Shigeru Miyamoto Says His Rivals Are Boring, Samey

[martyrdrebel27]

Wow, a lot of Nintendo fanboys on here. Escapist is a haven of them. Fact is, Nintendo has been selling the same 3 games for 30 years, with only minor innovations. The story of Mario is STILL Bowser kidnaps peach. Yet these same Nintendo people decry call of duty as the de-evolution of gaming. At least every call of duty had a different story! Ugh, willful ignorance is a terrible thing. Its okay to be a fanboy, but don't be naive and stubborn as well. I'm an Xbox fanboy who can admit that, as of now, ps4 is an arguably Better console than my Xbox one, but I'm okay with that.

Nintendo is the world's greatest purveyor of boring and samey.

 

[Dagda Mor]

Ehh... Yeah, despite my distaste for Nintendo, I'm with Miyamoto, to an extent. The games shouldn't feel samey, but I don't think it's a problem that the AAA games are on every console. Being creative is more for developers than console manufacturers, and my main beef with Nintendo is with its focus on controlling its console. I don't mind them putting out pointless cash grab Mario games, but I do mind that they're fucking impossible for 3rd party devs to work with.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Well... Wolf Form did have different gameplay mechanics with the whole biting/wolf senses/Midna's AoE attack deal-y but I do agree, it wasn't exactly necessary. But it is a big distinct feature from Ocarina of Time (which had the aging mechanic) so I figure it works as a "Look, this isn't the exact same game again, this time he's a f*cking Werewolf" point I was shooting for.

The thing is that it's all happening within the same confines. I know Nintendo is all about gameplay, but completely ignoring the characters and just letting them stagnate within their roles is not a great trade-off.

Remember when that new Wii-U Zelda footage got released, and suddenly rumors exploded that Link might be a chick this time because he had a ponytail and his bangs looked a bit more feminine? I don't think that wouldn't have happend if fans weren't clammoring for something genuinely new from this franchise.

 

[Silvianoshei]

Considering the amount of diversity on Nintendo Consoles, I'd say he's right.

 

[Lightknight]

Oh... is this an old interview from the 80's or 90's when Miyomoto was still making new stuff? Maybe this is from some sort of bizarro earth interview where he doesn't milk products that have been around for longer than the average gamer (30+ years).

For a man that caters to a niche market and hasn't produced new games of "legend" status for almost two decades you'd think he'd mind his tongue.

Don't get me wrong, I owe a lot of childhood joy to this man. But he is absolutely not one to talk about being "samey". These competing studios, Microsoft and Sony, have only been around since the late 90's and have come close to or even exceeded Nintendo in variety of popular IPs.

What's more is if his tunnel vision is only on kid games then you still have the wide berth of Kinect titles as well as Little Big Planet games for Sony. There's a huge range of games from the third party studios.

Microsoft is about the only one with mostly just shooters under their belt.

But who is Nintendo to talk? Miyamoto, at least we CAN play a variety of games on the new consoles and aren't limited to only playing those studio's own games due to the sort of console put out. It's your terribly backwards mentality that has driven me out of the Nintendo demographic. Shame on you for not evolving. No reason you couldn't have continued to milk Mario's ancient teets and still produced new work to entertain your audience. Instead, you think of game mechanics and then slap old characters on them and "Story" is an afterthought at best. Shameful.

 

[Alex Baas]

Miyamoto has always struck me as a man who is very aware of the current state of affairs in the industry and choses his stance in spite of that. He doesn't seem like the out of touch dinosaur that people here are painting him to be, at least in my mind. If you look at the point he was trying to make instead of who said it or how his translator decided to word it, I think more people here might agree with him.

 

[Lightknight]

Miyamoto has always struck me as a man who is very aware of the current state of affairs in the industry and choses his stance in spite of that. He doesn't seem like the out of touch dinosaur that people here are painting him to be, at least in my mind. If you look at the point he was trying to make instead of who said it or how his translator decided to word it, I think more people here might agree with him.

Not really.

If you look at realistic war FPS titles. Then sure, those games are similar.

If you look at fighting games, then sure, those games are similar.

If you look at kid-friendly platformers then sure those games are similar.

But the wide range of all types combined? He's being silly.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Nintendo rehashes stuff based off single IP's, the rest rehash stuff across many IP's. Its the same but different....

 

[Trishbot]

Other companies: "you will play the game the way we want, how we want, when we want. We wish to control your gaming experience."

Shigeru Miyamoto: "I strive to make the person playing the game the director."

Earlier quote: "I good game lets a player play the game the way they wish to play it, not the way the developer's intended."

I like this man so much.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Huh. It's like Metroid Prime vs Halo all over again; only now with a mountain of hindsight.

On one hand, few companies have relied so heavily on milking their core franchises for their business as Nintendo.
The repetition of elements in many of their games is why I just stopped bothering.

On the other, Nintendo has put numerous spins on many of those franchises and emphasizes the gameplay over forced cinematic elements.

 

[Davroth]

Hating on Nintendo sure seems popular these days. I wonder why that is.

 

[Guffe]

The thing is mr. Miyamoto, that boring and samey business strategy brings in shitloads of money every year, why change a strategy that works?
This new CoD (or is it Battlefield) which is set in the future seemed to rattle its gameplay up a bit with stealth gadgets, doubel jump and such.
And for everyone stating Nintendo just repeats the same shit all the time... no... I don't have the energy to do this -.-

Also:
Why all the hate between consoles? (or it's mainly between the "fans" of the different consoles)
If you don't like it you don't, enjoy the stuff you like and leave the rest be.

 

[WendelI]

i would agree that even though they keep recycling poor little Mario his games have had some variety in game play at the very least in the last couple of years.

 

[klaynexas3]

Yeah, Miyamoto, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on this one. Exclusives are not a good thing for consumers. It can be a good thing for developers that can't afford a major publisher and so cut deals with Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo to do their game exclusively on that console, and I won't argue with that as if it weren't for those deals we wouldn't see some games made. However, to suggest that a company that has the resources to put their game on all consoles to not do that is just stupid and harmful to all people involved. It hurts the company because they've limited their overall audience and hurts the consumer by forcing them into a corner of either not getting the game or having to drop a couple hundred extra to buy said game.

I almost wish he was talking about the games themselves being samey, I could at least get behind that in some of the sense(and despite Mario having gotten stale, the other Nintendo IPs are still keeping somewhat fresh). I'm sorry Miyamoto, but you have some dated ideas and policies that harm most people involved.

 

[Ishal]

For a man that caters to a niche market and hasn't produced new games of "legend" status for almost two decades you'd think he'd mind his tongue.

I agree. But what do you mean by niche market?

Kids? Diehard Nintendo fans who are in their 20's/30's that buy everything they put out?

It's always fascinated me how certain fans, both Nintendo and otherwise tend to act. There's the "hardcore" gamers and the hardcore Nintendo fans. I've often heard Nintendo fans say that Ninty shouldn't cater to hardcore gamers because they're not worth it. Instead they should focus on the kids, which is a stable market.

I never really understood that. Hardcore gamer is a nebulous term, but among the many meanings that are often assigned to it, gaming enthusiast or hobbyist are usually among them. It seems to me that if a gamer is truly hardcore, then they would probably go out of their way to own multiple systems. Especially if there are enticing titles on those systems that make them worth buying. If Nintendo made another good Metroid game, that alone would make me consider picking up the console at one point or another. Does that make me a hardcore gamer? I own a 360, PS3, and will soon be acquiring a better gaming PC.

My point is, I just don't see how it's wise to write off so many people with such broad strokes. Same with the third parties and competition. There are tons of other people they could be trying to win over, and they don't even have to join the "next gen" race against Sony or Microsoft. It's just about the games and IP's. They could do it, but judging from this, they won't. Don't want to be "boring."

 

[KazeAizen]

"Shame on you for not evolving."
"Instead, you think of game mechanics and then slap old characters on them and "Story" is an afterthought at best. Shameful."

Thee is so much bitterness here I can't even fathom. Shame on them for not evolving into what? The current state of the AAA developer? No thank you. That would only destroy them.

Also how dare they try and focus on the thing that makes video games different from every other entertainment medium on the planet instead of a story. Shame on them indeed.

 

[144_v1legacy]

Wait, is he calling out the lack of diversity in the games not made by Nintendo or is he calling out the practice of releasing games on multiple platforms?

If its the former, he can fuck off since the creative output of Nintendo has basically spent the last decade or so remaking the same dozen or so games with progressively more bells and whistles.

If its the latter, he can fuck off since platform exclusives need to go extinct. If you want people to buy your console, then make a good console first. Basically holding your games hostage might sway some people, but theese days there just arent any true system selling games anymore.

You see, normally at this point I'd ask you if you've ever played a Zelda game. But you'd lie and say yes. And I'd know you were lying, because to describe Nintendo franchises as the same games with progressively more bells and whistles (especially in the presence of other franchises) already gives you away. Did you not read a single post in this thread before commenting? Or are you trolling?

Why bother posting anything if youre just going to pre-emptively ignore any counter argument i present?

And i have played Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. I didnt enjoy either of them, therefore as far as youre concerned i am some retarded late-90's kid who couldnt comprehend some unseen quality that youre certain theese games have.

But if you took that for bait, then that speaks volumes on your dispositon when it comes to all things Nintendo.

Upon reflection, that was a pretty douchbaggy thing for me to post. But I stand by my initial sentiment. You don't seem like someone who's played those games. Your words and phrasing don't give that impression. Anyone can say they own every console. But your tone sounds like the tone of someone who has a predefined opinion without the experience behind it. You've watched, or perhaps sampled, some games. You haven't played them. I think this is analogous: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qM-gZintWDc

 

[Tyranicus]

Yeah right cause the "New" Smash Brothers isn't samey at all. Stop beating a dead horse and come up with something new Nintendo.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Mr. Miyamoto, the pot's calling. It wants to know if you're black, too.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Thee is so much bitterness here I can't even fathom. Shame on them for not evolving into what? The current state of the AAA developer? No thank you. That would only destroy them.

Also how dare they try and focus on the thing that makes video games different from every other entertainment medium on the planet instead of a story. Shame on them indeed.

That's the funny part; the current industry hasn't evolved but regressed. I do find it funny how we have all these self-proclaimed auteurs crying about evolving the industry and focusing on "cinematic" experiences and the thing that comes to mind is PC adventure games. Specifically the shitty, celebrity-cameod FMV phase where such qualities were used to try and disguise the fact that they were terribly designed, boring, and a complete deadend for gaming. It's just another example of an industry that has learned nothing. And considering how all those companies who keep pushing such a crappy, homogenized future are now struggling to make bank, I think the universe is in agreement with Miyamoto.