Interviews// Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto

Everything you wanted to know, but were too scared to ask. Part 1

Posted 25 May 2005 19:00 by
There is a problem with most interviews with Shigeru Miyamoto, legendary Nintendo developer and the man behind Mario, Donkey Kong and Zelda. That problem is they all sound the same and rarely deliver any insight beyond a repetition of the last interview you read. SPOnG hopes that this interview will be a little different.

Question: So the first question has to be – where was Mario 128 at this year’s E3. This is the third year in a row the game hasn’t shown up. What gives?

Shigeru Miyamoto: Well, we are working on Mario obviously, for the Revolution console. We have a lot of different ideas that where’re looking at right now, so whether it’ll be Mario 128 or a completely different Mario, we’re not sure yet. But we will have a Mario game, for the Revolution. What I’d really like you to do is take a look at the new Mario for the DS, a brand new title. It has wireless play for multiple players to hook-up and is on the showfloor!

Q: But late last year it was underlined that Mario 128 would be a GameCube title. So when was the decision made to shift it across to Revolution?

SM: I said that? [Laughs] The decision was made to make that change during last year though I don’t have an exact date.

Q: Is it a port of the original code?

SM: The Revolution is going to have a lot of technological makeup from the GameCube, so obviously it’s [new Mario] going to be made out of the same things. Plus a whole bunch of other stuff. So we are definitely using that code, just enhancing it, optimising it and adding new things to it. The code exists! It’s still alive!

Q: What was your first car and what car do you drive today?

SM: My first car was an economy car they sell in Japan, from Honda. It was a Honda K car. The actual model was Honda K: Z600 N360 though my friend customised it, upgrading it for me to an N450! I then painted it so it read ‘Bluegrass Express’ down the sides! I didn’t add wheels or a muffler, the paint was the customisation by me. I also painted a big fireball on it too.

These days I drive a seven-seat Nissan minivan people carrier for my family, though I’m also looking at something new. Perhaps a Honda Odyssey. I’ve always had four-wheel-drive cars, I should mention that too. I don’t know if that’s good or bad or not but that’s what I buy. I don’t have any Mercedes or Ferraris or anything like that.

Q: Perhaps leave all that to the guys at Sega?

SM: [Laughs] I didn’t say that!
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Comments

LUPOS 25 May 2005 21:59
1/8
damn NDA's... my roomate requested a lock of his hair, but i was unable to get within range :(
(i imagine if anyone pulled out a sharp object anywhere near the man, some sort of weird nintendo secret service would take them down with cleverley positioned snipers!)

Still, a very pleasant and ingenious god amoung men, may he live long enough to see full body cloning for transplants so nintendo can survive.

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Ditto 26 May 2005 11:30
2/8
I think Mr Miyamoto could be holding Nintendo back. Don't get me wrong, he's a genius. Eventually however, Nintendo will need to produce adult-style games and apply it's innovation to that.

Mr Miyamoto tends to produce very similar games, and Nintendo needs some variety. As a member of Free Radical put it: it's unhealthy for a company to focus it's vision on the style of one individual (not in those words, but).
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TigerUppercut 26 May 2005 12:21
3/8
I think you have the wrong end of the stick. Miyamoto-san oversees all development but doesn't really control Nintendo's verall development strategy. That's controlled by Satoru Iwata.
tyrion 26 May 2005 12:23
4/8
TigerUppercut wrote:
I think you have the wrong end of the stick. Miyamoto-san oversees all development but doesn't really control Nintendo's verall development strategy. That's controlled by Satoru Iwata.

Yeah, but given a choice between a Miyamoto-produced game and any other, which would you give funding to?
Joji 26 May 2005 17:25
5/8
I agree with Adam.....some more mature content is badly needed. It's best Nintendo do something that's their own than rely on 2nd & 3rd parties for these kinds of product. If you use the GC as an example a amachine can sometimes starve of 2nd/3rd part product til the end. This is what is slowly killing the GC, more titles ending up on Xbox and PS2. (RE4 anyone)

Come on Nintendo, I know you can do it. Legend of Zelda is about the darkest game they have done. We want something set in the real world sometimes not Hyrule or Mario Land all the time. Plese put some new games on REV please. Perhaps when Nintendo decide to act other developers might stick around.
OptimusP 26 May 2005 20:43
6/8
I don't think Nintendo is centered around mister Miyamoto. As he says himself, he's more of a supervisor, if the gameplay or gameworld stinks, he's the guy that takes note and tells the team, gives a few suggestions and moves on. May it be a mature or not-so-mature game (and i hate using the term mature).

I don't think we have to expect EAD pumping a 16+ game out any day. Probably Nintendo would talk with a lot of small developers and talented gameartists (Nintendo, here's a hint, go talk with Yuji Naka, quick!) and see what kind of game they have in production and go like "hey that's promising, let's make a deal, we'll publish your game, give you some extra starting capital and send some guys of EAD to help you out a bit and if you have some questions or problems, call us"

Rare, Retro, Silicon Knights, Camelot, NCSoft, Kuju, and so on, are good examples of Nintendo helping (not only with some cash but with some expercienced people too) out smaller teams in making their games, and most of the time those are quite the mature games.

And personally i believe Shigsy is on crack all the time...someone that smiles and laughs that much must be.
TigerUppercut 27 May 2005 00:57
7/8
But this misses the whole point of Nintendo.
If you want a lot of killing and violence and swearing, buy an Xbox and/or a PlayStation. If you want new games, buy a Nintendo.
LUPOS 27 May 2005 01:05
8/8
TigerUppercut wrote:
But this misses the whole point of Nintendo.
If you want a lot of killing and violence and swearing, buy an Xbox and/or a PlayStation. If you want new games, buy a Nintendo.


this is percisely why i own an xbox and a cube... all the mario (random activity) i could ever want, and all the glitz and shiny of your standard xbox, and i get all the best multiplatform games on the xbox.

of course now im hooked on xbox games and ps3 looks to be the shiniest so i may just have to give in and get all three. oh the fun of waiting.

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