Shigeru Miyamoto Says His Rivals Are Boring, Samey

[Roxas1359]

Also how dare they try and focus on the thing that makes video games different from every other entertainment medium on the planet instead of a story. Shame on them indeed.

Thing is, if any company can show that games can do stories, it's Nintendo. But Miyamoto has such a deep hatred of them he feels that no games need them. Again, I point to what happened to Paper Mario Sticker Star as to how that went.

 

[Micalas]

Mr. Miyamoto, the pot's calling. It wants to know if you're black, too.

He's not black, he's Asian. People these days

I heavily disagree that story isn't important. You don't need to make a single path drag along like most AAA games to have a good story.

 

[KazeAizen]

Thing is, if any company can show that games can do stories, it's Nintendo. But Miyamoto has such a deep hatred of them he feels that no games need them. Again, I point to what happened to Paper Mario Sticker Star as to how that went.

Never played it so I can't say. I also would rather you not tell me because I feel a very bitter rant is there and frankly its best for me to avoid that when I can right now.

That's the funny part; the current industry hasn't evolved but regressed. I do find it funny how we have all these self-proclaimed auteurs crying about evolving the industry and focusing on "cinematic" experiences and the thing that comes to mind is PC adventure games. Specifically the shitty, celebrity-cameod FMV phase where such qualities were used to try and disguise the fact that they were terribly designed, boring, and a complete deadend for gaming. It's just another example of an industry that has learned nothing. And considering how all those companies who keep pushing such a crappy, homogenized future are now struggling to make bank, I think the universe is in agreement with Miyamoto.

According to all teh hardcorz the game industry has evolved beyond Nintendo and Nintendo is some relic from the past that just can't keep up with modern trends. When one of the three devils finally collapses I think people will start seeing the light but until then....

 

[Something Amyss]

"But it's boring. The same games appear on every system."

Now thats a laugh... seeing how nintendo is recycling old games over and over and over, from final fantasy to their own zelda games.

But...Mario has cat ears now. That's totally different!

Also, where is my Ace Combat HD collection dammit?

They can't hear you over the F2P model they have going for that Playstation game. At least it seems to cover some classic missions, though I'm not sure that's any consolation.

 

[Vigormortis]

Saw the title, read the article, and then read the interview. As soon as I was finished, I had four predictions for how the comments section for the news post would turn out:

1: A few posters would point out the misquoted title.

2: Mr. Bogos would respond to the accusations and add to the discussion. (one of the reasons I like his articles)

3: Some people would misinterpret a few of the things Miyamoto was trying to say.

4: There would be quite a few posters shouting down anyone who had anything negative to say.

Then I read through parts of the comments section.

I should start playing the lottery.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Truth be told, I have the utmost respect and admiration for Mr. Miyamoto. He was once one of the most influential figures in video gaming. One could argue he still has some degree of influence. His contributions to the industry over the course of his career are as vast as they are varied. I have thoroughly enjoyed much of his body of work.

That said:

He's absolutely out of his gourd. A more clear-cut case of "pot meet kettle" there's rarely been. I'd argue that just about every single one of the criticisms he levied against his (or rather, Nintendo's) industry rivals can easily be levied against his own company.

I mean, it's not that I necessarily disagree with the criticisms. And, in fact, I agree on quite a number of points he brought up in the interview.[footnote]Though there were quite a few I didn't agree on as well.[/footnote] It's just...

Well, you know what they say about glass houses.

And before anyone decides they need to quote me and say I just hate Nintendo, know this: I love Nintendo and it's line of franchises and games. I have fond memories of sleepless nights on weekends playing on my old Nintendo consoles with friends, long into the wee hours of the morning. Even today I still anticipate certain releases from them. So don't dare assume my criticisms come from some 'fanboy-fueled' rivalry or some other such nonsense.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Meanwhile Nintendo keeps releasing the same handheld device every 6 months, living off the same 4 or 5 IPs and making Mario #267.
I love the SNES and all the memories that go along with it but come on, pot and kettle much?

Yeah, sorry, I just got done explaining to my housemate that Assassin's Creed Rogue is absolutely a separate game to Black Flag and Irish accents aren't the only new addition.

That's okay, you can tell me all about it when the CEO of Ubisoft whines about "boring, samey games" the way Miyamoto just did.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Wow, a lot of Nintendo fanboys on here. Escapist is a haven of them. Fact is, Nintendo has been selling the same 3 games for 30 years, with only minor innovations. The story of Mario is STILL Bowser kidnaps peach. Yet these same Nintendo people decry call of duty as the de-evolution of gaming. At least every call of duty had a different story! Ugh, willful ignorance is a terrible thing. Its okay to be a fanboy, but don't be naive and stubborn as well. I'm an Xbox fanboy who can admit that, as of now, ps4 is an arguably Better console than my Xbox one, but I'm okay with that.

Nintendo is the world's greatest purveyor of boring and samey.

Just because you call it a fact doesn't mean it's actually a fact, ya know?
Miyamoto said that he thinks the story is far less important than the gameplay, yet you bring up the minimalistic story in Mario and use that as proof that it's the same game over and over again?
Please tell me again how Galaxy 1 and 2 are the same game as Super Mario 3D Word, Super Mario World or Super Mario 3.
Aside from the NEW line, each mainline Mario installment had either drastically different gameplay or was a drastic improvement of the previous game.

Sorry but if you believe that same story but different gameplay means it's the same game, you have picked the wrong hobby. Games are being played for the gameplay. They story, if there is any is just a nice bonus.
Also Mario 3D World doesn't have Mario saving Peach. Just saying.

 

[VoidWanderer]

While I will concede that some franchises are yearly cash cows, Mario is still running left to right to save the same princess. Link is always saving Zelda/Hyrule. Miyamoto can't really call the others for not being creative, when Nintendo make the same amount of 'innovation'. While they do make good games, they are just the same as everyone else.

This is the classic pot and kettle scenario.

It is just like all the replies and quotes I will get people saying I hate Nintendo or calling/proving me wrong.

>.> I know you said you expected it but it's kindof an inflammatory statement dude. Just using recentish releases Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, Link explores an enormous ocean and Link gets turned into a wolf in certain shadow-ridden areas.
It's flat-out unfair to compare Nintendo's stabs at innovation with that of other developers (I mean, Assassin's Creed for instance. Save the AC-ACII jump and Black Flag, I haven't felt a big difference in gameplay for years)

I wouldn't say flat-out unfair, but slightly unfair, certainly. Exploring a wide ocean is just another open world game, and the whole wolf thing has likely been done before too. It is very hard for an developer to come up with something original, so when one accuses others, I will call them out on it.

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

Meanwhile Nintendo keeps releasing the same handheld device every 6 months, living off the same 4 or 5 IPs and making Mario #267.
I love the SNES and all the memories that go along with it but come on, pot and kettle much?

Yeah, sorry, I just got done explaining to my housemate that Assassin's Creed Rogue is absolutely a separate game to Black Flag and Irish accents aren't the only new addition.

That's okay, you can tell me all about it when the CEO of Ubisoft whines about "boring, samey games" the way Miyamoto just did.

Ahh man, if that leak is to be believed that's just about the only thing he didn't say, amirite?
More importantly, nor did Shigsy really, he just thought the 'churn 'em out once a year' model didn't wind up with many good games coming out. Least, that's the impression I got from reading the quote.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Never played it so I can't say. I also would rather you not tell me because I feel a very bitter rant is there and frankly its best for me to avoid that when I can right now.

Truth of the matter: people are blowing things out of proportion for petty reasons just because Sticker Star was one of the weaker entries in the Paper Mario series. Miyamoto does not hate stories. That is fucking INSANE to think that. He's mostly against shitty stories that happen all the time in gaming because designers are clearly insecure and wish they were directing movies instead of designing toys.

 

[marioandsonic]

As much as I enjoy your games, Shiggy, I do agree with some people on here that some of your franchises are getting stale (New Super Mario Bros. U springs to mind). And while I do agree that games should have gameplay as their top priority, I also don't agree with your "No story" idea, because that's what led to Paper Mario Sticker Star.

That said, I still enjoy many of Nintendo's games (can't wait for Smash Brothers!), and I'm glad that Nintendo is at least different than Microsoft and Sony.

Also, thank whatever deity you worship that Nintendo doesn't follow some of the shittier practices by other AAA developers. The day Nintendo starts putting microtransactions in Mario or Zelda is the day I start slitting my wrists.

 

[CaitSeith]

To those people crying about console exclusives. You do know that's the only thing that differentiates the consoles for real at the end of the day and doesn't make the industry become an outright monopoly, right? I mean, the moment we go that route, consoles can die in a bonfier and we can all just use gaming rigs, because if the console market still exists, and everybody gets the same games, well, one will obviously be top dog because at the end of the day, one will have the better online service/specs, and the rest doesn't matter, kind of kills the industry with a single stroke.

Since I only have a 3DS and my PC to my name, a world where everything is in PC, period, would be wonderful for me and maybe it's the next natural step, but if you people like the whole "game console thing" that single choice pretty much warrants the end of the concept of a console since why the hell would any company bother to develop one if there is nothing to differentiate it outside of raw power and online service?

Yeah.
Doesn't look too good for consoles if the justification for their existence is some anti-consumer tactic.
They only exist as a sense of tradition and with the ps4 and that xbox thing, we might just finally see some bubbles pop.

Anti-consumer is making consumer's choice irrelevant. Anti-consumer is making the games not to use one console hardware at its full potential, because the experience on the other consoles would feel worse. What's the use of having a better console if you can't play better games on it?

 

[CaitSeith]

"They want to tell stories that will touch people's hearts. And while I understand that desire, the trend worries me. It should be the experience, that is touching. What I strive for is to make the person playing the game the director," Miyamoto explained.

It's funny that he says that, because in a lot of FPS the player seems to be just an actor in somebody else movie. And if he tries to leave the set, the director gives him 5 seconds to turn back, or he is executed.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

"But it's boring. The same games appear on every system."

Now thats a laugh... seeing how nintendo is recycling old games over and over and over, from final fantasy to their own zelda games.

Uh.. Come over here a sec, I need to whisper something in your ear to try and mitigate the embarrassment of that little flub, and maybe you can try and play it straight-faced. *Pulls Karadalis aside and leans next to his ear* FINAL FANTASY IS SQUARE'S FRANCHISE AND NINTENDO HAS NO SAY IN WHAT THEY DO WITH IT!

*Ahem* That minor little detail aside... BRAVO on managing to dodge Miyamoto's point like a champ so that you could have an opportunity to spew the obvious gripes that I knew at least someone was going to rant about despite it not being anywhere near Miyamoto's point. But let's ignore that he was talking about something else entirely for a moment and validate your (frankly fanboyish) criticism. Okay, so Nintendo's consoles pretty much always have some form of Mario and Zelda. I guess we're just going to ignore the fact that Microsoft's consoles always have some form of Halo? To the point where they actually bought a new development team to keep the franchise going even after Bungie jumped ship? Meanwhile the only reason that Sony doesn't really have any given series on every console is because they don't even make their own games, yet even they see a lot of repetition in the form of God of War, Uncharted, and Ratchet and Clank; all of which are stagnating harder than any of Nintendo's franchises despite being close to two decades younger than most of them.

In short, those in glass houses should probably avoid calling the kettle black. Or... something about a pot throwing stones?

 

[Roxas1359]

Meanwhile the only reason that Sony doesn't really have any given series on every console is because they don't even make their own games, yet even they see a lot of repetition in the form of God of War, Uncharted, and Ratchet and Clank;

Um...you do realize that Naughty Dog and Santa Monica, the makers of the God of War series, are first party right? Santa Monica Studio's entire name is Sony Santa Monica. The only company they don't own is Insomniac, the Ratchet and Clank makers, they are second party for the most part like how HAL Laboratories is second party technically. If you don't count those, then what about Japan Studios, or as they are known as: Sony Computer Entertaiment Japan Studios. They have made many series over time, and tend to make new IPs such as Gravity Rush.

Sony's problem stems more from the fact that they don't really use many of their IPs and just sit on them, which is dumb a lot of the time. They usually do a series till say a 3rd or 4th game, then want a new IP while leaving their old ones to rot away at times.

 

[loa]

Anti-consumer is making consumer's choice irrelevant. Anti-consumer is making the games not to use one console hardware at its full potential, because the experience on the other consoles would feel worse. What's the use of having a better console if you can't play better games on it?

So what's the benefit of exclusives to consumers...?

 

[KazeAizen]

Never played it so I can't say. I also would rather you not tell me because I feel a very bitter rant is there and frankly its best for me to avoid that when I can right now.

Truth of the matter: people are blowing things out of proportion for petty reasons just because Sticker Star was one of the weaker entries in the Paper Mario series. Miyamoto does not hate stories. That is fucking INSANE to think that. He's mostly against shitty stories that happen all the time in gaming because designers are clearly insecure and wish they were directing movies instead of designing toys.

I'd actually believe that. I don't think he hates stories. He just happens to love mechanics and being an actual video game more. So he sticks to more tried and true stories and then uses them as playgrounds for the inner workings of his mind.

 

[Roxas1359]

I'd actually believe that. I don't think he hates stories. He just happens to love mechanics and being an actual video game more. So he sticks to more tried and true stories and then uses them as playgrounds for the inner workings of his mind.

The thing that happened with Sticker Star was that he felt the game didn't need a story because people on Club Nintendo when doing the survey didn't mention the story, and that they liked the flipping mechanic. As a result, he had the team scrap the story and we ended up with Sticker Star, which is definitely a low point in the Paper Mario series. Why he based whether a game should have a story or not on an optional survey that not many people actually do I will never know.

 

[CaitSeith]

Anti-consumer is making consumer's choice irrelevant. Anti-consumer is making the games not to use one console hardware at its full potential, because the experience on the other consoles would feel worse. What's the use of having a better console if you can't play better games on it?

So what's the benefit of exclusives to consumers...?

The developers can focus all their efforts and creativity to get the best experience in a single console, instead of making 2 or 3 versions of the same game (with different specifications) at the same time. If anything it probably would at least be less buggy (I'm looking at you, Assassins Creed Unity)

 

[Elvis Starburst]

*Insert obvious spew bout Nintendo here* Yeah, sure. Last time I checked, Nintendo at least spread their games out enough that some good, new ideas could be put into play a bit better. How many times do you see a yearly Zelda? A yearly Mario? Yearly anything Nintendo 1st party? Nothing, right? That's the difference. Other companies like Ubisoft are happy to ship out yearly games with absolutely no effort to make them good. AC Unity, anyone? It's thanks to that much that Nintendo's games are solid experiences, not broken and marred by massive slowdown, insane glitches like missing faces on NPC's, and all else.

Nintendo may make many games in their franchises, but isn't that the point? For a franchise to have MANY games? At least Nintendo has the decency to calm their tits and take their time to make sure their 1st party titles are quality, not an abysmal mess that requires day 1 patches and junk like that.

/rant >.>

OT: Like a few above me, I agree with him. For the above mentioned rant wall as my reasons

You mean like bugs in pokemon games that can totaly ruin your save game and had to be patched? (it was pokemon i think)

Dude the time where nintendo was the only one who brought out a bugfree product are over.. they also are now slowly but surely embracing the "patch it later" aproach to gaming.

And while there might be no yearly mario jump and run, that little italian apears every year in another game.

Also they introduce features, and then drop them as fast as they picked them up, they force developers to somehow incorporate their nonsensic gimmicks like motion control into their games even if said game has absolutely no use for it, monsterh unter for example.. its a chore to use the motioncontrols so capcom delivered the game with a classic controller. Same with the Wii Us controller screen. Then theres the aparant lack of machine power behind the Wii U and nintendos divaness when it comes to working with them that makes the whole ordeal completly unpleasant for western developers.

Myamoto is just bitter that no one kept for capcom and sega want to even develope any titles for nintendos flagship console and that it most likely will degenerate to another shovelware machine with some decent games thrown in the mix.

Oh and i guess you must have missed them rereleasing the same old games over and over again like some of the zelda games. Yeah... "innovation" my ass. Innovation isnt throwing in a single random gimmick that only kinda sorta works and then call it a day.

I never said that Nintendo games were glitch free. But, I'm gonna go ahead and use games like AC Unity and Aliens Colonial Marines as examples for games being glitched out the ass.

To add to your "lack of power" for the Wii U... Let's not forget that it's rather easy for Nintendo to make 1080P 60FPS games on the system, and look damn fine doing it. You cannot look at Mario Kart 8 and tell me that looks like shit. If you do, you're talking straight out of your ass. But look at all of the news stories we see... "30FPS is more cinematic!" "Why bother with resolution? It doesn't matter" and other crap like that being tossed around by developers that aren't making games for the Wii U (Both from Ubisoft, I know). Sounds like they might be backpedaling a little. I wonder why?

I'd say the Wii U has the right level of power to make quality titles. Meanwhile the Xbone and PS4 are struggling to run games at all. I also think re-releasing games is a decent thing. It allows a new audience that wasn't aware of the game to experience it. Nintendo's 3D remakes are just a few games I rather enjoy to see after playing the originals. But, I bet you look at the Halo Master Chief Collection and call that solid fucking gold cause it's not Nintendo, right?