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Miyamoto Steps Down As Nintendo Game Design Head
RobinEggs writes "Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator and producer of the Zelda and Mario franchises among other works, is stepping down at Nintendo. After personally managing Nintendo's blockbuster franchises for ~20 years, Miyamoto said today: 'What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself. Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small.'" Update: 12/08 21:35 GMT by T : Note that Nintendo is careful to say that this is not retirement, even if Miyamoto's role at Nintendo changes.
Reading the headline, I was quite sad, but the summary makes me excited for what he's going to come out with! Rock on Miyamoto!
Nintendo already came out and said he was not stepping down. slashdot is behind like always
Nintendo has apparently already denied this.
http://spong.com/article/25917/Nintendo-Strongly-Denies-Miyamoto-Retirement
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114616-Miyamoto-is-Not-Stepping-Down
http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1214255p1.html
Word from Nintendo is that Miyamoto is NOT stepping down and this was a misinterpretation.
The worst and best video game news of the week, right here. Hopefully he comes out with another great franchise with some amazing mechanics that are just plain old fun.
There's a reason there is no "Disagree" mod...
http://blog.esuteru.com/archives/5428429.html
I found this page recently, it's scans of a Japanese magazine interview where Hayao Miyazaki (of Ghibli) talks with Shigeru Miyamoto about game ideas. It was in the '90s.
I don't have time to translate the thing, so maybe someone here could try?
There's a part where Miyazaki seems to be proposing a open-world game where you could be a WWII pilot flying off on a mission - or stay on the ground and grow potatos until you're captured by the Americans.
Shigeru's response: "Hmmm"
I bet he's had to deal with a lot of strange ideas over the years :D
He probably saw minecraft's influence.. as much as he helped totally change gaming by evolving Mario, Link from 2d ORIGINALS with *true* gameplay that has lasted the test of time (SMB1,2,3 & Link to the Past), and then moving Mario, Link into 3D very successfully.. he probably saw that one dev DOES has the power to affect gaming and gameplay (please, not talking about angry birds and crap like that).
Mr. Miyamoto, please make some cool original stuff like Minecraft did. Blaze the trail !
What, seriously?
Shigeru Miyamoto is by far the most famous person with the Miyamoto surname. Especially outside of Japan. Don't be ridiculous with the "who else thought of" type posts.
Hey, apparently this isn't true. Nintendo's official denial has been circulating for a few hours now - before the original post.
"Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto's role at Nintendo is not changing. He will continue to be a driving force in Nintendo's development efforts. In discussing his priorities at Nintendo in a media interview, Mr. Miyamoto explained how he is encouraging the younger developers at the company to take more initiative and responsibility for developing software. He attempted to convey his priorities moving forward, inclusive of overseeing all video game development and ensuring the quality of all products. Mr. Miyamoto also discussed his desire to pursue fresh ideas and experiences of the kind that sparked his initial interest in video games."
from http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2011/12/nintendo_miyamoto_is_not_stepping_down
and many other places.
I read that as he wants to make iPhone games. So much of his stuff is really experimental. If he wasn't tied to alway making another "blockbuster" for Nintendo, we'd probably see a lot more games.
He would mop up the cash with 2-3 new franchises and the Angry Birds model of small, regular updates.
I did. But this is the new Slashdot. I doubt many people here have read The Book of Five Rings or are interested in Japanese culture. Your would have gotten a better response on 4chan.
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
It's sad when you can claim a better understanding of culture and history exists in a cesspit like 4chan, and be correct.
Is this really the case? I'm sure I heard that 3DS sales were looking pretty good
Yeah, here it is: http://uk.gamespot.com/news/3ds-sales-on-track-to-best-ds-first-year-in-us-6345402
3DS first-year sales in the US may overtake the DS; 250,000 Wiis sold in the past year. And Skyward Sword rumoured to be the best Zelda game yet.
Not too sure they're "sliding" anywhere!
I did. But this is the new Slashdot. I doubt many people here have read The Book of Five Rings or are interested in Japanese culture. Your would have gotten a better response on 4chan.
So let me get this straight. The "new Slashdot" actually respects the old-school and can recognize the names of people responsible for some of the best of what Japanese gaming has to offer (and what saved the US video game market after the crash). And... that's somehow NOT an interest in Japanese culture, even peripherally? And, when given the name of the creator of the Mario and Legend of Zelda series, amongst the most famous video games in the history of the artform, in the context of Nintendo, we were supposed to pull two wholly unrelated names out of our asses?
I... what? It... how does that even... are you high? Like, right now? That has to be one of the most surreal trollings I've seen in ages.
My reward for being a good designer/coder was to oversee a large design/code team. I miss designing/coding.
What's really sad is regarding some crappy Asian pulp movie as a source of culture and history.
Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
They may be looking good compared to other portable game systems - but honestly, the portable game system market is facing tough competition from smartphones and higher-end MP3 players that run smartphone OSes (such as iPod Touch, and the Samsung Galaxy Player series)
Yes and no. While there is competition, I'd like to point out that the original DS didn't have that type of competition and did comparatively worse at launch. I suspect the market that has been really latching onto gaming on apple / android devices wouldn't be gaming otherwise.
The core demographic that Nintendo targets is kids. While some have iPods or phones, many don't. Mobile games have served to expand the market without a sizable impact. The main sales that these new mobile games are going to steal come from the Brain Age / Nintendogs playing adults. Those sales took the DS to crazy insane numbers, but didn't really move that many titles. It will hurt slightly to lose them, but Nintendo still has Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon to do the real damage with.
As a gamer, I find the really good iphone / android titles entertaining, but they are nothing compared to many of the titles for the (3)DS. Most mobile games are too limited in gameplay for my tastes. So while i've helped that new market grow, it hasn't hurt my purchases of traditional handheld games.
actually I consider obsessions with japanese culture to be an extension of inferiority complex that comes from low self esteem. A slashdot without so much of that is a benefit. the people i've known like that were truly pathetic as they'd put japan on a pedestal and try their damnedest to act, think, and look like stereotypical japanese. of course they weren't fooling anyone and just ended up looking like total idiots. I'd also think that a genuine japanese would find this behavior somewhat offensive.
It's funny, we say the same thing about American culture in Asia.
If he's not stepping down, I'm kinda sad. I was hoping that this would motivate Nintendo to actually create something new. I'm personally getting a bit sick and tired of every single piece of Nintendo hardware doing little more than showing off some useless gimmick and launching with nothing but rehashes of 20 year old games. Nintendo as a whole is slipping into irrelevance.
The Amarri pray for god, the Caldari pray for profit. the Gallente pray for peace, but the Minmatar pray their ships hol
"Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small."
This coupled with other statements regarding "retirement" to me structure a rather specific narrative. Perhaps "burnt out" is a rather strong statement but all the same he's clearly stating he wants to slow down and play the role of the sage elder/grandpa.
I took it more as evidence that managing huge multi-year projects is not as fun as building something with more immediate turnaround times. Skyward Sword, from what I've heard, is the culmination of a longstanding dream of Miyamoto's to build a Zelda game where you could actually control the sword and shield instead of just mashing thumbs. But it took years to complete, and I bet Miyamoto spent most of that time dealing with management-type work rather than getting into the nitty gritty of creating a game.
He's a gaming kind of guy, and he's been big on new ideas over the course of his career, so if he gets out of managing huge projects and gets back into designing and making smaller games, I predict an increase in the number of interesting ideas that Nintendo can implement. I heard that Nintendo's share price took a dip on this news, but I think that's only because analysts hadn't really digested this -- sure, if Miyamoto left Nintendo, that'd be bad; but if he's getting back into active game design, that can only be a big plus, in my eyes anyway.
Cheers,
"What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
"A four-foot prune."
Also, outside of Japan people are usually referred to by their family name and Miyamoto Musashi is the most famous person with the Miyamoto family name.
However, in all fairness, it is rather unlikely that a samurai who spent the last 366 years being dead would be a game design head at Nintendo.
Real life is overrated.
I think what Miyamoto is doing is going to turn out really good for not only Nintendo, but the gaming industry as a whole. One can use their talents not only to create, but also identify who has the potential to create things. As companies and industries grow, they tend to get less flexible, esp. towards those at the "bottom rungs" of the corporate ladder. This is especially true in Japan, where seniority is everything(there are still Japanese companies that don't give out merit based pay raises). Miyamoto is almost 60, he realizes that he doesn't have a huge amount of time left before retirement, and rather than just continue to do what he has done, only to leave a huge void at the top, it looks like he is devoting his last years at Nintendo to giving younger developers the exact same opportunity he was given.
When he first started out, he was an employee at a relatively small company trying to break into a very small industry, and as such there were very few people to push back when he tried to push the boundaries. Now fast forward a few decades and you have this massive industry comprised of massive companies, there is going to be push back when you try to push the boundaries, and massive hurdles to clear if you do, esp. if you want to do so while working for an already established company. By becoming a mentor Miyamoto can use his prestige to help elevate some of the good ideas and people that otherwise might have otherwise been wasted toiling at the bottom rung. It's actually a shame that more visionaries aren't like Miyamoto and spend their last years working as advisors and cultivators of good ideas. While I'm sure his input will be missed at the top levels, he can do the company a lot more good spending his final years trying to identify and help the people that will one day take his place.
Monstar L
Yes, Shiggy stepping down is a good thing and he will be missed. But I feel there is more to the story than this.
The Japanese Video Game Industry has stagnated. All the real development cash cows are here in the United States.
I think it is very important to point out that there is a strong possibility that Miyamoto stepping down is very likely him making an attempt to reinvent himself and, by extension, the JVGI.
I really hope it works out. There hasn't really been an over-the-top, flashy game that was enjoyable to play since Zone of the Enders 2. As good as the games are that are made in the states, we focus too much on "realism". We still just don't have anything that mimics the flashy antics of Japanese design.
Mod me down, I shall become more off-topic than you could possibly imagine.
Ok, gotta reply.
Surname=Family name: Miyamoto.
Given Name=Personal name: Shigeru
Shigeru Miyamoto is an Anglicization of his name, and you just corrected me without either
A. Looking up his name for yourself and seeing the Japanese order being Miyamoto Shigeru
or
B. Understanding the word I used.
I wouldn't mind that, except somehow you got modded to +5 informative for an incorrect correction. Slashdot depresses me.