Miyamoto Wants to Go Back to the Basics

TalkAsia recently had the chance to sit down and talk with perhaps the most famous member of the video game industry: Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Zelda and Mario, and hero of all Nintendo fans.

In the interview, Miyamoto talks about the Nintendo philosophy and approach to video game creation. We’ve highlighted a few segments from the interview below.

“I think everyone can enjoy games. In recent years, I have been trying to make games that even a game veteran like me could enjoy. For example, with Nintendo DS, I try to create games that are simple, with a new theme — something that can be played by 5-year-olds to 95-year-olds. One of them is “Ninten dogs, which is a game anyone would enjoy playing. And even in the Wii software, we have golf, tennis and bowling games that anyone can play. I am now trying to get back to the basics, to the origin of the video/television games, and present something that people can enjoy.”

“We also have to think about the themes of the games. There is an abundance of themes that people are interested in, and video games have only touched on few of them. Nintendo is trying to diversify the gaming genre, offering new themes to the players. There are so many left to do. By introducing these available themes into video games, it will help people relate to the games better, and we may even be able to convert them into those who can not live without video games.”

“I think there is variety of ways to entertain people. Nintendo has many ways of entertaining people without the use of violent expression. So I do not have to worry in making such games.”

“My personal thought is, and I think it is the same with Nintendo, that before thinking about how to handle violence in video games, I think it is important to think about pain people feel. For example, you would not laugh at people with disabilities. There are bullying problems in Japan. Looking at the overall picture, it is important to understand and feel the pain that people might have. We make our games based on that philosophy, using means other than violence. But we also have to take a careful approach, even in the circumstances when we are not portraying direct violence. I think it is always important to give children a product with a careful approach.”

Miyamoto is scheduled to give his keynote address at GDC this March. We’ll be on hand at the event with live coverage.