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Shigeru Miyamoto wants to create a kinder world

221 points by polm23 6y ago

hertzrat 6y ago
The main reason games are violent is that you are usually presenting the player with a challenge to be overcome. That challenge has to be simple and visual. The simplest way to do this is with a fight - it’s why my game will have combat for example. It’s exciting to hear that such a superhero developer is tackling nonviolent games because he could start a really neat trend
- tekromancr 6y ago
  He has always been like that. There's a (possibly apocryphal) story about him meeting with the developers of Goldeneye and suggesting that they have a scene at the end of the game where you visit the hospital and visit all the people you shot throughout the game and give them well wishes.
  - dundarious 6y ago
    That is in the article also.
  - jstarfish 6y ago
    Metal Gear Solid 3 taught me never to kill anything if it can at all be avoided.
- seanwilson 6y ago
  > The main reason games are violent is that you are usually presenting the player with a challenge to be overcome. That challenge has to be simple and visual. The simplest way to do this is with a fight - it’s why my game will have combat for example. I wish I read this point more often. I would love a game where you had to convince someone to change their mind or get a team of people to help you achieve something by only talking to them (like being a character in a non-violent movie). We're just nowhere close to this level of AI yet. That's why we have so many games where button press = shoot gun in my opinion. It translates the physical controller actions we have to actions that the game can practically react to in an interesting way, in terms of graphics and gameplay. There's probably a similar mapping to why most TV shows and movies revolve around murder.
  - hertzrat 6y ago
    Exactly. The most common ways to interact with a game world are the simplest and most visual: push button = physically do something, and the target physically reacts also. Subtlety and abstraction is harder to pull off, and hence, riskier for the company to attempt. The ones that succeeded did great though
ksenzee 6y ago
> We’re finally at a point where people who played with Nintendo’s characters as children are playing with those same characters with their children. That longevity is special. I'm the generation he's describing, and some of the best parts of my life have been on both sides of that interaction. Looking forward to being the grandparent.
- Trasmatta 6y ago
  I don't have kids, but my nephew is 6, and I love playing Mario games together with him. I just love seeing the same type of joy in his eyes playing Super Mario Odyssey that I had playing Super Mario Bros 3 as a kid.
  - lupire 6y ago
    Kids today love SMB 1 and 3 on the emulators too.
    - abnercoimbre 6y ago
      This was a surprising fact. I have a young Zoomer friend who grew up loving Zelda 64 even though his childhood should've comprised Wii games.
    - Trasmatta 6y ago
      Yeah, he's played those as well. He's also obsessed with Mario Maker 2 right now. It's amazing how good of an outlet that game is for a kid's creativity.
- cgriswald 6y ago
  It’s a weird statement. We’re at the point where some who played with Mario as a kid could be playing with Mario with their grandchildren right now. I started playing Mario with my kid over a decade ago.
  - ksenzee 6y ago
    There's more space between generations these days. Gen X mostly doesn't have grandkids yet.
drschwabe 6y ago
> Once you get inside the building, it is a little like you’ve described. But on the outside, it’s very simple and clean, just a simple square building. Some people have even likened the reception area to a hospital waiting room. It’s kind of serene. I can attest! Just like a hospital. You can also see a glimpse of it from the nearby train station. A quiet unsuspecting almost industrial part of Kyoto; away from the more touristy areas. Perhaps for a reason; unlike many parts of Japan it isn't necessarily a convenient walk-to - so better maybe to have a taxi drop you off nearby. And then when you arrive up close; a sublte Nintendo logo adourns the gated entrance - where the boring square shaped building presents itself. Also one day, many months later - walking casually in Osaka in an area not too far from the busy Umeda / JR Station. I saw an interesting looking blue and white sign atop a commercial building amongst mostly residential apartments... I asked my friend at the time what the Kanji meant. To my surprise, "Nintendo" she said. It was neat moment because at the time I was living in the area and had been for fair while - and all that while did not realize my childhood idol Nintendo was right there in the neighbourhood too. I just assumed they always display their romaji logo / classic font name but apparently not for this office, which was quite large as I recall; among the tallest 'medium sized' towers in a rather dense area.
- Danieru 6y ago
  Oh I can do one better: I've been inside. Nintendo's lobby is nothing like a hospital. It looks like a North Korean palace. Sparse with only 2-3 plants. Every wall is marble. At the reception desk are 3 receptionists. The lobby is giant, consuming about 1/2 of the building's footprint. Maybe only 7 sets of low sitting executive style chairs. Absolutly zero Nintendo authored art or decor. Off the lobby to the left are meeting rooms. These meeting rooms are your usual corporate japan meeting rooms minus any large glass windows. Nintendo is a young japan by Japanese standards combined with being from outside of the two major metro areas they have a chip on their shoulder. They are proud and want to be respected like a proper 500 year old japanese mega corp. Compare this to the other game company's waiting rooms I've been in. Marvelous was the most "look at what we've made" with tons of products and brand merchandise lining the walls. Square Enix is more reserved, with maybe 10 figures from their brands in a glass case inset into the wall. Sony (near shinagawa) is yet more reserved, no brands, but examples of their hardware, again along the wall. Large logo behind the receptionist desk. Wargaming.net had large props reused from their promotional events, plus the fanciest and branded offices of anyone. My experience is from the new-nintendo building. The prior Nintendo building, which itself is not the original wooden building you might remember from black and white photos, is a few blocks away. The old building is only QA now from my understanding. The new building is larger with the most premium of japanese features: large open gardens between the building and compound walls.
Wowfunhappy 6y ago
> That said, I try to insure that nothing I make wastes the players’ time by having them do things that aren’t productive or creative. And this is why I like Nintendo games. Miyamoto has had plenty of misses—Star Fox Zero comes to mind—but I never feel as though his games are trying to waste my time, much less manipulate me into wasting my time, as is so common nowadays. This is also why Nintendo never had much success on mobile. Mario Run was a legitimately great game—it's just that it was short, and cost $10, and we're used to mobile games that are "free" and rely on whales to subsidize the cost.
- jowsie 6y ago
  Nintendo have some very profitable gacha games, Dragalia Lost, Fire Emblem Heroes.
  - Trasmatta 6y ago
    Yeah, as of January of this year, they've made over a billion in revenue with mobile games: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/28/21112029/nintendo-mobile-games-revenue-fire-emblem-heroes-mario-run-android-ios https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/28/21112029/nintendo-mobile-...
    - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
      Nintendo said earlier this year they were moving away from the mobile market, which is what made me think they didn't see it as a huge success: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-21/nintendo-chills-mobile-ambitions-after-animal-crossing-success https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-21/nintendo-... I suspect Fire Emblem Heroes is a result of competing interests inside Nintendo. Miyamoto has said publically several times that he doesn't think they should be making games like that—even after Fire Emblem's success: https://gamedaily.biz/article/197/nintendos-shigeru-miyamoto-just-did-an-about-face-on-f2p-so-now-what https://gamedaily.biz/article/197/nintendos-shigeru-miyamoto...
      - mcphage 6y ago
lukeboi 6y ago
Nintendo’s PR department working overtime it seems, given their recent controversies
- mttjj 6y ago
  ‘Recent controversies’. Care to elaborate? I follow Nintendo news pretty religiously and for some reason can’t figure out what you’re talking about.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - Pfhreak 6y ago
    A couple days back Nintendo was on the front page of HN for threatening people and tailing them, iirc? Also, they've been pretty assertive about DMCA, and they aren't very kind with streamers from what I understand. (Also, they really seem to not be interested in supporting the tournament communities for their games like Smash.)
    - city41 6y ago
      That tailing took place years ago. Nintendo has never been kind to anyone using their IP in ways they don't like. I love Nintendo, but there's no denying they can be very fierce and litigious.
    - NRinc 6y ago
      I asked this a few days ago but did not get any responses... Given that I find myself strongly compelled to stand up to this ridiculous behavior on the part of Nintendo and I have the time and resources to do so ... I am going to purchase, on ebay ... what ? A plain old retail Nintendo Switch ? Then I will send that switch (or two, or three) to ... who ? Let's say I have a budget of USD $10,000 - who can I pay to do original, clean-room reverse engineering of this device ? The goal here would be to publish everything that I can pay people to find. Suggestions ? Who should I be in contact with ?
userbinator 6y ago
I first misparsed the title and thought of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise . "Kinder" means "children" in German, quite appropriately.
furyofantares 6y ago
This is a good interview. Maybe misleading title; the interview doesn't focus that much on any one thing. Personally I found the questions relating to being a good leader to be excellent (acknowledging the vulnerability inherent in creative work; using the leadership role to provide a positive grand vision to enable the team to work under, while still being able to be critical of important detail work; an awareness of the vulnerability anyone is facing when bringing an idea to the forefront and taking care to greet the idea with openness.)
asiachick 6y ago
I'm a HUGE Nintendo fan. But non-violence? Just because it's cute doesn't make something non-violent. See Tom and Jerry cartoons. Mario throws fire at enemies and burns them alive. How is that not violent? He stomps on their heads and squishes them into juice. He knocks them into lava and watches them melt. And let's not forget that most video game characters, including Miyamoto's loot and steal anything they can. Link walks into a building and empties every container he can. > I also resist the idea that it’s O.K. to simply kill all monsters. Even monsters have a motive, and a reason for why they are the way they are. He designed Zelda and Mario where all you do is kill every monster. I love all those games but they aren't non-violent. They're just violence disguised in cute clothing. Non-violent might include Animal Crossing, Pilotwings but certainly not ARMS where all you do is punch other people.
- zapzupnz 6y ago
  I think there's a distinction to be made between a concept which can be violent and a violent depiction, specifically when said violence is depicted realistically. I think Miyamoto is referring to wish to avoid the latter. You never see Mario's enemies burn, you watch them disappear in a puff of smoke. When enemies are jumped upon, they flatten in a cartoonish manner rather than a realistic. Even in Zelda, where some things can be genuinely gruesome to watch, enemies mainly flash red when they are hit rather than spew blood everywhere — and this is a series where most bosses are to be stabbed in the eye! > They're just violence disguised in cute clothing That's called cartoon violence. Yeah, it's still violence, but I don't think it's what Miyamoto was referring to. For Miyamoto, his characters, his worlds, and even the enemies are all like players on a stage. They play their parts, including being the villains, and bowing out when their time is up. It's as they go off-stage, maybe to participate in a kart racer or a round of tennis.
  - asiachick 6y ago
    I don't think the distinction matters. The point is you're solving your problems via violence. Don't like what they're doing? Beat them up until they stop. Want their possessions, beat them up and take them.
MichaelZuo 6y ago
“Complex emotions are difficult to deal with in interactive media. I’ve been involved in movies, and passive media is much better suited to take on those themes.” Mr. Miyamoto made a very astute observation here. The average consumer responds far better to simpler emotions when given the choice, and the trend appears to be growing.
coolandsmartrr 6y ago
I asked Miyamoto on video game violence: """ Q. Games can be labeled as a cause of problems by parents and society alike. A. Like smartphones and VR goggles, devices themselves are not harmful. It’s unhealthy to become dependent on them. I want children to experience many things, like playing outside, reading books, and learning more. Balance is key. It’s almost as if video games are attributed as a source of crimes, but it’s a result of becoming obsessed or losing touch with people. It’s wrong to blame social problems on a device. """ Source: http://rickyreports.com/archives/miyamotoshigeru/ http://rickyreports.com/archives/miyamotoshigeru/ I appreciate his views, but I find it rather ironic that while Miyamoto points out the violence in other video games, even Miyamoto's creations involve some degree of cartoon violence. (e.g. Mario stomping on Goombas, Link stabbing his sword and breaking vases) > (Miyamoto) expressed sadness at the number of people Bond shoots down, and suggested to him that, during the end credits, he make the player visit each victim in their hospital bed Hideo Kojima did this in Metal Gear Solid 3. During a boss battle, the boss would conjure up the souls of those who fell to the protagonist Snake. Snake's movement would slow down because of the ghosts surrounding him. One of the most harrowing scenes in video games history.
- Shared404 6y ago
  >even Miyamoto's creations involve some degree of cartoon violence. (e.g. Mario stomping on Goombas, Link stabbing his sword and breaking vases) In neither of these cases however, do any of Miyamoto's player characters kill humans. (Well, until the Yiga clan in BotW). > Hideo Kojima did this in Metal Gear Solid 3. The only Kojima game I've played is MGS 1. However, I have massive respect for him both as a person and an artist due to things such as this.
  - 3np 6y ago
    > Well, until the Yiga clan in BotW Gerudo Valley, OoT
    - Roritharr 6y ago
      The woman just fall asleep there and wake up again later.
29athrowaway 6y ago
When Donkey Kong was created, the character now known as Mario was then called Jumpman. Mario Segale was the owner of a warehouse that Nintendo of America rented in Tukwila, WA. Nintendo wasn't timely paying the rent, so Segale showed up at the warehouse to collect he money from the then Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa. He did so in an aggressive manner, often trash talking everyone. This is when Nintendo decided to create a game around Jumpman, with its name changed to Mario, after Mario Segale. Because Segale is Italian, they also made Mario Italian, and it's possible that the entire game started as some bizarre parody of Italians made by people that have no idea about Italy, and then was toned down and made more abstract. And by the way, "Goomba" is a racial slur for Italians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goombah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goombah "Koopa" sounds similar to "Cumpa" which means the same as "Goombah". Basically they made all the enemy names sound like "Goombah" and this is no coincidence.
- zapzupnz 6y ago
  In Japan, King Bowser is called 大魔王クッパ, or Great Demon King Koopa. Koopa, or クッパ (kuppa), is named for the Japanese pronunciation of a Korean soup , 국밥 (gukbap). In the West, Koopas were retroactively changed to be the name of the turtle species with Bowser as their king. They didn’t make all the enemy names sound like Goombah, just one, Goomba. Koopas having a similar sounding name is coincidence. The actual name of the Goomba species, however, is likely to be, as you say, a reference to Italians. In Japan, they are called クリボー (kuribo) in reference to their chestnut (栗, kuri) appearance — this is supported by the even more chestnut-like appearance of the subspecies Galoombas (クリボン, kuribon) from Super Mario World.
  - 29athrowaway 6y ago
    I am not too much into the phylogyny of koopas, but I can tell you this: it is a confirmed fact that Mario was named after Mario Segale. And if they named the main character after him, it would make sense that they named other characters in the game after things related to him. King "korean soup" sounds really random to me. The "goombah" hypotheses makes more sense to me. Especially given the presence of "goomba".
gre 6y ago
Hell yeah, I want to create a kinder world too. The recent headline I read says that violent video games had zero effect on actual violence. Happy New Years yall.
koluna 6y ago
That’s rich coming from a company that tries to illegally set up surveillance over those it deems are “hacking” its platform.
LeicaLatte 6y ago
Jony Ive, Shigeru Miyamoto are some of the greatest designers of our generation. Their takes on leading creative teams are always fascinating.
gfxgirl 6y ago
Oh, you mean the guy that comes around at 11pm to tell everyone "It's Mario Time" meaning you're working until morning? https://kotaku.com/at-nintendo-working-all-night-is-mario-time-1794042341 https://kotaku.com/at-nintendo-working-all-night-is-mario-ti... Strange how Nintendo gets no shit for crunch because they're "beloved". Lots of articles about Nintendo USA not crunching but the main office in Japan is still the same
- ljm 6y ago
  This isn't meant to be a defense of Nintendo (I don't really care about game studio fandom), but Japan itself has some way to go when it comes to their cultural attitude to work. That said, companies like Nintendo bucking the salaryman trend would do a lot to help shift people's perspective towards a healthier work/life balance.
- patrec 6y ago
  I don't get the games industry's obsession with crunch. Never mind adverse health and personal impacts -- does it actually work as a means to squeezing more output out of staff? I mean, you can definitely achieve a short temporary burst to meet a deadline by putting in long hours and maybe Miyamoto can boost his managerial output by sitting in meetings for 60 hours instead of 30. But I really have difficulty picturing programmers working on complex stuff like game engines being more productive with a 80 hour week than a 30 hour week for anything beyond a few days, let alone extended periods of time. And indeed all traditional studies of worker productivity (not necessarily in IT) I recall suggest that productivity falls off a cliff pretty soon as weekly hours a cranked up (see also https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/productivity-vs-annual-hours-worked?tab=chart&country=&region=World https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/productivity-vs-annual-ho..., which suggests a general pattern between countries). So I'm wondering -- is game industry crunch so popular (majority of game studios seem to be doing it) for reasons that having nothing to do with increasing individual worker output? In the case of Japan in particular there is also a strong tradition of doing long but very unproductive work hours because presence is prized over productivity . Or are games really "special" in some way (for example because there is some evidence that people can sustain normally unsustainable productivy/weekly hours ratios for "passion projects")? Does anyone have any good studies or anectodal evidence from their own experience (focussed 30-50 hour week vs crunch for several weeks)?

221 points by polm23 6y ago

The main reason games are violent is that you are usually presenting the player with a challenge to be overcome. That challenge has to be simple and visual. The simplest way to do this is with a fight - it’s why my game will have combat for example. It’s exciting to hear that such a superhero developer is tackling nonviolent games because he could start a really neat trend

tekromancr 6y ago
He has always been like that. There's a (possibly apocryphal) story about him meeting with the developers of Goldeneye and suggesting that they have a scene at the end of the game where you visit the hospital and visit all the people you shot throughout the game and give them well wishes.
- dundarious 6y ago
  That is in the article also.
- jstarfish 6y ago
  Metal Gear Solid 3 taught me never to kill anything if it can at all be avoided.
seanwilson 6y ago
> The main reason games are violent is that you are usually presenting the player with a challenge to be overcome. That challenge has to be simple and visual. The simplest way to do this is with a fight - it’s why my game will have combat for example. I wish I read this point more often. I would love a game where you had to convince someone to change their mind or get a team of people to help you achieve something by only talking to them (like being a character in a non-violent movie). We're just nowhere close to this level of AI yet. That's why we have so many games where button press = shoot gun in my opinion. It translates the physical controller actions we have to actions that the game can practically react to in an interesting way, in terms of graphics and gameplay. There's probably a similar mapping to why most TV shows and movies revolve around murder.
- hertzrat 6y ago
  Exactly. The most common ways to interact with a game world are the simplest and most visual: push button = physically do something, and the target physically reacts also. Subtlety and abstraction is harder to pull off, and hence, riskier for the company to attempt. The ones that succeeded did great though

ksenzee 6y ago

> We’re finally at a point where people who played with Nintendo’s characters as children are playing with those same characters with their children. That longevity is special. I'm the generation he's describing, and some of the best parts of my life have been on both sides of that interaction. Looking forward to being the grandparent.

Trasmatta 6y ago
I don't have kids, but my nephew is 6, and I love playing Mario games together with him. I just love seeing the same type of joy in his eyes playing Super Mario Odyssey that I had playing Super Mario Bros 3 as a kid.
- lupire 6y ago
  Kids today love SMB 1 and 3 on the emulators too.
  - abnercoimbre 6y ago
    This was a surprising fact. I have a young Zoomer friend who grew up loving Zelda 64 even though his childhood should've comprised Wii games.
  - Trasmatta 6y ago
    Yeah, he's played those as well. He's also obsessed with Mario Maker 2 right now. It's amazing how good of an outlet that game is for a kid's creativity.
cgriswald 6y ago
It’s a weird statement. We’re at the point where some who played with Mario as a kid could be playing with Mario with their grandchildren right now. I started playing Mario with my kid over a decade ago.
- ksenzee 6y ago
  There's more space between generations these days. Gen X mostly doesn't have grandkids yet.

drschwabe 6y ago

> Once you get inside the building, it is a little like you’ve described. But on the outside, it’s very simple and clean, just a simple square building. Some people have even likened the reception area to a hospital waiting room. It’s kind of serene. I can attest! Just like a hospital. You can also see a glimpse of it from the nearby train station. A quiet unsuspecting almost industrial part of Kyoto; away from the more touristy areas. Perhaps for a reason; unlike many parts of Japan it isn't necessarily a convenient walk-to - so better maybe to have a taxi drop you off nearby. And then when you arrive up close; a sublte Nintendo logo adourns the gated entrance - where the boring square shaped building presents itself. Also one day, many months later - walking casually in Osaka in an area not too far from the busy Umeda / JR Station. I saw an interesting looking blue and white sign atop a commercial building amongst mostly residential apartments... I asked my friend at the time what the Kanji meant. To my surprise, "Nintendo" she said. It was neat moment because at the time I was living in the area and had been for fair while - and all that while did not realize my childhood idol Nintendo was right there in the neighbourhood too. I just assumed they always display their romaji logo / classic font name but apparently not for this office, which was quite large as I recall; among the tallest 'medium sized' towers in a rather dense area.

Danieru 6y ago
Oh I can do one better: I've been inside. Nintendo's lobby is nothing like a hospital. It looks like a North Korean palace. Sparse with only 2-3 plants. Every wall is marble. At the reception desk are 3 receptionists. The lobby is giant, consuming about 1/2 of the building's footprint. Maybe only 7 sets of low sitting executive style chairs. Absolutly zero Nintendo authored art or decor. Off the lobby to the left are meeting rooms. These meeting rooms are your usual corporate japan meeting rooms minus any large glass windows. Nintendo is a young japan by Japanese standards combined with being from outside of the two major metro areas they have a chip on their shoulder. They are proud and want to be respected like a proper 500 year old japanese mega corp. Compare this to the other game company's waiting rooms I've been in. Marvelous was the most "look at what we've made" with tons of products and brand merchandise lining the walls. Square Enix is more reserved, with maybe 10 figures from their brands in a glass case inset into the wall. Sony (near shinagawa) is yet more reserved, no brands, but examples of their hardware, again along the wall. Large logo behind the receptionist desk. Wargaming.net had large props reused from their promotional events, plus the fanciest and branded offices of anyone. My experience is from the new-nintendo building. The prior Nintendo building, which itself is not the original wooden building you might remember from black and white photos, is a few blocks away. The old building is only QA now from my understanding. The new building is larger with the most premium of japanese features: large open gardens between the building and compound walls.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago

> That said, I try to insure that nothing I make wastes the players’ time by having them do things that aren’t productive or creative. And this is why I like Nintendo games. Miyamoto has had plenty of misses—Star Fox Zero comes to mind—but I never feel as though his games are trying to waste my time, much less manipulate me into wasting my time, as is so common nowadays. This is also why Nintendo never had much success on mobile. Mario Run was a legitimately great game—it's just that it was short, and cost $10, and we're used to mobile games that are "free" and rely on whales to subsidize the cost.

jowsie 6y ago
Nintendo have some very profitable gacha games, Dragalia Lost, Fire Emblem Heroes.
- Trasmatta 6y ago
  Yeah, as of January of this year, they've made over a billion in revenue with mobile games: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/28/21112029/nintendo-mobile-games-revenue-fire-emblem-heroes-mario-run-android-ios https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/28/21112029/nintendo-mobile-...
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    Nintendo said earlier this year they were moving away from the mobile market, which is what made me think they didn't see it as a huge success: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-21/nintendo-chills-mobile-ambitions-after-animal-crossing-success https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-21/nintendo-... I suspect Fire Emblem Heroes is a result of competing interests inside Nintendo. Miyamoto has said publically several times that he doesn't think they should be making games like that—even after Fire Emblem's success: https://gamedaily.biz/article/197/nintendos-shigeru-miyamoto-just-did-an-about-face-on-f2p-so-now-what https://gamedaily.biz/article/197/nintendos-shigeru-miyamoto...
    - mcphage 6y ago

lukeboi 6y ago

Nintendo’s PR department working overtime it seems, given their recent controversies

mttjj 6y ago
‘Recent controversies’. Care to elaborate? I follow Nintendo news pretty religiously and for some reason can’t figure out what you’re talking about.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- Pfhreak 6y ago
  A couple days back Nintendo was on the front page of HN for threatening people and tailing them, iirc? Also, they've been pretty assertive about DMCA, and they aren't very kind with streamers from what I understand. (Also, they really seem to not be interested in supporting the tournament communities for their games like Smash.)
  - city41 6y ago
    That tailing took place years ago. Nintendo has never been kind to anyone using their IP in ways they don't like. I love Nintendo, but there's no denying they can be very fierce and litigious.
  - NRinc 6y ago
    I asked this a few days ago but did not get any responses... Given that I find myself strongly compelled to stand up to this ridiculous behavior on the part of Nintendo and I have the time and resources to do so ... I am going to purchase, on ebay ... what ? A plain old retail Nintendo Switch ? Then I will send that switch (or two, or three) to ... who ? Let's say I have a budget of USD $10,000 - who can I pay to do original, clean-room reverse engineering of this device ? The goal here would be to publish everything that I can pay people to find. Suggestions ? Who should I be in contact with ?

userbinator 6y ago

I first misparsed the title and thought of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise . "Kinder" means "children" in German, quite appropriately.

furyofantares 6y ago

This is a good interview. Maybe misleading title; the interview doesn't focus that much on any one thing. Personally I found the questions relating to being a good leader to be excellent (acknowledging the vulnerability inherent in creative work; using the leadership role to provide a positive grand vision to enable the team to work under, while still being able to be critical of important detail work; an awareness of the vulnerability anyone is facing when bringing an idea to the forefront and taking care to greet the idea with openness.)

asiachick 6y ago

I'm a HUGE Nintendo fan. But non-violence? Just because it's cute doesn't make something non-violent. See Tom and Jerry cartoons. Mario throws fire at enemies and burns them alive. How is that not violent? He stomps on their heads and squishes them into juice. He knocks them into lava and watches them melt. And let's not forget that most video game characters, including Miyamoto's loot and steal anything they can. Link walks into a building and empties every container he can. > I also resist the idea that it’s O.K. to simply kill all monsters. Even monsters have a motive, and a reason for why they are the way they are. He designed Zelda and Mario where all you do is kill every monster. I love all those games but they aren't non-violent. They're just violence disguised in cute clothing. Non-violent might include Animal Crossing, Pilotwings but certainly not ARMS where all you do is punch other people.

zapzupnz 6y ago
I think there's a distinction to be made between a concept which can be violent and a violent depiction, specifically when said violence is depicted realistically. I think Miyamoto is referring to wish to avoid the latter. You never see Mario's enemies burn, you watch them disappear in a puff of smoke. When enemies are jumped upon, they flatten in a cartoonish manner rather than a realistic. Even in Zelda, where some things can be genuinely gruesome to watch, enemies mainly flash red when they are hit rather than spew blood everywhere — and this is a series where most bosses are to be stabbed in the eye! > They're just violence disguised in cute clothing That's called cartoon violence. Yeah, it's still violence, but I don't think it's what Miyamoto was referring to. For Miyamoto, his characters, his worlds, and even the enemies are all like players on a stage. They play their parts, including being the villains, and bowing out when their time is up. It's as they go off-stage, maybe to participate in a kart racer or a round of tennis.
- asiachick 6y ago
  I don't think the distinction matters. The point is you're solving your problems via violence. Don't like what they're doing? Beat them up until they stop. Want their possessions, beat them up and take them.

MichaelZuo 6y ago

“Complex emotions are difficult to deal with in interactive media. I’ve been involved in movies, and passive media is much better suited to take on those themes.” Mr. Miyamoto made a very astute observation here. The average consumer responds far better to simpler emotions when given the choice, and the trend appears to be growing.

coolandsmartrr 6y ago

I asked Miyamoto on video game violence: """ Q. Games can be labeled as a cause of problems by parents and society alike. A. Like smartphones and VR goggles, devices themselves are not harmful. It’s unhealthy to become dependent on them. I want children to experience many things, like playing outside, reading books, and learning more. Balance is key. It’s almost as if video games are attributed as a source of crimes, but it’s a result of becoming obsessed or losing touch with people. It’s wrong to blame social problems on a device. """ Source: http://rickyreports.com/archives/miyamotoshigeru/ http://rickyreports.com/archives/miyamotoshigeru/ I appreciate his views, but I find it rather ironic that while Miyamoto points out the violence in other video games, even Miyamoto's creations involve some degree of cartoon violence. (e.g. Mario stomping on Goombas, Link stabbing his sword and breaking vases) > (Miyamoto) expressed sadness at the number of people Bond shoots down, and suggested to him that, during the end credits, he make the player visit each victim in their hospital bed Hideo Kojima did this in Metal Gear Solid 3. During a boss battle, the boss would conjure up the souls of those who fell to the protagonist Snake. Snake's movement would slow down because of the ghosts surrounding him. One of the most harrowing scenes in video games history.

Shared404 6y ago
>even Miyamoto's creations involve some degree of cartoon violence. (e.g. Mario stomping on Goombas, Link stabbing his sword and breaking vases) In neither of these cases however, do any of Miyamoto's player characters kill humans. (Well, until the Yiga clan in BotW). > Hideo Kojima did this in Metal Gear Solid 3. The only Kojima game I've played is MGS 1. However, I have massive respect for him both as a person and an artist due to things such as this.
- 3np 6y ago
  > Well, until the Yiga clan in BotW Gerudo Valley, OoT
  - Roritharr 6y ago
    The woman just fall asleep there and wake up again later.

29athrowaway 6y ago

When Donkey Kong was created, the character now known as Mario was then called Jumpman. Mario Segale was the owner of a warehouse that Nintendo of America rented in Tukwila, WA. Nintendo wasn't timely paying the rent, so Segale showed up at the warehouse to collect he money from the then Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa. He did so in an aggressive manner, often trash talking everyone. This is when Nintendo decided to create a game around Jumpman, with its name changed to Mario, after Mario Segale. Because Segale is Italian, they also made Mario Italian, and it's possible that the entire game started as some bizarre parody of Italians made by people that have no idea about Italy, and then was toned down and made more abstract. And by the way, "Goomba" is a racial slur for Italians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goombah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goombah "Koopa" sounds similar to "Cumpa" which means the same as "Goombah". Basically they made all the enemy names sound like "Goombah" and this is no coincidence.

zapzupnz 6y ago
In Japan, King Bowser is called 大魔王クッパ, or Great Demon King Koopa. Koopa, or クッパ (kuppa), is named for the Japanese pronunciation of a Korean soup , 국밥 (gukbap). In the West, Koopas were retroactively changed to be the name of the turtle species with Bowser as their king. They didn’t make all the enemy names sound like Goombah, just one, Goomba. Koopas having a similar sounding name is coincidence. The actual name of the Goomba species, however, is likely to be, as you say, a reference to Italians. In Japan, they are called クリボー (kuribo) in reference to their chestnut (栗, kuri) appearance — this is supported by the even more chestnut-like appearance of the subspecies Galoombas (クリボン, kuribon) from Super Mario World.
- 29athrowaway 6y ago
  I am not too much into the phylogyny of koopas, but I can tell you this: it is a confirmed fact that Mario was named after Mario Segale. And if they named the main character after him, it would make sense that they named other characters in the game after things related to him. King "korean soup" sounds really random to me. The "goombah" hypotheses makes more sense to me. Especially given the presence of "goomba".

gre 6y ago

Hell yeah, I want to create a kinder world too. The recent headline I read says that violent video games had zero effect on actual violence. Happy New Years yall.

koluna 6y ago

That’s rich coming from a company that tries to illegally set up surveillance over those it deems are “hacking” its platform.

LeicaLatte 6y ago

Jony Ive, Shigeru Miyamoto are some of the greatest designers of our generation. Their takes on leading creative teams are always fascinating.

gfxgirl 6y ago

Oh, you mean the guy that comes around at 11pm to tell everyone "It's Mario Time" meaning you're working until morning? https://kotaku.com/at-nintendo-working-all-night-is-mario-time-1794042341 https://kotaku.com/at-nintendo-working-all-night-is-mario-ti... Strange how Nintendo gets no shit for crunch because they're "beloved". Lots of articles about Nintendo USA not crunching but the main office in Japan is still the same

ljm 6y ago
This isn't meant to be a defense of Nintendo (I don't really care about game studio fandom), but Japan itself has some way to go when it comes to their cultural attitude to work. That said, companies like Nintendo bucking the salaryman trend would do a lot to help shift people's perspective towards a healthier work/life balance.
patrec 6y ago
I don't get the games industry's obsession with crunch. Never mind adverse health and personal impacts -- does it actually work as a means to squeezing more output out of staff? I mean, you can definitely achieve a short temporary burst to meet a deadline by putting in long hours and maybe Miyamoto can boost his managerial output by sitting in meetings for 60 hours instead of 30. But I really have difficulty picturing programmers working on complex stuff like game engines being more productive with a 80 hour week than a 30 hour week for anything beyond a few days, let alone extended periods of time. And indeed all traditional studies of worker productivity (not necessarily in IT) I recall suggest that productivity falls off a cliff pretty soon as weekly hours a cranked up (see also https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/productivity-vs-annual-hours-worked?tab=chart&country=&region=World https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/productivity-vs-annual-ho..., which suggests a general pattern between countries). So I'm wondering -- is game industry crunch so popular (majority of game studios seem to be doing it) for reasons that having nothing to do with increasing individual worker output? In the case of Japan in particular there is also a strong tradition of doing long but very unproductive work hours because presence is prized over productivity . Or are games really "special" in some way (for example because there is some evidence that people can sustain normally unsustainable productivy/weekly hours ratios for "passion projects")? Does anyone have any good studies or anectodal evidence from their own experience (focussed 30-50 hour week vs crunch for several weeks)?