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Miyamoto Interview Discusses, Defends GTA
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing us to this interview with Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto conducted on Gamespy. Particularly interesting is his attitude to the Grand Theft Auto series (he says "I think we should welcome this game" when asked about it), and his contention that taking the Mario series into 3D has reduced the user base, because 3D games are so much more complicated.
everytime I read something by him, I realise why he has been so successful. To bad People can't get past the idea that graphics make the game enjoyable, I can't recall a game of his i haven't enjoyed.
In the side-scrolling Mario games, the perspective is quite unnatural in that your character moves in only one dimension. Adding to that problem (?) is that what you are seeing isn't necessarily all that Mario would see. For example, if there's a big pit coming up and I'm running as fast as I can, my avatar should be seeing that pit before it appears on my screen (and I inevitably go running right over the edge). In 3D platforming games, I get to see everything (depending on the camera and the depth rendered) that my character could see. So, if I'm going straight ahead, I'm going to see any osbstructions or pitfalls that are straight ahead of my character.
That's the mechanical side, but then there's the comfort side. I'm quite used to moving [rarely] in three dimensions in real life, and that translates to me feeling more comfortable playing a game that simulates that kind of natural movement.
I suppose small children and new gamers may find the simplicity inherent in side scrollers to be easier, and Miyamoto may be referring to those kinds of gamers instead of the gaming world overall (very possible since I think Miyamoto is the kind of game designer who wants to get new people hooked - "Try it once. It feels good."). Of course, I wonder if he would have preferred to design Pikmin in 2D (I doubt it).
In short, for me, if the controls and camera are working I have a much easier time gaming in 3D than I have in 2D...though I'm still going to get Viewtiful Joe. :)
Well, I can honestly say, that with all the dev companies out there, anything that Miyamoto-san puts his hands on are the only games that I will buy absolutely blindly. I've never been disappointed yet.
Now consider your interface to the 3D world. We move around with our legs, we interact with our environment with our hands, and we tilt our neck or shift our eyes to look around. With a video game, our interface is through a controller.
Now, even though Mario Sunshine's 3D world is more like our own world than, say, Super Mario Bros. 3, the differences in perception and interaction are vastly different. That can make it cognitively difficult to interact with these video game worlds.
I play lots of video games, so I'm used to it. It's not as natural to me as interacting with the real world via my own body, but it's not too bad. But for anyone who isn't used to that, it can be really difficult.
Learn to Play Go
Your argument has everything to do with trying to match the game to real life and has nothing to do with what makes a game fun. A typical approach of amateur game designers is to try to mimick the real world as much as possible. Great designers know that what's fun may very well be and often is something different. And believe me, as a developer at a major game studio, I've seen the amateur mistake made so many times that as soon as I see the designer talking about how something is or isn't true to the real world I've come to immediately write him off.
You're reading something into my screed that just isn't there.
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P.S. Bite! You've been bitten by the Original AIDS Monkey! You have AIDS now!
But this may be because you are bringing more experience and knowledge of games to Mario Sunshine than most people might.
In a side scrolling someone might have to learn how to move left and right and jump.
In a 3d game you have to learn how to move forwards and backwards, strafe, turn by rotation or by a combination of camera angle and stick direction. You also need some way of manipulating the camera angle, something that is completely unnatural to a non gamer.
If you don't believe that there is any truth in this, do your own market research. Find someone who doesn't really play games, try to get them to play a game on a mobile phone, a mario game on the GBA advance and Mario Sunshine. See which one they have the most fun with in a short amount of time.
Ok think about this, how many of you have played through Super Mario Brothers on your NES or SNES and loved it? - most who played it i would guess. How many of you played through Super mario world and loved it, again most, same goes for the lost levels and Super mario brothers 3 (2 was a disaster but then the game was converted from japanese from another game which wasnt even anything to do with mario) I played super mario 64 and it was great, however it wasnt as good as the old 2d sidescrollers, i prefered all of them. I dont want to do different challenges over the same landscape, id rather do lots of varying stuff like in 2d. I also played the other day super mario sunshine, the graphics were stunning, but the gameplay was a little boring. Nintendo, make us all some more 2d mario games - please.
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Well my three year old son can play Mario Sunshine. He likes to make Mario run into walls on purpose and to make Mario slide on his stomache, but he is able to play it. The only trouble he has is when he gets Mario into the water, but even then he can usually work Mario back onto land.
These new games are to TV what motion pictures were to literature.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
A valid point...but one I offered, however briefly, in my initial post.
The problem with 3D platform games is making jumps. It's very hard to properly judge the distance to jump unless you have a side view - which is what you always have in a 2D game. In 3D though, it's not always possible to get a good camera angle. This is the main reason the waterpack was added to Mario Sunshine - to allow you to land jumps easier.
remember, our TV screens tend to be 2D, as well.