Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto Talks About Passing the Torch

[ReleGamer]

maybe itl mean we get some new IP... probably not though...which is sad.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

i should have anticipated this.

What did you expect? If you're going to claim a guy's games are slipping into oblivion, at least make sure you say so when they're actually slipping into irrelevancy. Not when they're selling 6-8 million copies each or more. That's more, just as a point of reference, than any instalment of Mass Effect, Killzone, Infamous or Uncharted. Where are those games if Mario and Mario Kart are now heading towards oblivion?

They may have sold well, but Mario 3D Land felt lacking compared to it's predecessors. At least IMHO anyway.

Fair enough. For myself and plenty of other gamers, it was an enjoyable continuation of the Galaxy style of platforming, while also bringing in elements from the 2D series. Sold faster than either Galaxy game as well, as far as I'm aware.

I didn't say it wasn't enjoyable, I said it was lacking when compared to it's predecessors. And I don't know, maybe it's just me, but for the first time when playing a Mario game I felt something was missing.

 

[Yoshi4102]

I'd be okay with him stepping down soon. Not because I think he's done a terrible job lately, but because he deserves a break and I would love to see Nintendo imbuing their franchises with fresh blood.

Miyamoto isn't the only one who can make Nintendo games, and I'd like to see what other talented designers can do with Nintendo's resources, skillsets, and philosophy.

Games such as Fire Emblem have gone on to sell millions without a shred of Miyamoto's help (as far as I know) so I think new people will take over fine. Only time will tell though.

 

[DrOswald]

snip

You know what is really funny here? Slapping a new coat of paint on things is exactly what Nintendo does not do. Lets look at Yoshi. Yohsi is used for different mechanics in every game he is in. Yoshi of Super Mario World is completely different from Yoshi of Yoshi's island and Yoshi of Super Mario Galaxy. They look the same but all play different. They are all different mechanics united by a visual and thematic elements. In other words, Nintendo invents new things on a mechanical level but uses the old coat of paint.

And if that is your problem that is fine. The Mario visual look is old and not liking a Mario game because you are sick of the aesthetic is entirely reasonable. But don't try to claim that Nintendo just slaps a new coat of paint on old ideas because that is the opposite of what is actually happening.

 

[Guffe]

The only Nintendo franchises i find lacking these days are Zelda and Metroid, Metroid needs an identity and Zelda really just needs less tutorials and a new approach to it's game design, i'm kinda tired of the Oot formula by now, 3D adventures could be done in a variety of interesting ways and i'm not sure the current formula is the optimal choice, imo.

I'm not sure I agree on the Metroid part. Metroid Prime trilogy was awesome! And when they finally tried to give the series an identity (Other M) most fans started raging like never before. But I think the Metroid series will be interesting in the future.

As for Zelda I'd like to agree with you. I loved Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword but I think it would be better to go a bit more... "open world"??... As in not 3 dungeons with 3 keys from 3 places etc etc. Since there never has been any leveling system in the Zelda franchise I don't see why they couldn't create a game, for example with 5 temples, 5 big bosses, 1 big baddy (Ganon?) and maybe 2 or 3 "Guardians of Gannon".
Can take the temples/dungeons/missions in any order. After certain achievments (for example start with 3 hearts, so when you aquire the 5th) you meet the first of the 3 "lieutenants" and get a some sort of important item (shield/sword/bow???) etc etc.
Ideas can be thrown around

On topic:

I think it's good that Miyamoto understands to give way to younger people and talent in time. He's still there and they can ask for help or ideas etc, but it's better that thye get more new fresh idea early and not 2 days before he actually leaves.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Ask me about 6-7 years ago what I thought of Nintendo and I would have blown my load all over. Nowadays, not so much. All I see, as everyone else has put it, is sequel after sequel. Super Mario Galaxy was the only one that looked semi-decent out of a horde of these sequels and even then, my interest for it wasn't really there.

They used to lead. When OoT came out, that was revolutionary. There was nothing like it the time. When SM64 came out, that was revolutionary. Hardly anyone knew really how to do platforming in a 3D space at that time. When Super Smash Bros. came out, that was revolutionary. When Super Mario Bros. came out, THAT WAS REVOLUTIONARY.

Now what do we have? Super Mario 3D Land and New Super Mario Bros. And Mario Party/Kart 672. Even my fave franchise of them all, Zelda, has dwindled somewhat with Skyward Sword.

Now, all of this I don't think is really one mans fault at all though. Just saiyan that Nintendo needs to catch up to its competitors if it wants to stay relevant. People call Microsoft the biggest money grubbers but look at what Nintendo has done. At least Microsoft tries to truly innovate and stay ahead.

Nintendo used to be very relevant but then Morrowind came along. Then Halo. Then Portal. Unreal Tournament, Gears of War, Skyrim, Half Life 2, Timesplitters, Bioshock Infinite, Guild Wars 2, Freelancer, Minecraft, Mass Effect.

You get the picture. It's time for Nintendo to aspire to more than just selling a bunch of copies of churned out sequel #5743.

 

[Dragonbums]

I'd be okay with him stepping down soon. Not because I think he's done a terrible job lately, but because he deserves a break and I would love to see Nintendo imbuing their franchises with fresh blood.

Miyamoto isn't the only one who can make Nintendo games, and I'd like to see what other talented designers can do with Nintendo's resources, skillsets, and philosophy.

Actually, that's been happening for far longer than you think.

The recent Zeldas, and Marios? They were all mainly produced by other producers. He was basically the final approval. Even then he recently stated that they don't need him anymore. So he has done a lot less in terms of overseeing production than the past.