Shadowfax
3rd August 2003, 03:34 AM
EGM: How and why is Nintendo changing? What mistakes have you been making?
Shigeru miyamoto: There was a time when people would buy a hardware system for one big title, but we've found that in this generation [of consoles], that's simply not the case. Which is why we're now really focusing on the idea of having a broad lineup -- a broader lineup with a broader appeal for a wider audience. But you can't simply add people and expect to make the same high-quality titles that we've always produced. That is why we've been gradually increasing in size internally [at Nintendo world headquarters] in Kyoto - so we can train people and bring them up to the level of quality that we expect.
EGM: And the new development office Nintendo is starting in Tokyo is part of that?
SM: Yes. And that's not simply hiring a bunch of programmers and developers; we're actually taking a strong group of people in Kyoto who've been taught the Nintendo way of development, and they're going to be the core of [the Tokyo team]. So the idea is not just building resources, but building resources that maintain the Nintendo level of quality. That's why we don't go into this idea of just buying up developers and getting all this development power to pump titles out. We look more at finding individuals we think are capable of producing creative titles, and supporting them and giving them the resources they need. Smaller, more independent developers in Japan -- we'll support them and give them resources to bring out more original styles of gameplay.
EGM: And you've been also using bigger Japanese developers, such as Sega, Capcom, and Namco.
SM: That's also why, with some of the larger developers, we find people we can entrust our franchise characters to. Namco's now making a Star Fox game. Mr. Nagoshi [head of the Sega development studio Amusement Vision] is working on f-Zero. And actually, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami at Capcom came to us and said he wanted to work on Nintendo titles. Sonic creator Yuji Naka has done the same. So really, we're focusing on this idea of finding creative and talented designers to put together a strong lineup for the Gamecube.
EGM: What do you think of Sony's announcement of a Playstation Portable (PSP) coming next year?
SM: What surprised me about the announcement was that with no model or anything to show, they just announced a long list of specs. And for a company as big as Sony to do something like that - I thought that was very surprising. For me the biggest question is, "Why did they do that?" It makes me wonder if there's not some kind of problem or something. [Laughs]
This isn't the first time a major player has announced a handheld; a lot of peole have designs on the handheld market, some of them very big - from Sega and SNK to Bandai, a number of companies have put out handhelds. I don't know how many of those we all remember [laughs], but obviously Game Boy has lasted and continues to do well - the SP is doing very well. We're going to focus on the software, like we've always done, and use that to build the market.
Connectivity is another strength we have. You know, I wonder if Sony's not going to try to do something similar and suddenly start talking about connectivity themselves.
EGM: Speaking of connectivity, it's major theme for your company this year. Why does Nintendo care so much about hooking up your GBA with your Gamecube?
SM: What I wanted was to look at a slightly different technological advance in gaming than what we've seen with standard hardware advancements. So what I'm looking at with connectivity is not only what it can bring to gameplay, but also how it can affect future enhancements to hardware. A lot of people are saying that online is the future of gaming, but I actually think there are a lot of different things that could be the future.
If you look closely at the connectivity game, Tetra's Trackers, for the most part you play on your GBA screen. Occasionally, you look up at the Gamecube screen to get the bigger picture, and you compete against one another. Four Swords is a game in which you're all playing together on the TV screen, and sometimes you can go into a secret cave or a house andfind secrets on your GBA screen. And then Pac-Man is still another style of game, where you have one player who's completely playing as Pac-Man on the GBA and can see everything, and the other three players are chasing after him [as enemy ghosts], playing on the TV screen.
So what I really see connectivity offering is one basic sytem of connecting a Gamecube to a Game Boy Advance, and yet by doing that, you're able to create all these new styles of game. On top of that, you can take something like an old game that was done in the past and add this connectivity feature to it and all of sudden, it's got whole new appeal and a whole new style of fun.
EGM: Do you see connectivity games like Tetra's Trackers and Four Swords as full standalone games, as part of a collection, or for lower prices?
SM: Because the Gamecube uses disc media, it opens up a lot of options for us in terms of pricing and how we're going to offer these games. We're still talking to Namco about how to handle Pac-Man, but I think we have a lot of options open to us.
EGM: Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 for GBA uses special cards and the E-Reader peripheral to add new itmes to the game itself. How will that work, since the e-Reader takes up the GBA cartridge slot?
SM: Right now it's a little bit complicated, because you need both a GBA with the game and a GBA with the e-Reader, plus a cable to connect them. [In a lower voice, to translator in Japanese] Have we announced anything about Pokemon yet?
Translator: [In Japanese] No, we haven't [Looks at interviewer] But he can understand some Japanese... [Everyone laughs]
SM: We'll be talking about a Pokemon-related thing, too, in the near future.
EGM: At a recent press conference, Nintendo joked, "Mario will never start shooting hookers." But we're curious: What do you think about Grand Theft Auto III, both as a game and in terms of its effect on the gaming industry as a whole?
SM: I think there are some morality issues with GTA that people are looking at, but going beyond that, and looking more specifically at the game design itself, it give you a lot of freedom. It gives the player a lot of choice about what they do, and I thnk - evaluating the gameplay side of it - the game has been put together very well. As an interactive medium, I think it's very important that we're careful with the use of things like violence in videogames. But on the other side, in a time when people are spending so much time focusing on graphics and cinematics, GTA is a game that really doesn't have highly polished graphics or really incredible cinemas. Yet it's a game that, based on the very nature of it's gameplay, has sold very well. In that respect, it's a pretty good thing for the industry.
EGM: We have a lot more to ask about and only a little time, so how about a lightning round - I'll say a bounch of upcoming game names and you say something about them in 20 words or less. Sound good? Starting....now.
SM: Well there's a lot I don't know ab-
EGM: The next GameCube Zelda...
SM: ... will not have a realistic Link. At least, not the next one....
EGM: Pikmin 2...
SM: ... I think it's going to be a very fun game that brings together all the best parts ofthe original Pikmin.
EGM: Geist...
SM: ... I think [developer n-Space] is a very talented team.
EGM: Mario and Luigi [GBA]...
SM: .. It's a very Nintendo-esque action-RPG.
EGM: Mario and Donkey Kong [GBA]...
SM: It's a remake [of Donkey Kong for Game Boy], but I think it's a very playable, very easy to pick-up-and-play game.
EGM: Metroid Prime 2...
SM:... You'll definately be playing it next year.
EGM: 100 Marios [code name for the next Mario platformer]...
SM: ... If I don't show something of it at the next E3 [game industry convention in May], I'll feel like I haven't fulfilled my responsibilities. [Laughs]
there's some pretty interesting stuff there. The next Zelda wont be realistic.. could it be a sequel to the WindWaker? And it was kinda suspicious what he was saying about Pokémon :P
Shigeru miyamoto: There was a time when people would buy a hardware system for one big title, but we've found that in this generation [of consoles], that's simply not the case. Which is why we're now really focusing on the idea of having a broad lineup -- a broader lineup with a broader appeal for a wider audience. But you can't simply add people and expect to make the same high-quality titles that we've always produced. That is why we've been gradually increasing in size internally [at Nintendo world headquarters] in Kyoto - so we can train people and bring them up to the level of quality that we expect.
EGM: And the new development office Nintendo is starting in Tokyo is part of that?
SM: Yes. And that's not simply hiring a bunch of programmers and developers; we're actually taking a strong group of people in Kyoto who've been taught the Nintendo way of development, and they're going to be the core of [the Tokyo team]. So the idea is not just building resources, but building resources that maintain the Nintendo level of quality. That's why we don't go into this idea of just buying up developers and getting all this development power to pump titles out. We look more at finding individuals we think are capable of producing creative titles, and supporting them and giving them the resources they need. Smaller, more independent developers in Japan -- we'll support them and give them resources to bring out more original styles of gameplay.
EGM: And you've been also using bigger Japanese developers, such as Sega, Capcom, and Namco.
SM: That's also why, with some of the larger developers, we find people we can entrust our franchise characters to. Namco's now making a Star Fox game. Mr. Nagoshi [head of the Sega development studio Amusement Vision] is working on f-Zero. And actually, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami at Capcom came to us and said he wanted to work on Nintendo titles. Sonic creator Yuji Naka has done the same. So really, we're focusing on this idea of finding creative and talented designers to put together a strong lineup for the Gamecube.
EGM: What do you think of Sony's announcement of a Playstation Portable (PSP) coming next year?
SM: What surprised me about the announcement was that with no model or anything to show, they just announced a long list of specs. And for a company as big as Sony to do something like that - I thought that was very surprising. For me the biggest question is, "Why did they do that?" It makes me wonder if there's not some kind of problem or something. [Laughs]
This isn't the first time a major player has announced a handheld; a lot of peole have designs on the handheld market, some of them very big - from Sega and SNK to Bandai, a number of companies have put out handhelds. I don't know how many of those we all remember [laughs], but obviously Game Boy has lasted and continues to do well - the SP is doing very well. We're going to focus on the software, like we've always done, and use that to build the market.
Connectivity is another strength we have. You know, I wonder if Sony's not going to try to do something similar and suddenly start talking about connectivity themselves.
EGM: Speaking of connectivity, it's major theme for your company this year. Why does Nintendo care so much about hooking up your GBA with your Gamecube?
SM: What I wanted was to look at a slightly different technological advance in gaming than what we've seen with standard hardware advancements. So what I'm looking at with connectivity is not only what it can bring to gameplay, but also how it can affect future enhancements to hardware. A lot of people are saying that online is the future of gaming, but I actually think there are a lot of different things that could be the future.
If you look closely at the connectivity game, Tetra's Trackers, for the most part you play on your GBA screen. Occasionally, you look up at the Gamecube screen to get the bigger picture, and you compete against one another. Four Swords is a game in which you're all playing together on the TV screen, and sometimes you can go into a secret cave or a house andfind secrets on your GBA screen. And then Pac-Man is still another style of game, where you have one player who's completely playing as Pac-Man on the GBA and can see everything, and the other three players are chasing after him [as enemy ghosts], playing on the TV screen.
So what I really see connectivity offering is one basic sytem of connecting a Gamecube to a Game Boy Advance, and yet by doing that, you're able to create all these new styles of game. On top of that, you can take something like an old game that was done in the past and add this connectivity feature to it and all of sudden, it's got whole new appeal and a whole new style of fun.
EGM: Do you see connectivity games like Tetra's Trackers and Four Swords as full standalone games, as part of a collection, or for lower prices?
SM: Because the Gamecube uses disc media, it opens up a lot of options for us in terms of pricing and how we're going to offer these games. We're still talking to Namco about how to handle Pac-Man, but I think we have a lot of options open to us.
EGM: Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 for GBA uses special cards and the E-Reader peripheral to add new itmes to the game itself. How will that work, since the e-Reader takes up the GBA cartridge slot?
SM: Right now it's a little bit complicated, because you need both a GBA with the game and a GBA with the e-Reader, plus a cable to connect them. [In a lower voice, to translator in Japanese] Have we announced anything about Pokemon yet?
Translator: [In Japanese] No, we haven't [Looks at interviewer] But he can understand some Japanese... [Everyone laughs]
SM: We'll be talking about a Pokemon-related thing, too, in the near future.
EGM: At a recent press conference, Nintendo joked, "Mario will never start shooting hookers." But we're curious: What do you think about Grand Theft Auto III, both as a game and in terms of its effect on the gaming industry as a whole?
SM: I think there are some morality issues with GTA that people are looking at, but going beyond that, and looking more specifically at the game design itself, it give you a lot of freedom. It gives the player a lot of choice about what they do, and I thnk - evaluating the gameplay side of it - the game has been put together very well. As an interactive medium, I think it's very important that we're careful with the use of things like violence in videogames. But on the other side, in a time when people are spending so much time focusing on graphics and cinematics, GTA is a game that really doesn't have highly polished graphics or really incredible cinemas. Yet it's a game that, based on the very nature of it's gameplay, has sold very well. In that respect, it's a pretty good thing for the industry.
EGM: We have a lot more to ask about and only a little time, so how about a lightning round - I'll say a bounch of upcoming game names and you say something about them in 20 words or less. Sound good? Starting....now.
SM: Well there's a lot I don't know ab-
EGM: The next GameCube Zelda...
SM: ... will not have a realistic Link. At least, not the next one....
EGM: Pikmin 2...
SM: ... I think it's going to be a very fun game that brings together all the best parts ofthe original Pikmin.
EGM: Geist...
SM: ... I think [developer n-Space] is a very talented team.
EGM: Mario and Luigi [GBA]...
SM: .. It's a very Nintendo-esque action-RPG.
EGM: Mario and Donkey Kong [GBA]...
SM: It's a remake [of Donkey Kong for Game Boy], but I think it's a very playable, very easy to pick-up-and-play game.
EGM: Metroid Prime 2...
SM:... You'll definately be playing it next year.
EGM: 100 Marios [code name for the next Mario platformer]...
SM: ... If I don't show something of it at the next E3 [game industry convention in May], I'll feel like I haven't fulfilled my responsibilities. [Laughs]
there's some pretty interesting stuff there. The next Zelda wont be realistic.. could it be a sequel to the WindWaker? And it was kinda suspicious what he was saying about Pokémon :P