Interviewing the Gamemakers (Day 1)

All this week, Next Generation is interviewing some of the folks behind the industry's big players. In collaboration with Edge Magazine, they have Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto talking about the future of the gaming industry. From that article: "I think that by the end of the last year, DS was selling very well to all kinds of people - ladies in their 20s, people in their 50s - and for many of them the DS was the very first games console they had ever purchased in their lives. And actually, many people in the industry and in Nintendo thought that maybe these newcomers to the gaming world would be only interested in the games like Brain Training, that maybe they would not be purchasing any more games afterwards. However, the fact of the matter is that they are now buying a lot of the so-called traditional games, including Super Mario 64, so that was a big surprise for us." Additional interviewees below if you Read More.

Comments

This is a good sign, it seems.

[AlexanderDitto]

I'm encouraged by the fact that Nintendo seems to be going about this the right way: getting people genuinley interested in video games by introducing them to the titles that have broad appeal and are easy to play. Gradually, these people become aware that, "hey, there are more games out there that look fun that AREN'T about puppies or Sudoku. I'll give them a whirl!"

So Nintendo's not trying to force gaming upon the world, but is instead showing people that, surprise surprise, games are fun, opening the door for them to buy more games. (If they're Nintendo games, and the company happens to make massive profits, so be it.)

Maybe I'm just an optimist, but perhaps one day, saying that you're a gamer will be a taboo no more. Perhaps one day it will be as blasé as telling someone you enjoy movies or television. No more shall the scorn of the world fall upon the shoulders of the gaming culture! Throw off thy shackles, Hallelujah!

Nintendo gets a +5, Brilliant for this one.