Shigeru Miyamoto Urges Developers To Embrace Novelty

Earnest Cavalli

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Shigeru Miyamoto Urges Developers To Embrace Novelty



Super Mario Bros. creator Shigeru Miyamoto wants to see more creativity in the next generation of videogame consoles.

In a recently published interview with Time, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto was asked for his thoughts on the imminent next generation of gaming consoles. While he seems to appreciate the new technology, Miyamoto hopes that the bells and whistles won't serve as a crutch in the development of future games.

"From my perspective, with regard to the more powerful hardware systems, to me what still remains incredibly important is the developers maintaining a focus on creating unique games because if all that everyone does is uses the enhanced power to create more and more games that look and feel the same, then all that it becomes is a competition about the power of the hardware rather than the uniqueness of the experience," Miyamoto states.

"That, to me, is where developers should be devoting their effort."

It's apparent that Time's interviewer devised his questions beforehand (or just completely dropped the ball on pushing Miyamoto on this point), but it seems an interesting comment coming from a man who has spent so many years as the kindly face of a corporation that has built its fortunes on sequelizing popular franchises that date back more than two decades.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with Miyamoto, and feel that his words are absolutely genuine, but, well, let's just keep our fingers crossed that the man is able to push his weight around enough to ensure that future first-party Wii U titles feature more new, interesting gameplay ideas, and fewer attempts at wooing consumers with gimmickry.

Miyamoto was also asked to explain why the Wii U's unique design elements (its touchscreen controller, etcetera) exist and how Nintendo hopes they might carry the company's development efforts for the upcoming era, and he staunchly defended Nintendo's dedication to creating fun, entertaining videogames regardless of whatever hardware its developers might be working with.

"... we've created Wii U to be the only hardware that is best-suited to the living room at a reasonable price that comes with a guarantee of the quality of Nintendo software. Obviously, we're gonna put our efforts into taking advantage of the hardware capabilities to create amazing new experiences for our consumers, but it's up to other developers to decide how they want to bring their creative ideas to life," Miyamoto says.

That last bit? The part about the other developers bringing their ideas to life on the Wii U? Also an interesting comment. There's little doubt that Miyamoto will be able to come up with a handful of interesting ways to take advantage of the Wii U, but what happens if/when Nintendo creates a console so divisively designed that only truly spectacular designers (like Miyamoto) are able to cobble together neat ideas for what to do with the technology? I don't know that this is the case with the Wii U, but Nintendo's designs grow increasingly out there with each new console generation, and at this rate it seems inevitable that the firm will eventually be building gaming machines that only its internal team of brilliant game creators are capable of utilizing. What then?

Source: Time [http://techland.time.com/2013/06/18/shigeru-miyamoto-apologizes-for-wii-u-game-delays-says-the-best-is-nearly-here/?iid=tl-main-lead]

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Zhukov

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Dec 29, 2009
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That is a horrible, horrible photo.

I'm sure he's a very nice old fellow, but that photo makes him look like something that hides under the bed.
 

Chimpzy_v1legacy

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Jun 21, 2009
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Agreed, novelty should and must be embraced. But I do prefer the status quo if innovation means taking one step forward in one respect and taking two steps back in others. Sadly, many people in the industry think such sacrifices are acceptable, yes, even necessary[footnote]Not directed at Nintendo. Or Miyamoto. His reputation of a perfectionist willing to start development over from scratch doesn't make me believe he's a man willing to make concessions[/footnote]
 

Sleepy Sol

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Clearly, when Nintendo does anything different it doesn't actually count because it never appealed to a certain audience.

Yes, Nintendo has kept many franchises going over 2 decades, but it's already been mentioned that many of them (besides maybe recent Mario titles not counting Galaxy) have had at least noticeable differences between each installment. Even then, each Mario game always has completely different stages even if the basic formula remains the same.
 

Dragonbums

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I find it funny that you claim that Miyamoto rehashes the same franchises over and over again yet if you actually played the game you could see how different they are.

Mario 64 was the true first game to show people what a platformer can do in a 3 dimensional space.

Mario Sunshine had you utilizing water as a means of attack, transportation, and to clean up various parts of the hub world to unlock hidden location.

Mario Galaxy had a superb anti gravity engine that had you swirling around and flipping worlds upside down. We can later see this being used again in the gameplay for Sonic Worlds.

We have yet to see anything for the WiiU.
 

Jumwa

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Solaire of Astora said:
Clearly, when Nintendo does anything different it doesn't actually count because it never appealed to a certain audience.
Certainly seems that way.

The WiiU launched with Nintendo Land, which was a big mixed bag of delightful new ideas. And while Super Mario 3D World is being railed against by a large portion of the gaming community because it isn't Mario Galaxy 3 and is instead doing new and interesting things with the Mario 3D Land formula, here's other gamers accusing them of doing nothing new.

Nintendo is one of those game companies that can never win (there's a few). They could release the most phenomenal and unique game experience ever and gamers would still rush to the internet to complain and invent issues about it.
 

V8 Ninja

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Jumwa said:
Solaire of Astora said:
Clearly, when Nintendo does anything different it doesn't actually count because it never appealed to a certain audience.
Certainly seems that way.

The WiiU launched with Nintendo Land, which was a big mixed bag of delightful new ideas. And while Super Mario 3D World is being railed against by a large portion of the gaming community because it isn't Mario Galaxy 3 and is instead doing new and interesting things with the Mario 3D Land formula, here's other gamers accusing them of doing nothing new.

Nintendo is one of those game companies that can never win (there's a few). They could release the most phenomenal and unique game experience ever and gamers would still rush to the internet to complain and invent issues about it.
Yeah, Nintendo really is one of the most unfortunate game companies ever due to their anomaly of fans. Coupled with Nintendo's past experience, which tells them to be cautious about a whole host of things (licensing, handing IPs to third parties, making net profits, etc.), Nintendo will never be able to satisfy the majority of its fans.
 

WhiteTigerShiro

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Earnest Cavalli said:
It's apparent that Time's interviewer devised his questions beforehand (or just completely dropped the ball on pushing Miyamoto on this point), but it seems an interesting comment coming from a man who has spent so many years as the kindly face of a corporation that has built its fortunes on sequelizing popular franchises that date back more than two decades.
Okay, I'm sorry, but you fail horribly. I expect that kind of stereotyping in the trenches of the forums, but from one of the journalists? You should know better. Yes, Nintendo has put-out a LOT of Mario, Zelda, and DK titles over the past 20+ years (and Pokemon for about half of that), but to ignore the slew of other franchises they've released over the years (both long-running and short), not to mention various one-off titles, is either ignorant or fanboyish, and I'm not sure which is worse coming from someone writing news reports for a magazine.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with Miyamoto, and feel that his words are absolutely genuine, but, well, let's just keep our fingers crossed that the man is able to push his weight around enough to ensure that future first-party Wii U titles feature more new, interesting gameplay ideas, and fewer attempts at wooing consumers with gimmickry.
No, I'm sorry, but you do NOT question the credentials of Miyamoto. Seriously, name any title in the past 12 years that has gameplay even remotely as unique as something like Pikmin; a game so unique that it's hard to even place its genre (Strategy is as close as you get).

That last bit? The part about the other developers bringing their ideas to life on the Wii U? Also an interesting comment. There's little doubt that Miyamoto will be able to come up with a handful of interesting ways to take advantage of the Wii U, but what happens if/when Nintendo creates a console so divisively designed that only truly spectacular designers (like Miyamoto) are able to cobble together neat ideas for what to do with the technology? I don't know that this is the case with the Wii U, but Nintendo's designs grow increasingly out there with each new console generation, and at this rate it seems inevitable that the firm will eventually be building gaming machines that only its internal team of brilliant game creators are capable of utilizing. What then?
Then it's time for the gaming industry to have a sit and really think about what it's doing with all that time and money they pour into development costs. Seriously, are you honestly trying to take the unique ideas that Nintendo puts out there and trying to brand it as a con? Like they're somehow the bad guy here, despite them being the only company trying anything new? Meanwhile the only time Sony and Microsoft take a break from their slap-fest dueling is so that they can copy whatever gimmick Nintendo put-out with their latest system? Mark my words, within the next 5 years we will have a LEAST an announcement from Sony, Microsoft, or both, talking about releasing a new controller with a screen. All the while trying to accuse the other of stealing the idea from them, despite the fact that they both stole it from Nintendo.
 

blizzaradragon

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Oh look, it's Nex writing an article bashing Nintendo under the guise of journalism. Who could have ever seen this coming except everyone -_-

OT: If there's anyone who knows what he's talking about when it comes to game innovation, it's Miyamoto. Between comments like these and the recent answers given regarding used games, it just shows that Nintendo is really one of the only companies that still puts games and gamers first before anything else.
 

Something Amyss

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Solaire of Astora said:
Even then, each Mario game always has completely different stages even if the basic formula remains the same.
So does Call of Duty. INFINITY WARD EMBRACES UNQIUE, INNOVATIVE GAMES!
 

MrHide-Patten

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The dog says we should meow more whilst it continues to bark. Take your own advice mate and I might buy a Wii-U.

Captcha: Make Haste. Chop chop.
 

WeepingAngels

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Jumwa said:
Solaire of Astora said:
Clearly, when Nintendo does anything different it doesn't actually count because it never appealed to a certain audience.
Certainly seems that way.

The WiiU launched with Nintendo Land, which was a big mixed bag of delightful new ideas. And while Super Mario 3D World is being railed against by a large portion of the gaming community because it isn't Mario Galaxy 3 and is instead doing new and interesting things with the Mario 3D Land formula, here's other gamers accusing them of doing nothing new.

Nintendo is one of those game companies that can never win (there's a few). They could release the most phenomenal and unique game experience ever and gamers would still rush to the internet to complain and invent issues about it.
So if it were a proper Mario 3D game, then it wouldn't be new because it's been done before but since it's using the 3D Land formula, it's new?

You know what, Miyamoto is right and so are the thousands of internet posters who have said the same thing year after year. What he's saying is not some great piece of wisdom.

If you ask me, bringing a handheld franchise to the console in place of a proper Mario 3D game seems pretty damn lazy.
 

Jumwa

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WeepingAngels said:
So if it were a proper Mario 3D game, then it wouldn't be new because it's been done before but since it's using the 3D Land formula, it's new?

You know what, Miyamoto is right and so are the thousands of internet posters who have said the same thing year after year. What he's saying is not some great piece of wisdom.

If you ask me, bringing a handheld franchise to the console in place of a proper Mario 3D game seems pretty damn lazy.
Despite what you say, the first multiplayer 3D Mario is not just "bringing a handheld franchise to the console" and "lazy". That alone is a huge change for the franchise, not to mention giving each of the four unique characters their own abilities and traits, leading to very different ways to complete the title, and new powerups.

"Proper Mario 3D game"? Do tell me what that is, because people like you calling for a Mario Galaxy 3 don't seem to realize that Nintendo has always been re-envisioning its Mario titles. Galaxy 2 was the first time that Nintendo did an outright sequel to a 3D Mario game like that.

Doing more with the Mario 3D Land formula is excellent, because that game was the pinnacle of 3D platforming as far as I'm concerned, and the style is downright lovely. It's not a wonder to me that they'd want to build on its successes.
 

Dragonbums

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May 9, 2013
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WeepingAngels said:
Jumwa said:
Solaire of Astora said:
Clearly, when Nintendo does anything different it doesn't actually count because it never appealed to a certain audience.
Certainly seems that way.

The WiiU launched with Nintendo Land, which was a big mixed bag of delightful new ideas. And while Super Mario 3D World is being railed against by a large portion of the gaming community because it isn't Mario Galaxy 3 and is instead doing new and interesting things with the Mario 3D Land formula, here's other gamers accusing them of doing nothing new.

Nintendo is one of those game companies that can never win (there's a few). They could release the most phenomenal and unique game experience ever and gamers would still rush to the internet to complain and invent issues about it.
So if it were a proper Mario 3D game, then it wouldn't be new because it's been done before but since it's using the 3D Land formula, it's new?

You know what, Miyamoto is right and so are the thousands of internet posters who have said the same thing year after year. What he's saying is not some great piece of wisdom.

If you ask me, bringing a handheld franchise to the console in place of a proper Mario 3D game seems pretty damn lazy.
Good job ignoring the fact that it's also for the 3DS as well.
 

Battleaxx90

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JustanotherGamer said:
I'm just going to say this WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE GIMMICKS???????????????

I'm getting so pissed off with this word being used by every **** out there against Nintendo without anyone ever saying what the fuck the gimmicks are so please do inform me.
Good question. Let's ask dictionary.com!

Gim·mick [gim-ik]
Noun

1. an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, especially one designed to attract attention or increase appeal.
2. a concealed, usually devious aspect or feature of something, as a plan or deal: An offer that good must have a gimmick in it somewhere.
3. a hidden mechanical device by which a magician works a trick or a gambler controls a game of chance.
4. Electronics Informal. a capacitor formed by intertwining two insulated wires.
Verb
5. To equip or embellish with unnecessary features, especially in order to increase salability, acceptance, etc. (often followed by up): to gimmick up a sports car with chrome and racing stripes.

Amazing what you can find on the Internet these days...
 

WeepingAngels

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Jumwa said:
WeepingAngels said:
So if it were a proper Mario 3D game, then it wouldn't be new because it's been done before but since it's using the 3D Land formula, it's new?

You know what, Miyamoto is right and so are the thousands of internet posters who have said the same thing year after year. What he's saying is not some great piece of wisdom.

If you ask me, bringing a handheld franchise to the console in place of a proper Mario 3D game seems pretty damn lazy.
Despite what you say, the first multiplayer 3D Mario is not just "bringing a handheld franchise to the console" and "lazy". That alone is a huge change for the franchise, not to mention giving each of the four unique characters their own abilities and traits, leading to very different ways to complete the title, and new powerups.

"Proper Mario 3D game"? Do tell me what that is, because people like you calling for a Mario Galaxy 3 don't seem to realize that Nintendo has always been re-envisioning its Mario titles. Galaxy 2 was the first time that Nintendo did an outright sequel to a 3D Mario game like that.

Doing more with the Mario 3D Land formula is excellent, because that game was the pinnacle of 3D platforming as far as I'm concerned, and the style is downright lovely. It's not a wonder to me that they'd want to build on its successes.
Oh wow, multiplayer, because that's never happened before in a Mario game. Some of us don't give a shit about muliplayer. I am not calling for Mario Galaxy 3, I would really like a true sequel to SM64 but I didn't say that until now, stop assuming. I really didn't care for the Galaxy games, they just didn't hit the spot for me.

I thought 3D land was pretty good, not great though. Had some fantastic levels but so do most Mario games. Nothing out of the ordinary. A true 3D Mario isn't level based, it's more open world like SM64 and Sunshine.