Interview:IGN November 25th 1997

IGN November 25th 1997

Date	November 25, 1997
Interviewee	Shigeru Miyamoto
Interviewer	N64.com (Peer Schneider and Douglass Perry)
Description	Miyamoto talks about Nintendo 64 games (such as Ocarina of Time, F-Zero X, Yoshi's Story 64, Mario RPG, Cabbage, and Kirby 64). He also give a hint about Majora's Mask in the end of interview.
Source	[1]

N64.com: Mr. Miyamoto, how do you feel about the current state of Nintendo 64 games, by Nintendo and by its third party developers?

Shigeru Miyamoto: I'm sorry, but I didn't have time to look at a lot of the third party games yet, so I can't really comment on them. But I can tell you about our in-house titles. I once took care of about 20 videogames myself, but that was pretty much impossible. I am now concentrating on about five titles and I think all these five games make use of the N64's technology very well. I hope you take a lot of time today to see and play these games on the show floor, because tomorrow it's going to be very crowded. (laughs)

N64.com: Which five games are those?

SM: Zelda, which is now using a system similar to Mario 64, and Yoshi' Story is our first attempt at a 2D game in the N64 series. Then there is F-Zero X, which is utilizing a framerate of 60 frames per second. Actually, it's not possible to measure how fast your car can go in that game, but it's possibly about 1,000 kilometers per hour -- possibly the fastest racing game ever for a home system. And in the snowboarding game, 1080, the quality is very high, especially in comparison with similar games by other companies. And I'm also working and putting more time into the Mario Artist series. Three titles are shown today: Talent Maker, Picture Maker, and Polygon Maker, which lets you make 3D models. Possibly one of the most difficult things to get to work was painting a 3D object, but in Polygon Maker, it's really, really easy. And in Talent Maker, you can make use of the video capture system, so that you can incorporate the video image from outside and put it on the face of the polygon character and make it dance. I think this system shows you in which direction gaming may go. I hope you enjoy everything.

N64.com: Are the Mario Artist titles all part of one package?

SM: No, they are three separate titles. But they will all be very inexpensive.

N64.com: Are there any more Mario Artist titles, and when will they be released?

SM: Around the time we bring out the 64DD, in July. There is a fourth title, Sound Maker which lets you create music and sound effects, but it's not being shown today.

N64.com: Can you explain what the 64GB Pak does?

SM: This is an interface between the N64 and the GameBoy. It's possible to see GameBoy titles on the N64 monitor or television, but it's not its primary function. For example, by inserting the Pocket Monster GameBoy game you can see the characters on the N64 in 3D. And in the future, for example, you play a game on the N64, then you take it out and go somewhere and continue to play it on your GameBoy. When you come back home, you can load the data and play it in the N64 version. This is great for simulation games.

N64.com: What's your relation to Kazutoshi Iida? (creator of Tail of the Sun for the PSX) Are you working on a game together?

SM: Kazutoshi Iida is a young and talented game creator, and he is now making games under Marigul, a company that Nintendo® and some other companies are funding together. Marigul helps talented programmers that didn't have enough money in terms of funds to make the games they wanted to make. Iida is a member of one of the teams under Marigul management, making games for the 64DD. But he doesn't tell me what he's working on. All he is saying is that he doesn't want to make conventional videogames.

Nintendo and a company called Denchi once taught courses on game creation a long time ago, free of charge. And Mr. Iida was actually one of the children I was teaching at the game center.

N64.com: How does Yoshi's Story differ from the previous Yoshi's Island for the Super NES?

SM: They are almost identical in terms of gameplay. But each of the ideas in Yoshi's Story is something that we couldn't realize in the previous Yoshi game, and the quality is much higher. And it's "very gentle" to the player. It's basically a 2D game, but we call it a 2.5D game in which very large objects can rotate, you can move around with the 3D joystick, and you can even feel objects tremble before they move because of the Rumble Pak. And there are lots of new ideas.

N64.com: Yoshi's Story is a very good example for the style of games you prefer to make -- very clean and cartoon-like games. Considering the popularity of titles like Resident Evil and Tomb Raider, are there also plans for games with a more grown-up feel from Nintendo?

SM: I personally like the games you mentioned, and I think that Zelda is already a step into that direction and walks a fine line. And as long as we can maintain the same high quality with our games, I think we would like to try anything.

N64.com: We've been missing your trademark mewing penguin lately. Will it make a return in some of the upcoming games?

SM: (laughs). Yes, maybe I should put more priority on the penguin, but recently there has been another penguin in Japan that's becoming more and more popular. He does commercials for a hair product (laughs).

N64.com: N64.com gets lots of e-mails every day asking about the possibility of a Metroid game on the N64. Is there really nothing in the works?

SM: At the moment, there is no Metroid game being worked on.

N64.com: Considering that Square and Enix are currently not developing games for the N64, what is Nintendo® doing to create more on the N64 and the 64DD?

SM: I think when they see that the N64 sells, Enix and Square will feel like making their role-playing games for the N64, too (laughs). I think that roleplaying games are peaking at the moment and players are looking for something more and more gorgeous -- but yet the total audience is actually becoming smaller. Yet, Nintendo® is also working on Mother 3, and Pocket Monster could be called an RPG as well, and there is also Mario RPG. And of course there are several other roleplaying games. But I think that even though people will continue to play RPGs, they will eventually find something new, another generation of "not quite RPGs."

N64.com: What can you tell us about Mario RPG?

SM: I think it is going to be a game that's good for beginners and amateur players to start with. You can see on the video that we're creating a 3-dimensional picture book, that Mario will appear in. That idea is prevalent throughout the whole game.

N64.com: About the features of the 64DD: Writable disk space and a built-in clocks have been around for quite a while on PCs. Why are those features such a big deal on the 64DD, and how will you make use of them?

SM: I think that PCs can be good game machines, but in terms of eliminating costs game consoles often get rid of many unnecessary functions from personal computers. By having less to worry about, we can focus our game developments specifically at the functions we included and add something to them. We will use them differently. I can't tell you very much yet, but we use writable space to make changes to games, customize them, add things to them.

N64.com: What ever happened to Kirby?

SM: (laughs) The Kirby team is still there and continuing to work on games and they're trying their best to bring Kirby back on the N64.

N64.com: On the 64DD?

SM: Well, now they're working on a cartridge game, but it's transferable to any format, really.

N64.com: Will you be able to add things with a 64DD disk?

SM: Maybe. But it could be either on the DD or on cartridge.

N64.com: How about Mario 64 2? Will it be a two-player game?

SM: We haven't decided that yet. We are currently working with a system where Mario and Luigi can co-exist, and they are both controllable by the player. But we will decide more game elements when we finish everything about Zelda.

N64.com: What's the status of "Cabbage?"

SM: We are currently working with Mr. Itoi on this game. Cabbage will use the 64GB adapter to use with this virtual pet. For example, you will be able to buy new data later, such as new toys or events on cheap GameBoy cartridges and introduce them to the 64DD character.

N64.com: What do you think is going to be the most amazing N64 game in 1998?

SM: Zelda. Or maybe the Zelda that comes after it.

N64.com: Is that the 64DD Zelda?

SM: (uncomfortable laugh) I really can't talk about that.

N64.com: Thank you for your time.