen controls. This will be coming to PC,HTML, Mac, Android, and iOS later this year. More info and video below.