Miyamoto celebrates 25 years at Nintendo

Wow, interesting fact. Hard to believe that Shigeru Miyamoto's been designing games for Nintendo since Donkey Kong back in 1981. By far one of the largest known gaming pioneers, he has been a big, BIG influence on gaming history. I sorta gotta wonder how he does it after all these years, ever since Donkey Kong to Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess, he's been an icon behind all the various game franchises that we know and love.

What do you feel his biggest accomplishments were during his quarter-century reign, and how do you feel he will continue his dominance in Nintendo during the Wii launch? Which games do you think were his finest works of art and gameplay? How has he influenced you, and how you design games? This is, by far, one of the big milestones that marks a historic game designer legend. Seems like Miyamoto has a lot to be proud of being there that long.

Most of his games have been fantastic: Including:

Super Mario World (SNES)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
Pilotwings (SNES)
Super Mario Karts (SNES)

Super Mario 64 (N64)
Super Mario Karts (N64)
Zelda - Ocarina of Time (N64)

Pikmin (GC)
Zelda The WInd Waker (GC)


The timing and design of some of these games are just the best they could be.

I have to say I also loved to pieces some of the offerings from Rare (which no doubt had some Shigsy influence): Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie.

The man is a genius, and I have no doubt he is behind some of the innovations that Nintendo have brought to gaming such as, analogue joystick, rumble packs, strange and ingeneous ways of controlling games, and the Wii.

The man is sheer genius - he is the Einstein of games.

IPete2.

he also worked on many Metroid games and jsut about every series nintendo has made

Did he have a hand in New Super Maios Bros. on the DS? I can't play that game without a stupid great grin on my face.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that he also helped Namco out with Pac-Man World to bring it to the GameCube as well, I know that, he was mentioned on the PMW games a few times already.

He didn't originally want to be involved in games. He originally wanted to be a musician. He revolutionized the industry because he tried to turn the games industry (which was very simplistic at the time), more toward the movie industry (where we actually associated emotion with a character or story line).

Yes, he is a great man.

I wonder how much he earns?! I bet Microsoft and Sony have tried to poach him. :P

Search google videos or you tube and you will find a video of him playing old nes songs on his acoustic guitar. I guess that he wrote a lot of the songs for nes games on his guitar. Cool guy.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=996818693476191071&q=Shigeru+Miyamoto&hl=en

And that game was tetris. Originally purchased by nintendo from a russian programmer who had no idea he had a hit on his hands.

I saw this whole series on TLC a few months back.

*yawn*


seriously, its late.

Yep, and that Russian programmer was none other than Alexey Pajitnov. Rather decent guy, however, when he came here to the states, little did he know that he'd be working for Bill Gates and the crew doing online arcade games. Hexic being their most popular, 2nd to Tetris.

I've always considered Miyamoto to be rather overrated. I hate it when westerners start fawning over him and calling him "Miyamoto-san". Wake up! You're not Japanese, it makes you sound like a fanboi.

The same goes for other self-styled, pretentious game gurus. Yes, Molyneux, I'm looking at you.

Luckily, JustLuke, individual opinions are welcome...

that is what makes the world go around (and stop occasionally to ask hhmmm am I right)...

But when someone leads the way, breaking down old constraints and introducing new, totally innovative ideas and generally writing history as he travels along by the weight of sheer brilliance, and you do it first and to such a degree that no one else can touch you, well then it can't be argued with.

I don't call hm Miyamoto - san I call him Shiggys. He is certainly up there with the ultimate game designers and producers of all time in my book, which (to me personally) is the one which counts. Oh and for the record, you CANNOT call him overrated just because peolpe fawn to him, that is just daft!

IPete2.

And what if you ARE a "Fanboi"!?

Then, er, go ahead and call him Miyamoto-san, Cygnus-san.

Actually my sister just returned a couple of months back from a 5 year tour in japan (courtesy of the US Navy). She says that adding the -san after a mans name is to show respect (think of it like saying Mr <insert last name here>). She studied the language for all 5 years during her stay with some old jap guy and his family. The same goes for when your speaking to an elder, your supposed to use a much more complicated version of the language to show respect as well.

Personally, I believe he made some GREAT contributions to the industry, and I have always been a huge fan of zelda (huge).

Wish I were one of them, would be able to retire young, and develop game/game ideas as a hobby.


And yeah Dark, it's a formal approach, -san for adults, -kun for kids, -sama for women you hold in higher regards....or at least that I remember of......but I dislike when they're used in English, english language has it's own means of formal adressings.

I also hold Miyamoto "up there", I grew up off his games, playing the NES all day pretty much defines my childhood. ;/

Agreed. I consider him overrated because he's had just as many failures as successes; a fact that people conveniently seem to forget or gloss over.

>I wonder how much he earns?! I bet Microsoft and Sony have tried to poach him. :P

He probably does okay but it's generally not about money for Japanese people. You aren't going to poach him with offers of money.

When I did some work with Nintendo a few years back I heard he was on a fairly ordinary salary. Since then he's become a board member so he probably makes a lot more.

It's all about seniority over there rather than money.

er... failures? can you provide this failure list please so I can see what you are talking about Luke?

IPete2.

Ah, I see. I confess I find Japanese culture fascinating, but know very little about it. Never been there, but I plan to one day.

I'd like to know, too. I'm not familiar with ALL of Miyamoto's games, but I couldn't think of one of his that was a failure. Please enlighten me. ;)

Mario Sunshine? Yoshi's Story?

Also, the Nintendo Wii - possibly the most misguided game console since the Atari Jaguar - which I am sure is heavily influenced by the guy.

Don't think I've played Yoshi's Story, but, Mario Sunshine????? I absolutely loved that game - how are you claiming that to be a failure? Didn't it sell very well, or something? :/

OK, now you're just taking the pi**. :P

The Wii will crash and burn just like the N64 and Gamecube. More so, in fact, because the only selling point it has is a gimmicky controller that the buying public won't care about.

Tell that to all the Zelda fanboys, seriously, Nintendo has the franchises set in place to backup a hopefully successful launch, so even if the system isn't "all that", it's always about the games in the end.

Nintendo are "taking the Wii" out of Sony and MS TBH. They're proving they know what they are doing and doing so without putting themselves out, like MS and Sony.


OH:





Thanks Luke. May the force be with you.

JustLuke,


Hmmm... It doesn't take 5 mins to check out your idea that "Mario Sunshine" was a 'failure':

Taken from: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=628






I would hardly call 16 milion units installed in a two year period a "Crash and Burn" scenario ! I think you are dreaming dude.



IPete2.

The article you quoted was dated 03/09/2002.

How popular has the Gamecube been since then in comparison to the Xbox and Playstation? At the time the article was written, the Gamecube was still fairly new and fresh. Initial success can be explained away as sales to the Nintendo fans and the type of hardcore gamers who always purchase the latest consoles by the big three, but the facts speak for themselves - once the usual suspects bought the console it experienced a steep drop off in the number of units sold (compared to the competition) because it did not appeal to the mainstream.

You are using an extremely old article in a misleading way. If it had been written this year then you might have had a point. As it is, the article proves nothing.

Perhaps Mario Sunshines initial success could be attributed to the fact that the Nintendo consoles are typically starved of quality third party titles, resulting in every major Mario/Zelda (etc) release being a big deal. It certainly didn't get glowing reviews when it was released. I distinctly remember that the general reaction to the game was one of disappointment.

JustLuke,

Well it seems you alter the perspective on your arguement all the time, especially when you are shown sales figures - which prove the game was not a failure but somewhat of a success - which was the discussion to begin with.

A list is what we asked for - you sited 2 games - I took one of them and showed you it was a multimillion seller but you want more modern figures, not ones from when the game was selling, ok then here's information from an article published on July 12th 2006. (That's this year by the way!).

In fact the total sales for Super Mario Sunshine is currently in the region of 5.5 million - hardly a failure (and as I remember Miyamoto wasn't actually that heavily involved in that particular game any way).

Edge - the leading entertainment magazine, known for harsh marks and telling the shocking truth about videogames gave the game 9/10 - not a bad score for such a failure. You are NOT wrong that this game was not as big a success as the previous Mario Games, but I could add that as people had a much wider choice they chose to purchase other, competitors systems, because they had the choice, and they preferred the other brands, that is not unusual in any marketplace.

I tell you what let's stop the bickering and figure out what we would have spent our 10% of 5.56 million x £40. That is a very nice chunk of money which ever way you look at it.

BTW for those without a calculator thats £222.4 million - a pretty great failure in my eyes and not at all a bad return on the investment.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


With failures like that I think Nintendo will carry on doing what they do best, which is supply great entertainment software to a smaller, refined customer base, who knows what a real game should be like - full of game play.


IPete2.

Oh and as my last word on the subject for now, here's some other Nintendo sales figures from 2006:

Top 10 games sold on GameCube.

Nintendo GameCube games that have sold more than one million copies worldwide as of March 2006.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (6.05 million)
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (6.01 million)
Super Mario Sunshine (5.56 million)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (4.32 million)
Luigi's Mansion (3.27 million)
Metroid Prime (2.77 million)
Pokémon Colosseum (2.50 million)
Mario Party 4 (2.43 million)
Sonic Adventure 2: (2.33 million)
Animal Crossing (2.24 million)


Hmm 3rd out of ALL the games sold on Game Cube, certainly a failure - NOT!

And it beat Wind Waker - that is a surprise!


To put these figures into TRUE perspective only 10 games sold more on the PS2:

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (14.36 million)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (13.63 million)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (13.44 million)
Grand Theft Auto III (11.42 million)
Final Fantasy X (7.93 million)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (7.01 million)
Gran Turismo 4 (6.58 million)
Need for Speed Underground (6.47 million)
Medal of Honor: Frontline (6.22 million)
Need for Speed Underground 2 (6.12 million)
Kingdom Hearts (5.21 million) [LESS THAN SMS]


AND only 2 games sold more on the Xbox.

Halo 2 (7.75 million)
Halo: Combat Evolved (6.61 million)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (3 million) [ LESS THAN SMS]


I think that says EVERYTHING - I thank you!


IPete2.

Hmm, I can see why Super Smash Bros. Melee came in first. Maybe it got all those future Wii owners all worked up that is got everyone excited into getting a GameCube in anticipation for SSB: Brawl for the Wii, if I'm putting two and two together.

Figures are MARCH 2006 RAM, pre any substantial Wii announcement.

IPete2.

@IPete2:
Can you say check AND mate!?!

@JustLuke:
You know, for someone claiming to be interested in breaking into this industry, you sure are quick to condem it's many great pioneers.....

A Second lesson for you in Games Development is that a game doesn't necessarily make alot of money quickly, it takes time. Unlike the movie industry which judgest a failure based on it's opening weekend, a game takes a year at least to properly decide.


Right here thank you! The only reason I got a GC was to play Windwaker, after that it went to my son who plays things like bomberman, monkeyball, mario sunshine (*AHEM*), and smash brothers melee.

I will probably buy a Wii to play Twilight Princess as well. Not because I respect Miyamoto, but because that franchise is the sole source of my respect for him (Zelda is always fun to play).

Well, some people that speculate that Resident Evil 4 was the reason to get a GameCube, well, that's great for the older crowd like us, but SSB: Melee and Mario Kart Double Dash seem to be best for the first party titles, that could change, too. IMHO, Super Paper Mario may be up there when that gets released. Confidentially, I almost thought that the original Paper Mario would've made it into the top ten.

Ha - I was a part of the industry for many years - never again! Now it's purely for personal interest, I won't ever make it my career again.

Sensible chap! ;)

IPete2.

Not to mention that Miyamoto had an influence on many different game designers out there in Japan. One of my favorites outside of Nintendo, obviously, would have to be Hideo Kojima. Yu Suzuki rounds off my top 3 Japanese game designers. As far as ones in this country, you got Peter Molyneux, John Carmack, Tim Schaefer, Nolan Bushnell, all the greats that started the popular gaming industry, and those who reinvented different genres. Miyamoto had a lot of influence on a global basis, on both sides of the globe. There's no way you can say no to a Miyamoto game.

Dont forget Will Wright.

Peter Molyneux is American?

No.

Well, not natively, but he has worked here for years with Bullfrog, Electronic Arts, Lionhead, now Microsoft. Seems like Molyneux just can't escape the corporate dollar that much, just can't stay independent for long now, can he?

Isn't Lionhead based in the UK?