Updated: 29 Jun 2016 6:22 pm
Posted: 17 Jun 2010 11:40 pm
Read on as we discuss his thoughts on the 3DS and the competition offered by Sony, Microsoft and Apple, and get some once-and-for-all clarity on his opinion of the original Donkey Kong Country. And oh, is that some new information on Pikmin 3 as well? Absolutely. Dive in, friends.
IGN: To start us off, what happened to the Vitality Sensor?
Miyamoto: It's actually progressing quite well. We could have shown it here at E3 if we wanted to, but the environment here isn't really suited to that game. E3 is pretty exciting, and that's a device that's all about relaxation. So it just wasn't the best time or place to show that game. But it is ready, so we'll probably find another place that's more suitable to announce it. But I'm not directly involved in that project.
IGN: Other than revealing that the 3DS has improved wireless (like with the tag mode) and improved always-on features at Wi-Fi spots, there wasn't much talk about any improved online strategies. I'm wondering, what is Nintendo doing to improve the online experience? Both on the portables as well as Wii?
Miyamoto: We're obviously in an era now where wireless connectivity is pretty pervasive, and you can find it anywhere. And because of that we're going to continue to look at ways to supplement our online experience. But I think the thing that's important to keep in mind is that as long as the technology is the same, then the services that people offer are all going to tend to gravitate toward the same kinds of things. Nintendo's way is that what we're going to be focused on is what we can do with that online experience, to make it feel unique and more Nintendo-like.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Nintendo Wii Interview - E3 2010: Miyamoto Interview
One of the reasons we're focusing on the Tag Mode (or Bark Mode) is that we're looking at ways to not only implement that kind of virtual connection to a network, but also to try to do something unique with these person-to-person connections when you're passing by someone on the street. And I think that there are some interesting elements to that that we can implement into our games that will create a new type of fun that we haven't been able to see elsewhere.
The other thing that we're trying to do with the Nintendo 3DS is that even for people who don't have wireless access in their home, our goal is that by carrying the device around with them they'll be able to connect to wireless networks elsewhere. And without even realizing it, they'll notice some kind of change in their game data, or a download containing new information. I think that that kind of surprise element is something that will have a very Nintendo feel to it.
IGN: At the developer roundtable, you were talking about ideas for why you've gone 3D with the 3DS. One of them was that when seeing one of the Mario series' floating coin boxes, it's easier to hit it in 3D. With all the tech demos that were out there, I'm surprised that Mario wasn't shown. And I'm wondering that if you had that in your mind, why didn't Mario make a showing?
Miyamoto: We could have very easily done a quick, Mario-based tech demo that would show something like that. But one of the things I'm always concerned about is showing people a Mario game before it's ready to be shown. So that's why we held back this time. But now that Super Mario Galaxy 2 is done, we'll be able to go hard at work on a new Mario game for Nintendo 3DS. You can expect to see a Mario game at some point. You'll just have to wait a little bit longer.
IGN: The Nikkei newspaper revealed this morning that the 3DS system has some sort of software installation option. I'm wondering if you can comment further on what was announced.
Miyamoto: I'm not familiar with the article that you're referencing, but of course even with Nintendo DSi we introduced DSiWare and we introduced applications that were built into the system menu. So I wonder if maybe they were talking about something along those lines?
IGN: They're actually not. They're saying that there's an option you can use to install software so that you don't have to bring your cartridges with you. It was something separate from DSiWare.
Miyamoto: I'm not familiar with that.
IGN: No problem. Now that you've established the next handheld generation, where do you see the Wii in, say, two years?
Miyamoto: I'm sure we'll continue to see the Wii platform evolve, as it has over the years. Obviously our focus right now is on the Wii MotionPlus, and how we're able to create gameplay with it that is very intuitive. So I think that we'll continue to do that over the next couple of years. But that's really all I can say about what's coming.
IGN: What are your impressions of the PlayStation Move and Microsoft's Kinect?
Miyamoto: I haven't played all of the demos myself and haven't had much opportunity to be out on the show floor, but I think it's a good idea in general that the party game mentality and the idea of playing games in your living room is beginning to broaden even further. In general, I think that's a good thing for video games.
IGN: Would you like to say something on the record about how the Skyward Sword demonstration went at Tuesday's press conference? What went wrong, and how can it be improved when the game finally comes out?
Miyamoto: Actually, we don't need to polish up the game -- what we need to do is polish up the technology that we use for demonstrating it on stage. (laughs) Because that's what the problem was. In the game itself, the play control is very smooth and it's very easy to play. I think if you get the chance to play it yourself, you'll realize that what we experienced on stage was just a technical issue.
And then you can also play the E3 demo and see those little areas where the questions are, and the item menu, and then look forward to what we might reveal about what other items are in the game.
IGN: One more question. With Apple and the iPhone, it seems like developers are adopting the platform as a good competitor to Nintendo's handheld market. Nintendo's pretty much dominated up to this point, but it seems Apple has become Nintendo's first real competition. Is the 3DS your answer to that competition?
Miyamoto: Well, there are always new competitors coming up. And particularly when cell phones really started taking off in Europe, a lot of people started saying, "Well, maybe you won't need a Game Boy any more. People can just plays games on their phone." And so it's a topic that continues to come up, but one we haven't really seen come to fruition yet. I think that for Nintendo, what's important for us is that we need to use our creativity to create products -- both in the hardware and the software -- that are unique and entertaining, and ones that you can only experience on our handhelds. And if we can do that, then people will want to buy our product and want to carry that device around with them. I think that particularly with Nintendo 3DS, we've shown that we've been able to create something that can't be done on another device. And for that reason, I hope that people will be looking forward to getting the 3DS.
IGN: You've been working on stereoscopic 3D games for years, since the NES days and even with the Virtual Boy. I'm wondering if maybe now that there's a system that doesn't need glasses, are there any ideas you had back in the day that weren't technically feasible then and that you'd love to bring back today?
Miyamoto: There are some ideas that we have. But what's really important this time is that, with the exception of the Virtual Boy, all of the 3D experimentation that we've done in the past has always been based around the idea of a 3D-enabling peripheral or accessory. But whenever you do that, then you've segmented the market and you have consumers who may have the peripheral and can see the 3D, and then consumer who don't have it and so can't experience the 3D.
And what that means from a game design perspective is that you then have to design each of your games in two ways -- one that takes advantage of it, and one that enables people who don't have it to also play it. So for us, the most important thing this time with Nintendo 3DS was creating that single environment where everyone who has the device will be able to experience the 3D. And what that means is that you're able to focus your efforts specifically on that one method, that one 3D kind of effect. And that's really going to allow developers to really find ways to take advantage of it and do new things with play control.
IGN: So is there specifically something that you worked on before that couldn't work because of the fact that you were segmenting the market, and you really want to bring it back?
Miyamoto: Typically I'm more the kind of a person who starts coming up with ideas after we've started working on a device, but having experimented previously with 3D over the years there are ideas that we have. Particularly ideas that we wouldn't have been able to do because of the segmentation, and that wouldn't have worked because of having to create the option of both 2D and 3D. Unfortunately I can't go into any details specifically on those ideas. Some of them you may see represented in the tech demos that we're showing. But we have a lot that we're working on.
IGN: It's clear that you guys understand that people won't really understand the 3DS until they pick it up and play it. At the press conference, you had to bring out 100 people just so that we could take a look at it. Do you think that's going to be an uphill battle, when the system comes out, to get people to understand that 3D can really change gaming?
Miyamoto: Well, it's true that having a big video in a presentation doesn't work. And trying to show the 3D effects through TV advertising is also going to be a challenge for us. So we understand that it's something that people need to see, and that when they see it we know it's very appealing. So keeping that in mind, we'll go forward with our plans and try to take advantage of that as best we can.
IGN: Do you have any ideas of how to address that?
Miyamoto: You can look back to other devices and see examples of things, like HD televisions being advertised on standard definition screens, or 3D movies being advertised on TV that aren't able to display things in 3D. So there are ways to go about doing it. But I think for us, what's most important is the knowledge that when people see it, they are impressed. So that's going to be important for us going forward.
IGN: In terms of the 3D market in general, some people think it's gimmicky so it's going to be a slow adoption for people to go out and buy a new 3D television set, or see a movie in 3D when you have to pay a premium. Now that you have a system that comes with that 3D technology, do you think this might kick-start a new revolution of 3D that would end up affecting televisions as well?
Miyamoto: I think that particularly with this device, because you can show them the screen very easily or take a 3D picture and they can immediately see it on the screen right there, definitely I think it will have an impact on people's overall impression of 3D. It's that single environment where you can experience the effects and play the content all in one device, which is obviously very important. But at the same time, I don't know to what extent it's going to effect other areas of the entertainment industry. Particularly what I think is hard to see is the future for console gaming.
IGN: You mentioned the 3D camera. I think it's great that you can take photos in 3D, but obviously that feature's locked down to the system. Has there been any thought for creating a standard to get those 3D pictures into other mediums so people can share those pictures?
Miyamoto: Well, maybe somebody will start making 3D picture frames.
IGN: Let's talk about Steel Diver. That game was shown back in 2004 at E3, and it took until now for it to seem like you want to bring it out as a full-fledged product. I understand you feel it's a perfect game for the 3DS, but it was originally for the first DS. Why wasn't it a perfect match back then?
Miyamoto: We developed it on Nintendo DS up to a point where it was very playable and a pretty robust game. But what we found was that the play control was a very different style of play. It's an active, button-pressing kind of game. It's a slower-paced play control, and because of that we thought the game would need a little something extra to really help it shine. Something to make it look prettier. So as we were developing it and spending our time on it the Nintendo 3DS hardware came out. And when we first saw the screen, we thought it would be the thing that would really help make this product shine. At that point we decided to take it and bring it over to Nintedo 3DS.
And then when we moved it over to the 3DS, that gave us another idea for something that's not strictly submarine-related. And so we're working on implementing that mode now too.
IGN: Any clues on what that might be?
Miyamoto: (makes a torpedo noise and laughs) Swwwwwwwwiiiiiihhhhh!!!
IGN: I don't know how we're going to put that into text. (Editor's Note: Use your imagination.) Let it be known that Mr. Miyamoto pointed his finger and said "Spwiissh!"
Steel Diver looks to me like it would be a downloadable game. But is it being prepped as a retail product?
Miyamoto: When we were working on it for Nintendo DS, we were considering whether to release it as a retail product or as DSiWare. It was in the midst of those deliberations that we looked at Nintendo 3DS and decided to move it over there. So I'm leaning at this point toward it being more of a retail product.
IGN: Speaking of which, on the show floor there are very few, if any, WiiWare games or DSiWare games. I'm wondering if those services are still a strategy for Nintendo.
Miyamoto: We think that E3 isn't really the best venue to showcase those types of titles. Because at a show like this there are so many games, and particularly so many big games on consoles that it can be hard even for handheld games and regular Nintendo DS games to capture attention. And when you move into the digital space, the types of games that we see there can easily get lost at E3. So it's definitely still a strategy for Nintendo. We just felt that this isn't the right venue to showcase them.
IGN: Donkey Kong Country Returns. Of all the legacy games, I wouldn't have expected to see a return to Donkey Kong Country. Why that game over anything else?
Miyamoto: One of the reasons is that a lot of people in North America have been telling us that they want another Donkey Kong Country. So that's one reason. The other reason is that when Retro was considering what project to work on next and the Donkey Kong Country name came up as an option, everyone on the Retro team got very excited. I thought they might be more interested in creating something that has more realistic graphics, or something like that.
IGN: I was interviewing them earlier, and even though you weren't directly involved you were definitely very inspirational in making sure certain things were done in that game correctly. I'm wondering, which parts of Donkey Kong Country did you like versus not like? And what did you address with them?
Miyamoto: The first point that I want to make is that I actually worked very closely with Rare on the original Donkey Kong Country. And apparently recently some rumor got out that I didn't really like that game? I just want to clarify that that's not the case, because I was very involved in that. And even emailing almost daily with Tim Stamper right up until the end.
And with this game too, I'll be involved on a check/confirmation level, looking over the game and checking the content. So it'll probably be a similar role to what I played in the development of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
In terms of things that I really wanted to see them focus on, particularly was the idea that in the original Donkey Kong Country the rendering and the effects that they used were very different from what you'd see in a Mario game. It had a very distinct feel. I thought it was important for them to keep that in mind. And also the fun of seeing the motion of that Donkey Kong hand slap is something that you don't get in other games as well.
IGN: I'll finish up with one more question. I want your reaction, and I'm just going to say two words -- Pikmin 3.
Miyamoto: I'm not going to say anything this time. (laughs)
You know, Nintendo's development style is very unique in that we often have projects going on that are very small groups of people working on them, and we don't really blow the team out to a larger size until later on in development. So Pikmin is a project we're working on, and we're maybe getting near to the point where we'll start increasing the team size. But we've got so many other things at the show here that I'd rather people not focus on that, and instead focus on the plethora of other titles we have on display.
The one thing that I can say about it is that it's a Wii game.
IGN: There you go! Thank you so much.
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