Shigeru Miyamoto Nominated in Time Magazine
Splitt3r wrote with a link to the Kotaku site on Shigeru Miyamoto's Nomination as one of this year's 100 most influential people at the Time Magazine site. "PRO: Most successful game designer, creator of Super Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda, whose new platform, the Wii, is currently the top-selling game console. CON: His perfectionist tendencies often result in games being significantly delayed and, despite the Wii's gameplay innovation, its graphics are far behind the competition." Voting is currently ongoing at the site, if you're interested in swaying the vote.
...including a mention of him receiving a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Game Developer's Choice Awards are on thenewsroom.
The Army reading list
Compared to a lot of the other people on this list, I honestly think he deserves a spot. The Nintendo Wii and the DS have really shaped up to be great gaming products that have in some ways changed how the industry has to think about games. I'm not going to say the Wii has revolutionized the gaming world. Maybe if the next generation of consoles all featured similar motion sensing technology, but not quite yet.
From personal experience though, I'd have to say the Wii has been a major breakthrough in the gaming market. I had taken mine home over Christmas and for the first time in his life, my father actually played a video game. Even more stunning, he enjoyed it. I can't ever see him being a hardcore gamer like myself, but it was really great being able to share something with him that's a big part of my life and is something that I enjoy doing with my time. I'll still enjoy things like going fishing together or watching ball games with him, but it's nice to know that if we ever wanted to, we could enjoy a few hours together playing Wii Sports.
I like at a lot of the other people on that list and there are many that have legitimate reasons to be there, but there are also a lot that don't. Maybe some of them have brought about a unique experience in your life like the Wii did in mine, but I think that's really what pushes me over the edge when considering whether or not Miyamoto belongs there. From reading comments on Slashdot over the past months I know that I'm not the only one out there who's had something like this happen.
I always thought he was an obscure Mortal Kombat character, but according to his profile, he's a Korean R&B and Pop star. He has done some live shows in the US (2 sold out shows at Madison Square Garden) but has yet to hit it big in the US. My guess is that his ballot box is being stuffed by otaku fan girls.
They must really have been stretching for something to put in the CON field. Heck, I'd consider everything they listed as a PRO aspect. Gameplay > graphics, and I'd rather a game delayed 3 months or more to make sure it works rather than release something halfassed that needs patches later on.
Some of the people on that list simply aren't that influencial and others are clearly listed simply for name recognition. Rain, a Korean musician? Unless he's the Korean version of the Beatles, I'll pass. Osama Bin Laden? Last time I checked, hes been hiding in a cave fighting his own organization for leadership. George W. Bush at #98?! I hate his policies, but in terms of world influence, hes pretty damned important.
You have a decision with this generation whether you want to deal with "last-gen quality" graphics or "last-gen quality" control. The same argument can be made that both Microsoft and Sony "Crippled" their system by adopting a control scheme that's 10 years old, and makes certain games (like WiiSports) impossible in their current form.
Even more worrying, the Wii worlds possibly are also going to be smaller.
Twilight Princess.