Miyamoto: I Wish I Made Angry Birds

[Greg Tito]

Miyamoto: I Wish I Made Angry Birds

The creator of Mario and Zelda loves its control scheme.

As far as legendary game creators go, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo is pretty high on the list. He designed games that have become synonymous with gaming itself- Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Ice Climber. Ok, maybe not that last game, even though it is a classic. But upon playing Rovio's mobile game hit Angry Birds, Miyamoto was extremely impressed with how fun the simple control scheme was to play. So impressed, in fact, he was jealous he didn't come up with the idea first.

"I have very much enjoyed Angry Birds, especially the way in which it combines traditional and new game elements in exciting ways," Miaymoto said. "Angry Birds is a very simple idea but it's one of those games that I immediately appreciated when I first started playing, before wishing that I had been the one to come up with the idea first.

"I mean, obviously I want to be the one creating the most convincing, surprising game ideas," he continued.

Miyamoto went into detail about why the control scheme works so well in Angry Birds. "When you analyze it, the controls are actually quite fuzzy in terms of the way that it works. It takes a little while to get used to the controls, I think, but once you've mastered them, you have a lot of precision. To make it the interface and controls work that well and intuitively, well, I think a lot of work went into getting that right."

Despite his praise of the game, Miyamoto's pretty sure that iPhone is an inferior platform to begin with. "Obviously, if the developer had created the game for Nintendo DS the controls would have been even better, but what can you do?"

Ooh, nice burn, Shigeru-san.

Source: Hookshot [http://www.hookshotinc.com/miyamoto-i-wish-i-had-designed-angry-birds/]

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[Monsterfurby]

Yes, Angry Birds was such an original idea. It is only the 83879734897th entry to a genre that had been around for years over at Newgrounds. Its creators can be credited with only two things: design and marketing.

In general, the modus operandi of the commercial casual indie scene seems to become "find original idea in a flash game, copy and slightly modify it, then sell it before the poor sod who came up with it does". And Miyamoto falls for it. Yeesh.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Despite his praise of the game, Miyamoto's pretty sure that iPhone is an inferior platform to begin with. "Obviously, if the developer had created the game for Nintendo DS the controls would have been even better, but what can you do?"

And nothing of value was lost.

Seriously though, angry birds seems to fit quite well with the iPhone. The DS would work as well, but not in any sort of better way.

 

[rayen020]

Considering the mountains of dough rovio is rolling in right now for just that one game, i think we all wish we had created angry birds.

 

[ablac]

Yes, Angry Birds was such an original idea. It is only the 83879734897th entry to a genre that had been around for years over at Newgrounds. Its creators can be credited with only two things: design and marketing.

In general, the modus operandi of the commercial casual indie scene seems to become "find original idea in a flash game, copy and slightly modify it, then sell it before the poor sod who came up with it does". And Miyamoto falls for it. Yeesh.

Or maybe he knows more about the industry than you do having played a role in its creation. Those flash games on newgrounds are merely copies of other flash games or even earlier than that. Originality is a fallacy. Someone has come up with near enough every simple core mechanic. You merely need to dig deep enough to find what someone has 'ripped off'. The creators charge a low price for a game with a well done simple mechanic. They also provide lots of content for free after the games original release even to those whom bought it today. The cortoony look is nice and everything is presented in a slick fashion. Stop whining and get over it. It is the best of its kind on iOS and deserves its success.

 

[Baresark]

Haha, oh Shigeru, stop masturbating to control schemes, please. The thing is, it works great in Angry Birds, he is right. But when you start applying controls like that to more complex games, they tend to suck.

Could imagine a version of Angry Birds that was $30-$40... I shudder at the thought. It's not a bad game for 5 minutes. But after I put it down I have no desire to play it, which is why I never purchased it. I bought the ad version on Android, played it one time while I was waiting at the doctors office, and then never touched it again for months, at which point I was uninstalling it.

Edit: I want it to be known that I don't personally have any problems with Angry Birds. The guys who made have made a fortune and they deserve it.

 

[Strain42]

In Angry Bird's case it doesn't matter who did it first, it's a matter of who did it best and/or loudest.

For example, I know there are still people going "Ah, Angry Birds just stole everything from Crush the Castle." even if that WAS true, once upon a time, Angry Birds has risen above and beyond anything Crush the Castle has done.

I think it's great that Miyamoto likes Angry Birds.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

In Angry Bird's case it doesn't matter who did it first, it's a matter of who did it best and/or loudest.

For example, I know there are still people going "Ah, Angry Birds just stole everything from Crush the Castle." even if that WAS true, once upon a time, Angry Birds has risen above and beyond anything Crush the Castle has done.

I think it's great that Miyamoto likes Angry Birds.

I hadn't heard that name in years. Not that it matters, though, since all things derive and take inspiration from everything else reliably enough that we can make fun of it all. Gods only know what would have happened if Miyamoto had made Angry Birds. Apart from there being more than just the one game.

 

[MB202]

Still can't wait until Angry Birds gets released for the 3DS... so I can use my stylus to control them.

 

[Sylveria]

Time for all the iTards to take this as proof that i-gaming is superior to dedicated
gaming devices.

Considering the mountains of dough rovio is rolling in right now for just that one game, i think we all wish we had created angry birds.

Actually, Rovio has admitted they've made very little money from the game itself. They're getting their money from merchandising. Heck.. I don't even own Angry Birds and I'm wearing an Angry Birds shirt.. cause I think the lil green pigs are cute.

Though, I'm curious to see how their sales of "Stuff" compares to the sales of "Stuff" based on Miyamoto's games on a year to year basis.

 

[Sylveria]

In Angry Bird's case it doesn't matter who did it first, it's a matter of who did it best and/or loudest.

For example, I know there are still people going "Ah, Angry Birds just stole everything from Crush the Castle." even if that WAS true, once upon a time, Angry Birds has risen above and beyond anything Crush the Castle has done.

I think it's great that Miyamoto likes Angry Birds.

I hadn't heard that name in years. Not that it matters, though, since all things derive and take inspiration from everything else reliably enough that we can make fun of it all. Gods only know what would have happened if Miyamoto had made Angry Birds. Apart from there being more than just the one game.

There's two now. Much like Mario.. now.. they're in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace.

 

[Therumancer]

You know in reading this, I was thinking the bottom line is probably more along the lines of "holy crap, look at the amount of money they are making off of something so simple, I wish I had thought of that first", rather than any genuine praise for game design.

See, the thing is that Angry Birds was timed well with the development of a new platform and sold for only about a buck, making most of it's money through volume sales since the risk in trying it was minimal. The controls for something like this might have been better for the DS but no matter how easy it was to produce/make Nintendo would want top dollar for it, especially as an initial release for a new handheld. It's not how Nintendo does business.

See, "Super Mario Brothers" became the phenomena it was, not because the game was all that awesome in of itself, but because it was solid and was free when you bought a console, so it was a game that everyone with a system wound up playing. Angry Birds succeeded much the same way by being a game everyone wound up playing because it was one of the first games on scene and was a cheap as dirt.

As odd as this sounds, I'd imagine that Nintendo could duplicate the feat by taking a decent game that they plan to release for $40 or whatever, and instead releasing it for $2 or whatever and watching the volume sales run in. Or, if they plan a franchise to begin with, giving that decent game away for free (and by this I mean a full game, not something cut down as a demo largely based around the 'to be continued') and then let the money roll in off of the sales of later titles once you obtain the initial install base.

That's my thoughts at any rate.

 

[Notthatbright]

Mario 64 DS had a minigame that was pretty similar to the angry birds gameplay.. Shell Smash.

 

[LilithSlave]

Not very surprising. Angry Birds is one of the most successful games currently.

And it's also very, very much like the very first, arcade style titles Nintendo made. And very much like some of the games they've still continued to make over the years.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

In Angry Bird's case it doesn't matter who did it first, it's a matter of who did it best and/or loudest.

For example, I know there are still people going "Ah, Angry Birds just stole everything from Crush the Castle." even if that WAS true, once upon a time, Angry Birds has risen above and beyond anything Crush the Castle has done.

I think it's great that Miyamoto likes Angry Birds.

I hadn't heard that name in years. Not that it matters, though, since all things derive and take inspiration from everything else reliably enough that we can make fun of it all. Gods only know what would have happened if Miyamoto had made Angry Birds. Apart from there being more than just the one game.

There's two now. Much like Mario.. now.. they're in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace.

Well, it certainly took them no time at all to launch into the last possible setting any franchise can make it to before running out of ideas.

 

[Electrogecko]

Despite his praise of the game, Miyamoto's pretty sure that iPhone is an inferior platform to begin with. "Obviously, if the developer had created the game for Nintendo DS the controls would have been even better, but what can you do?"

And nothing of value was lost.

Seriously though, angry birds seems to fit quite well with the iPhone. The DS would work as well, but not in any sort of better way.

Well, it would certainly be easier to control with a stylus, but the reason I don't think it would've done well as a DS game is simply because it would've costed 20$ minimum.

I seriously wonder how well received Angry Birds would've been if it had been initially launched on a dedicated gaming platform for a moderate price.

By the same token, I wonder how Angry Birds would be considered if games like Ghost Trick and Phoenix Wright were original iPhone games and were 1$.

 

[Monsterfurby]

...

Not saying that he doesn't, I have worked in the industry only briefly, but am quite convinced that it is a complete mess. That aside, no need for personal reactions here.

I guess what is really critical about this is that Nintendo, and Miyamoto, have always been about controls. That works, for a certain audience, and it is even more crucial in casual and simple games (including most of Nintendo's original titles). They have also been about branding, which is something Angry Birds does excessively well.
I do not necessarily think that these are to be dismissed, but that doesn't change my general criticism of the industry.

Also, according to all sources I can find, Angry Birds WAS designed to showcase their character designs, NOT to be an "original" gaming experience. While that is fine, calling any part of its gameplay innovative or new is just ignoring many others who made better games - only with less memorable characters.

 

[ablac]

...

Not saying that he doesn't, I have worked in the industry only briefly, but am quite convinced that it is a complete mess. That aside, no need for personal reactions here.

I guess what is really critical about this is that Nintendo, and Miyamoto, have always been about controls. That works, for a certain audience, and it is even more crucial in casual and simple games (including most of Nintendo's original titles). They have also been about branding, which is something Angry Birds does excessively well.
I do not necessarily think that these are to be dismissed, but that doesn't change my general criticism of the industry.

Also, according to all sources I can find, Angry Birds WAS designed to showcase their character designs, NOT to be an "original" gaming experience. While that is fine, calling any part of its gameplay innovative or new is just ignoring many others who made better games - only with less memorable characters.

You attacked it for lacking originality when there is little left for origanaility at the moment for simple game mechanics. You also insulted a man I respect who has done a damn lot more than you ever will. He is not nintendo. He is responsible for some of the greatest games ever made. I'll respect his opinion on the game more than I will your petulent complaints. Its unoriganal. No one ever claimed it was but origanality is overated. They took a concept and did it best. Apparently theres something wrong with that.

 

[Monsterfurby]

...

Ah come on. There is a lot of room for originality. I admit that I am not a fan of casual games, so I guess controls are the only room for innovation there, but have you ever played Dwarf Fortress, FTL, or Star Control 2? Show me anything that is even remotely similar to those and we shall talk. I'm also quite sure that I only mentioned Miyamoto briefly to keep a connection to the thread. I don't see where I am supposed to have "attacked" him.

Apart from that, I won't waste any more time commenting on those childish and unwarranted personal assaults.