Miyamoto Discusses Ocarina of Time 3D, Mario 3D, Starfox 64 3D, and the 3DS

Lets face it, you just want to read what the master has to say, so I’ll stop boring you with pre quote chit chat and just get right into the juicy stuff.

(The original Ocarina of Time release) “It ran at 20fps on the Nintendo64, but on the 3DS, it runs at 30fps, so there is extra smoothness of movement. The graphics, too, have been strengthened: you can feel the immersiveness of its world in 3D. Plus, the touchscreen lets you place items wherever you want them to be. In the original, it was really difficult, say, to change into your boots in the water dungeon, but now it’s easy. And in the original, it could be confusing when, say, using the bow, whether you were supposed to push the stick up or down to aim it – but now we have the gyro-sensor on the 3DS, it’s easy.”

“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be released in June, Starfox this summer and Super Mario 3D, which is completely original, is coming this year. I am involved with these titles and Mario Kart.”

“Super Mario 3D will be a combination of Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 64, although that doesn’t exactly convey what it is like – if you play it at E3 you will see what I mean.

“For example, when floors are floating in space, in 2D, it’s difficult to judge distances, but in 3D, it is easy to.”

One aspect of Super Mario 3D which has attracted a vast amount of speculation was triggered by the game’s logo, which has a tail added to it. Mario-heads are hoping this will mean that the game will feature the rarely-seen Tanooki Suit and Raccoon Suit power-ups and when pressed, Miyamoto seemed to confirm that, albeit cryptically.

“If I tell you everything, I won’t be able to talk about anything at E3. But the power-ups you mention are what you think you are. And you probably know what is going to happen using those characters already.”

“Starfox uses the gyro-sensor and the joystick; the combination is the key to its gameplay. Because it’s 3D, you have the depth in the screen, so you can aim perfectly. When you have 3D on all the time and are using the gyro-sensor, it can be quite difficult to view it, but if you put it in 2D all the time, you would be missing some of the enjoyment, so I guess you have to adjust and find the best way for you to play. I have a tip: if you have an office chair with wheels on and an armchair, that’s the ideal way to play games that use the gyro sensor.”

“In the past, game design was all about which game was the best on the hardware that was available,” he said. “That still holds true in the current world, but for the game designer, it’s important to understand the overall system. Plus, it’s important to understand all the mechanisms in games, otherwise the movement or the gameplay would not be right. If that is good, then it will be evaluated as a good game.

“But games nowadays are at a higher level, and the devices are higher-technology, so generally speaking, people can [and should] make good games. Nowadays, it’s really important that the designer should be unique, and that their individuality should show through in the production itself.

“It’s costly if you do something because other people are doing it, but the focus should be: ‘Because people are not doing it, we’ll go this way.’ Uniqueness is important. Finance-wise, you can put more budget in, but your energy has to be focused on something, otherwise it won’t work. For me, if you tell me, ‘I’ve seen this before,’ or ‘I’ve done this before,’ that’s challenging.”

Source: Guardian