E271: Return of the king – Miyamoto, the world’s greatest game designer, is back at the controls

Edge - Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto is leading several new projects as Nintendo positions the Wii U for a fightback. So it’s the perfect time to visit him in Kyoto to talk about Nintendo’s new strategy, its plan to win over core gamers and why building something new is key to the console’s success. The man himself wields a GamePad on the cover of E271, which is out now in print – either as a single issue or a subscription - on iPad, Google Play and Zinio.

Miyamoto isn’t the only person building Wii U’s future, of course. We meet the minds behind the next wave of games as the console gets ready to switch up a gear, including: Zelda franchise supervisor Eiji Aonuma; Yoshi’s Woolly World producer Takashi Tezuka and executive producer Etsunobu Ebisu; Splatoon producer Hisashi Nogami; Devil’s Third CTO Tomonobu Itagaki; Xenoblade Chronicles X executive producer Tetsuya Takahashi; Super Smash Bros director Masahiro Sakurai; and Hyrule Warriors development producer Yosuke Hayashi.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I hope Miyamoto is thinking of training a successor.
It's great that he's developing more games again, but he won't live forever and he's not exactly young anymore, and I think it's important that his skills and way of designing things is passed on to someone young and competent while he's still around to do the teaching.

[weekev15]

If you look at what hes doing at Nintendo these days with the splinter groups it looks like he is creating successors (thats right I made that plural).

Splatoon came from 1 such group and there are apparently a bucket load more on the way.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Sorry for the double post earlier; stupid phone.
Anyways, I was unaware that Miyamoto had a part in Splatoon's development.
As far as I know, that game is being developed by the core Animal Crossing team...

[choujij]

"Splatoon came from 1 such group and there are apparently a bucket load more on the way. "

This pleases me.

[deafdani]

Miyamoto has actually been sort of training people and giving them more power within Nintendo's internal development groups for quite a good time now. Just look at Eiji Aonuma. Yes, I know he's not young (lol), but the thing is, previously it was always only Miyamoto who was talking and hyping up anything Zelda related. Not anymore. Now Aonuma is the face of the Zelda franchise, as it should be, because he's been at the directorial helm of the series for several years now.

Same goes for the Mario Galaxy team.

It's been more than a decade since Miyamoto designed a game completely by himself, rather than just playing a supervisor role. This actually makes me nervous, but also pretty excited. I hope he still have that unique magic. I LOVE the Star Fox series (yes, even Assault), so I hope he makes something special with it for the Wii U.

[weekev15]

Yeah he spoke about it in his edge interview.

http://sheattack.com/ninten...

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I hope Miyamoto is thinking of training a successor.
It's great that he's developing more games again, but he won't live forever and he's not exactly young anymore, and I think it's important that his skills and way of designing things is passed on to someone young and competent while he's still around to do the teaching.

A man like him should leave an enduring legacy through a protege.

[gangsta_red]

"We meet the minds behind the next wave of games as the console gets ready to switch up a gear, including:..."

That's all well and good and I love this force of nature Nintendo is building up but they should try and bring in some western minds to the fold of Nintendo. I love Japanese games but for the past gen, western made games have been dominating and proving some of the best gaming experiences to date.

Nintendo needs to expand and appeal to a way broader audience and this can only be done by getting some foreign like individual developers to dedicate games to their system.

[lilbroRx]

Yeah, lets have more carbon copies of what's popular marketing wise and release games with less content so people can buy it as DLC...

The last sentence makes no sense. Nintendo has always targeted the "broadest" audience. Everyone. They've always tried to make games that appeal to everyone.

The only change they could make is to narrow the audience.

[gangsta_red]

"lets have more carbon copies of what's popular marketing wise..."

Yea, is this what's happening with great games like Uncharted, TLoU, Bioshock, Skyrim, Gears, Mass Effect, L4D, Borderlands and many other games that defined last gen?

And who said anything about less content and more DLC? Having more western minds on board doesn't equal automatic rape the users. They can have just as big of a passion for making games for the WiiU as their Japanese counterparts have.

"Nintendo has always targeted the "broadest" audience. Everyone."

It's too bad that not "Everyone" is buying their system and their games. It's because their games do not target everyone, they target THEIR fans only. Nintendo games are easy to pick up and play that is far different from their games being for everyone as you stated. Some of their games are just not appealing to a lot of people. And this is why they need more outside help to try and reel in the other side to their system.

Narrow the audience? That makes less than no sense. They already have a narrow user base and you want them to narrow it even more with titles that only appeal to them? Nintendo is trying to widen as well as gain new users. Not narrow it.

[Imalwaysright]

It all comes down to personal preference. You may prefer western made games but for me, with Zelda, SSB, Bayonetta 2, Bloodborne, Persona 5, MGS and Evil Within japanese devs are dominating. I can't think of many western games that have me as excited as the ones I mentioned aside from The Witcher 3, Quantum Break and some Indie RPGs for the PC.

Also couldn't help to notice this sentence "Some of their games are just not appealing to a lot of people."

That has me confused because no game made by either MS or Sony came even close to selling 30+ million units like Mario Kart did last gen. Also games like SSB and Mario galaxy are able to sell as much as Sony and MS flagship titles and let's not forget about Pokemon. Nintendo makes games that are appealing to a lot of people. The problem is that their system isn't because of some other factors like the lack of 3rd party support and marketing mistakes.

[TongkatAli]

He called people who likes those games pathetic, he said "they have this impress me attitude" which translation I'm Miyamoto bit.., anything I do should impress you, now kiss my feet.

The line is too big Miyamoto, I pass, you were never impressive to me in the first place. I will never question what you did for gaming, but at the same time I have to be honest, your games don't appeal to me at all.

[lilbroRx]

He did not call people who like those games pathetic. You and all of these journalists are twisting his word.

He said the lack of interest in more challenging games is pathetic. That in itself is applicable to anyone, casual or not.

[deafdani]

"You were never impressive to me in the first place."

Yet you are a gamer. You seem to be unaware that Miyamoto is a BIG reason why gaming is what it is today. If it wasn't for him, maybe you wouldn't even be a gamer today. Maybe gaming wouldn't be as widespread and popular as it is today if it wasn't for what he and Nintendo did, saving the videogame market from the awful crash in the 70's / 80's, and pretty much writing the rules of modern game design that every single game designer today follows and builds upon.

If that doesn't impress you, then I don't know what you would call impressive.

[swice]

"Nintendo needs to expand and appeal to a way broader audience and this can only be done by getting some foreign like individual developers to dedicate games to their system."

.....No. No more broadening. It's time for them to focus, and bring back their old fans.

[jholden3249]

Nintendo games appeal to a lot of people, but a lot of people are too insecure to admit that they want to play them. AAA gaming has become popularized, like Hollywood movies. And most gamers of today are not gamers in the traditional sense. It's the same reason that Wii era casuals weren't interested in core games. Most gamers of today really don't have any interest in games unless they're popularized. They're really the same breed of gamer as the casual, only instead of fun party games they want sports, Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.

Nintendo, for the last several years, has been chasing the casual gamer. And many of the actual gamers in the traditional sense have been turned away as a result of their focus being too wide. By Nintendo narrowing their focus, they are no longer wasting resources on a casual gaming group that have no further interest in console gaming, while putting enough focus in their core games to draw in those on the fence who are interested in real games.

And a lot of those games you mentioned below are terrific games. But, they all fit the bill of violent genres with humanoid main characters and some form of guns. And therein lies the monotony. I love those games, but I want more from gaming than just that. The most egregious offense of recent years is when non-matures titles and genres started getting lumped in as casual games, and therefore discredited as a legitimate source of gaming entertainment.

And yes there are some companies that give great value for DLC. But that's not the rule, that's the exception. Microtransactions and five dollar skins are everywhere nowadays. We don't even blink when we see them anymore. So yes, despite the fact that Nintendo is not the only one giving great value for DLC, it is still a breath of fresh air considering how great their games are and how many they release every year as a single publishing entity.

On a side note, most all my gaming friends stopped playing Nintendo sometime around the middle of last generation. Coincidentally, this is right around the time the influx of shovelware was at its' peak. After asking them, I learned that they didn't stop playing Nintendo because they don't like their games, they just didn't know Nintendo was still making games (other than 2D Mario). Once I show them trailers for games like Metroid Prime 3, Skyward Sword, DKC Tropical Freeze, Pikmin 3, Mario Kart 8, Winderful 101, etc, and explain to them that these are the games they've been missing, most of them ask me how much it costs to buy a Wii U.

I think ignorance is the biggest culprit when it comes to the recent shortcomings of Nintendo in the market. Not to say Nintendo didn't play a part in causing that ignorance, because they most certainly did by allowing shovelware to steal the spotlight, but it's important we recognize that Nintendo games do still appeal to a vast majority of gamers. It's just a question of whether those gamers are going to realize what games are on offer, or if they will remain ignorant to what they're missing.

[DryBoneKoopa85]

@jholden3249: Great comment! Bubble up for you! Well said!

[lilbroRx]

He isn't back. He never left. The gaming media just ignored him to focus on attacking Nintendo and its other heads, but since there have been no directs or anything since e3 and Reggie and Iwata have not been in the spotlight, they are starved for a figurehead to report on and make issues out of.

Now Miyamoto is the current target for gaming journalism with people already taking his comments out of context to stir up issues.

[All_Consoles]

Miyamoto is a legend, we will probably never see a gaming visionary as talented as him. I think kojima would be the closest but he is still miles off

[ritsuka666]

True this.I hope Myamoto live at least 100 years.

[Emme]

Kojima ? The wannabe movie director who tries to do games ? Overestimated. Try Michel Ancel.

[KakashiHotake]

Why are you hating on Kojima? He's one of the few true gaming icons left in this generation. I wouldn't be surprised if you hate on your own reflection.

[ltachiUchiha]

I would like to see him use his talent & try something different, maybe more mature kind of like how Naughty Dog made The Last Of Us which was their 1st time creating such a violent game showing their versatility in any genre they decide to try. Miyamoto should create an FPS All Stars game using each characters abilities that would be tons of fun & would sell like crazy since FPS games sell alot, just a suggestion.

[ltachiUchiha]

This is why the wii u isn't such a hot console despite being really cheap because they keep making the same games. Mario is an Icon but man talk about over using a character. I see ppl complain about god of war, halo, uncharted & other titles being too many sequals in a franchise but yet mario gets a free pass despite releasing 100+ mario games lol. Seriously man I want to see him try something new besides the same azz old plummer man. Give him a rest.

[jholden3249]

Everybody has the genre that they gravitate towards and that's what they're good at making. You wouldn't expect Rockstar to make a star platformer, and you wouldn't expect Miamoto to make a mature themed game, nor would you expect Atlus to make a western shooter. Different developers make different kinds of games. Musical artists usually focus on one genre of music too, because that's what they're good at, because it's coming from the heart.

I think people need to accept that Miamoto is only human, and there are some genres of game that he's just not going to make. I do see him branching out quite a bit, but always in that playful, colorful game kind of way.

[ltachiUchiha]

Thats not an excuse though for his talent. For example look at Naughty Dog they started off from Crash Bandicoot Series to Jak and Daxter Series to UnchartedSeries to The Last of Us proving that great developers can create ANYTHING they want to create.

Im not saying Mario sucks, its just that in these days n age of gaming its changed alot from how it use to be. Kids nowadays would rather play Call of Duty instead of kiddy games. Heck all my nieces n nephews & my kids rather play games us adults enjoy then play Mario or any kiddy game. Dont know why but its the truth well atleast from the kids I know. If it was still the same then the wii u wouldve been leading in sales.

[fonger08]

His resume is just ridiculous, directed or helped produce; The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Excitebike, Kid Icarus, Pilotwings, Punchout, Star Fox, Pokemon, and of course the little round plumber duo. Not too bad.

[jcnba28]

He never left. The legend is here to stay.