EA Exec: Shigeru Miyamoto "Falling Down on the Job"

StewShearerOld

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Jan 5, 2013
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EA Exec: Shigeru Miyamoto "Falling Down on the Job"



Electronic Arts CCO Richard Hilleman says that mobile games have taken over Nintendo's role as the go-to platform for children.

When it comes to the videogame industry you'd be hard pressed to find a figure quite as influential as Shigeru Miyamoto. If you're one of those gamers that would cite Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda or countless other classic Nintendo franchises as being defining experiences in your life, you can generally thank him for it. Even among game developers, Miyamoto is often recognized as being the cream of the crop. In a survey of more than 9000 game developers a whopping <a href=http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/06/15/miyamoto-voted-game-developers-game-developer-hero>30 percent named him as their industry hero.

There are some, however, who would count Miyamoto's heyday as being in the past, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/128162-Nintendos-Shigeru-Miyamoto-Talks-About-Passing-the-Torch>perhaps even the man himself. That in mind, Richard Hilleman, chief creative officer for Electronic Arts, recently turned some comments toward Miyamoto that were arguably less than kind. While acknowledging the famed designer's contribution to games, he would go on to describe Miyamoto as "falling down on the job." In turn, he pointed to the mobile market as being the new playground for children and said Miyamoto's role as an innovator had been usurped by "a dead guy from Cupertino." The last comment is a reference to the deceased Steve Jobs and Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California.

"Customers today... are generally looking for a single fabric of play. They want their game where they want it, when they want it, and at a price they can defend to other people," said Hilleman. "We are no longer in step function; we are in evolution. We are not changing every four years; we are in continuous change." It might be safe to assume, in turn, that Nintendo's general practice of living off of its legacy franchises might be a bit too much more-of-the-same for Hilleman's view of the industry.

Source: <a href=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-09-25-ea-weve-asked-for-too-much-time-too-much-skill-too-much-money>GamesIndustry International



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neppakyo

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Apr 3, 2011
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The way this guy looks and speaks.. anyone else getting an urge to smack him in the face?
 

Fappy

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Jan 4, 2010
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EA's PR department has got to be the most stressful place to work in the US. Either that or they have office parties everyday and they're too drunk to notice when their employees say idiotic things on their company's behalf.
 
Jul 10, 2013
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Hardly. Nintendo have only had a few missteps. The mobile platform is hardly the go to platform for kids, especially with all the in-app purchases.
Did you guys hear about the Office of Fair Trading wanted to crack down on IAP because of the "potentially unfair and aggressive commercial practices" they have? At least with Nintendo you have the game and that's it.

That comment about Steve Jobs seemed a bit tasteless as well if you ask me.

All in all, it's another example of someone from EA becoming a major ass.
 

mechalynx

Führer of the Sausage People
Mar 23, 2008
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If it looks like a troll and talks like a troll, it must be a EA/Microsoft boss.
 

Tortilla the Hun

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May 7, 2011
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neppakyo said:
The way this guy looks and speaks.. anyone else getting an urge to smack him in the face?
You're not alone there, pal. A large part of my urge comes from that hair...something about it...
Fappy said:
EA's PR department has got to be the most stressful place to work in the US. Either that or they have office parties everyday and they're too drunk too notice when their employees say idiotic things on their company's behalf.
I really would like to spend a day in that department's offices so I could see exactly how it is. I'm sure it'd be interesting to watch either way.
 

LysanderNemoinis

Noble and oppressed Kekistani
Nov 8, 2010
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While God knows I'll be the only one to actually agree with this guy, in the past decade I have found the big N's offerings less than stellar. I mean, the last Nintendo-developed game I actually thought was good was Super Smash Brothers Melee. I mean, Ninty's not exactly the more creative bunch of people, merely redoing the same IP ad nauseam. And while EA does it with their sports games (but can you really blame them for that, because you know...sports), at least they come up with a new game or series now and then. So I agree with Hilleman generally, just not his reasoning.
 

faefrost

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These comments would probably carry a lot more weight and credibility if they

A. Weren't coming from EA's "Chief Creative Officer", a company that last had an original thought in the 80's.

B. Weren't comming from a guy who looks and dresses like he still thinks it's the early 80's (where he is living with his original thoughts.) Here's a hint dude. If you want to sell me on your creative expertise, and overall ability to predict your industries future, don't look and dress like you did in high school when you are 47. No really, I'm not kidding about this. Presentation counts. In most peoples minds "stunted man child" does not equal quality futurist.
 

Mirrorknight

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Who's this puke? He's Richard Hilleman, chief creative officer for Electronic Arts?

Chief Creative Officer for EA...what creativity would that be?

No, seriously, what does he do all day?

Apparently take stabs at Miyamoto, who's characters and games have enjoyed popularity for DECADES. Miyamoto's toe jam has more creativeness then this guy.
 

sirjeffofshort

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I honestly just don't see why he would even bother saying any of this... it doesn't make sense. I remember a while back EA basically saying they have no interest in working on any of Nintendo's platforms (or something to that effect), so I would think that would be the end of it right? Two separate entities doing their own thing? If they were truly as disinterested as they seemed, why would they bother? I mean, as far as I know he wasn't even using the comments to bolster up some kind of point in favor of EA.

It seriously just seems like some kind of childhood rivalry where EA said that Nintendo was going down the wrong path and is doing its best to find evidence that they're right. Meanwhile Nintendo couldn't care less that EA exists.
 

Callate

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Hmm. Look at the planet-destroying sucking black hole calling the kettle black.

Miyamoto's done more for the games industry than just about any five present-day game designers you'd randomly pull from a hat, but he's only one man. If some of Nintendo's headspace is being lost to mobile devices, that has more to do with time and money (I can go to the games store and pick up this $40 game my child can play at home or I can plunk down $.99 and instantly download a game to keep them amused while they wait for me at the dentist) than kind of lack of creativity.

I'd like to see Nintendo stretching more, but I'm not particularly enamored of scattershot criticism from a company that's left plenty of viscous slime trailing over its own entries into mobile.
 

mechalynx

Führer of the Sausage People
Mar 23, 2008
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I think I got this. He wants out but has some iron clad deal that he doesn't get a dime if he quits. But if he's fired for any reason he gets a golden parachute.

Or he's been sampling some of the stuff Walt hs been dealing.
 

Scribblesense

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Jan 30, 2013
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People are more likely to have a phone than a game console, because everybody needs a phone - so what are parents going to hand to their kids when they want them to shut up?

It has nothing to do with the games, but how readily available the devices are. Apple didn't want to make a gaming device with the iPhone, they wanted to make a portable computer, and succeeded. Meanwhile, Nintendo wants to make dedicated gaming consoles, and great games to play on them. Nintendo doesn't want to match the functionality of a smartphone, they want to enhance the functionality of a dedicated gaming console.

What Apple contributed to the gaming industry was convenience, for the consumer and the game developer. Apple basically took a cell phone, a Game Boy, a micro laptop and an internet router and slapped them together swiss-army style. Apple didn't invent Angry Birds (hell, Rovio didn't invent Angry Birds). Apple just capitalized on a need in the marketplace with a unique, all-in-one service.

Miyamoto hasn't done much lately, except having a general role in nearly every game Nintendo has published for the last 20 years, but he practically wrote the book on modern game design. If a modern developer says they've never played one of Miyamoto's games, they're lying.

On top of that, no two Nintendo games in a single franchise are exactly alike - there is constant gameplay iteration in every installment. Which is more than can be said for the thousands of clones on the Apple Store, or pretty much every game EA's ever made. Isn't FIFA 14 the same game as FIFA 13? And when they do change something in a sequel, it's usually features that are removed or incredibly simplified.

It seems to me that Miyamoto does a better job lying down than EA does sprinting for the finish line.
 

Nuxxy

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Feb 3, 2011
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Nintendo out of touch with kids? They ARE Pokemon, which means they have the biggest title in portable kids gaming since 1996. And that is just ONE title.
 

WeepingAngels

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StewShearer said:
"Customers today... are generally looking for a single fabric of play. They want their game where they want it, when they want it, and at a price they can defend to other people," said Hilleman.
This is true but it doesn't mean I want my games on a touchscreen device with no buttons.

TheScottishMexican42 said:
At least with Nintendo you have the game and that's it.
Nintendo has DLC now too. So you no longer buy the game and "that's it".
 

WeepingAngels

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Sleekit said:
someone let the Area 51 scientist from Independence Day out again ?...
Don't equate this guy with Brent Spiner (aka, Data).

the 3DS platform is making Wii money and real people people don't dish out smartphones to "kids" doc.

every single one of my nieces and nephews and the children of my cousins have "gameboys" of some description but i know of none under high school starting age that have their own smartphone.
You're out of touch, I have seen plenty of kids who play games on phones. Two of the kids that I babysit have their own phones to play games on. They are 2 and 3. I don't like it and I wouldn't buy one for my 3 year old(if I had one) but people do.

you don't even understand what Nintendos key market demographics are even though they practically stated one of them outright for you during the 2DS launch.
The 2DS is an effort to appeal to those kids you say don't exist. Those with tablets and phones to play games on and without a hinge which apparently kids break easily.