Nintendo was founded in Kyoto, Japan in 1889 as a manufacturer of hanafuda playing cards. The company went through several small niche businesses before becoming a video game company.
I say it doesn't last long. The moment he comes up with an idea or innovation that won't fit into a small game he'll be back. The urge of the creative person to see something they dream about come alive, nothing can stop that.
Astute observation, I think it could last a couple of years, maybe. The guy probably has a million small ideas in the back of his head that have been constrained by his role at Nintendo for a long time so I bet he'll crank out some stuff before he wants more manpower again.
Of course we could be forgetting his personal life. Maybe he's doing this to spend more time with his family after many years of intense work life and wants a job in the industry that allows him more personal freedom. There could be myriad things.
Considering most Japanese business hierarchies, this is sort of a surprising move. However, it's good to hear that he wants some of the younger folks to come out, if not help their ideas.
Considering most Japanese business hierarchies, this is sort of a surprising move. However, it's good to hear that he wants some of the younger folks to come out, if not help their ideas.
I dont think Miyamoto has to even worry about asking to do this or even get in trouble with the company for doing this as he is basically Nintendo. Mario / Zelda are 2 of the biggest things in the company.
UPDATE: Nintendo has moved quickly to deny Wired.com's report that Shigeru Miyamoto is retiring from his current position.
"This is absolutely not true," a Nintendo spokeswoman told Reuters. "There seems to have been a misunderstanding. He has said all along that he wants to train the younger generation. He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned."
The denial comes as shares in Nintendo fell two per cent to 11,040 yen on Thursday, compared with a 0.7 per cent drop in the Nikkei average.
I bet he was all excited about getting to do what he wants :<
This has already been denied by Nintendo (source). Great reporting again, Patrick. Unless you get a first hand account it's probably best to do your own fact checking.
"I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small" is what Miyamoto said. Not "I'm only making small games now, I won't be involved in Mario Wii U or any big projects".
10 years later, Nintendo's newest IP is also its biggest and best, while Mario games have shown a sharp decline in quality, and a new Zelda hasn't been released since the 3DS game.
What? Did you play Galaxy 2 and 3D Land? Have you even heard of Skyward Sword? Am I being trolled here?
I was thinking that.
Sound's like someone who doesn't play Nintendo complaining about Nintendo.
...Seriously though... yeah I really hope he does come up with new games and characters... even if he just lays the ground work with smaller adventures, Nintendo is really in need of some new characters... not a whole new infusion... but just freshen things up... I mean pikmin in 2002 or whatever was I guess their last original character design.
Sounds great. I'd love to see something new and more unique from the Miyamoto. He's been iterating on old franchises for a long time, and coming up with motion controlled mini game collections for a while now. Hopefully working on smaller projects means he can spend more time on new and interesting idea's. That's not to say he didn't innovate in his more iterative games, but working on smaller projects means he can take even more risks, and hopefully come up with something amazing.
A man in the "creative industry" (games, movies, comics, etc.) should be were he's more comfortable and creative at. He should be worrying about fanboys and nerds opinions.
That's pretty awesome. It will be good to see Miyamoto doing some more games. I don't think there has ever been a "small" Miyamoto game. They all turn out to be pretty big deals, when they are released. :)
Sounds great. I'd love to see something new and more unique from the Miyamoto. He's been iterating on old franchises for a long time, and coming up with motion controlled mini game collections for a while now. Hopefully working on smaller projects means he can spend more time on new and interesting idea's. That's not to say he didn't innovate in his more iterative games, but working on smaller projects means he can take even more risks, and hopefully come up with something amazing.
This and this some more. He is too good to be resting on the same old franchises. The rehashing of old franchises I feel is what is slowly killing Nintendo as an innovative gaming company.
Nintendo has come out and strongly denied this report. Not sure if they're in damage control mode, but their official stance is that he is not changing roles and wants to train the young talent.
@JayHayabusa: I bet they are in damage control. Miyamoto is a spokesman and a known quantity for Nintendo for years now. Although I think that his real involvement in franchises has diminished with the years, which is known by the gaming community, Nintendo may think its bad business if he says he won't work in Mario Wii U...
While I am excited at the idea of more games made by Miyamoto, I can help but get flashbacks to Ken Kutaragi's " hey we won’t fire you but put you in a completely irrelevant position so we can keep paying you cause we feel honor-bound to do so" situation, which has been, in the past, the way that Japanese companies treat honored employees that aren’t performing that well anymore, not to say that Miyamoto isn’t, but we don’t really know the internal workings of Nintendo development. Anyway I really hope that’s not what’s happening in this case, and maybe he can make some really good download games for Nintendo.
@LegendaryChopChop: Thing is, it's not killing Nintendo. They always always have a fresh new set of minds to imprint a new generation of Mari/Zelda/Metroid/Pokemon on. They may be re-hashes for us that have been gaming for a long time, but consistently Nintendo games have been better made and better executed than a lot of their competition and they always sell like crazy. Heck 28 Million for Mario Kart Wii, does that sound like a failure to you? There are people who would die for that kind of sale.
Oh man Patrick is going to be pissed when he reads that PR came out and said he's not stepping down. At least this story still holds up regardless.
I have a feeling this might be syntax and nintendo trying to spin things since their stock took a big hit from the initial Wired story. I would not be surprised if he is moving into smaller projects where he can stretch himself and allowing the guys working on the big guns far more freedom than they have had without having to run everything through him. Because let's face it, Mario and Zelda games are going to sell, no matter who is behind them. But he's not "stepping down". Also, I can't fully trust an article when half of it is about how the 3DS is a huge flop without doing any actual research into how it has sold, especially in relation with Nintendo's other handhelds.
Even though that won't happen it would be the perfect environment for him. Every wacky idea he has he can turn into a bite size bit of fun for a couple of bucks, without the need to take that initial idea and find a way to make it work in a full priced retail release.
I think that Miyamoto is kind of like Spielberg nowadays--meaning that he gets a lot of credit for projects where he has minimal input and is sort of past his prime. I love Nintendo and his old games but Nintendo is really behind in modern game development in a lot of ways. Yes, they manage to innovate on some fronts but in others they just don't seem to want to keep up with what people consider "standard features" (like on-line, DLC, demos, voice, etc...). I think that a lot of things that keeps Nintendo from trying newer things is Miyamoto (isn't he the one that refuses to allow achievements for games?). Perhaps having some younger blood with him as a mentor would help allow the company advance.
Thats a very appropriate comparison. Both men created many classics in the 80s and 90s, and have each created only one great release in the last ten years. Both are seemingly out of fresh ideas, and recent updates to once cherished franchises have not lived up to expectations. Both men also get their names attached to tons of projects every year, as producers or consultants. It is unclear how much actual effort or imput either provide such titles, and it is safe to assume their respective companies just put their names on every new release to generate more sales. If anyone disagrees with this, I guess they also believe that Tom Clancy is writing the characters and plots to ten Ubisoft games every year for the last decade....
The odds of this being a gigantic mistranslation during the interview don't seem great, when you consider that Miyamoto is rarely interviewed without several Nintendo reps flanking him. It's certainly possible that his role shift is not something that's happening in the immediate, and that his talk with Wired simply jumped the gun in making it known. Or maybe his translator really is just that bad. I don't know.
You'd be surprised, Patrick. Sites like Kotaku have badly misquoted Japanese developers, including staff from Nintendo. (Not that that site is particularly concerned with anything considered quality.) Miyamoto's translators could have been crystal clear in their meaning and a writer could still screw it up because hey, internet clicks.
I mean I HOPE that Miyamoto's decline is to blame on Nintendo just using him as a marketing ploy. If they are actually leaning on him for ideas nowadays and all he can come up with is Mario 64 in SPace or Mario 64 in SPace: Now with Yoshi, then that makes me sad. I HOPE his E3 garbage performance for Wii Music was a photo op, and he didn't actually make that game hiself. Maybe its all true and hes just washed up, who knows.
Whats wrong with Kotaku? Did you just say that because Patrick works for a competing site, and you think he might be friends with you if you trash it? Kotaku is a pretty good site, and there's nothing wrong with its quality. At least they never charged my CC when they linked me to youtube videos.
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