Newsweekhad the opportunity to interview gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto during this year’s Game Developers Conference.
Sony’s PlayStation Home announcement at GDC was greeted upon with much excitement, yet for the dedicated Nintendo community, strict comparisons between the PS Home and Nintendo’s Mii service could not be ignored. According to Miyamoto however, the similarities are not a bad thing. “I would be happy the more companies that I see that that tried to do like Nintendo is doing and break out and do something different. I’d been very worried that the videogame industry had been progressing in too much of a straight line, all in the same direction.’
Both services offer substantial levels of character customization, similar to that of The Sims series. In the wake of Sony’s Home announcement, what does Nintendo have planned for the Miis? “In terms of taking the Miis and expanding them, that virtual kind of Sim-type experience. It’s something that a lot of people have already done and shown interest in, and we have a lot of people internally who are interested in that type of a project too.”
Miyamoto looked back on the days of the NES and Exitebike, the first game available in which the public could use an in-game editor to create and customize their own unique courses. He used the game as an example of how an added layer of enjoyment in games comes from being able to use an editor to allow creativity, He used the game as an example of how an added layer of enjoyment in games comes from being able to use an editor to allow creativity. “Creating Miis is almost like taking part in game development to a certain extent,” he said.
He ended the interview by stating that “the more that people try to go in these unique and creative directions, the more possibilities that open up for the industry as a whole.”
Stay tuned to Advanced Media Network
