Interview:IGN May 18th 2005 (Miyamoto)

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IGN May 18th 2005 (Miyamoto)

Date

May 18, 2005

Interviewee

Interviewer

IGN

Description

IGN interviews Miyamoto during E3 2005 about the upcoming codename Revolution and future games.

Source

Note: some of the interview has become corrupted (view second source), so included below is the section of the interview i managed to salvage.


IGN: Speaking about Revolution, we have many questions. At a trade show like E3, it seems that perception is so important. You say that it's not the time to reveal Revolution in full. But with major showings from Microsoft's and Sony's next-generation consoles, do you feel that it hurts Nintendo to remain quiet? That people may incorrectly assume that Nintendo is quiet because it isn't prepared to compete with or lags behind its competition?
Shigeru Miyamoto: You know, I didn't get a chance to see the Sony and Microsoft presentations for myself, but from what I've heard from people it sounds like they are going to be using cutting-edge technology, as are we. However, the way that they are planning on implementing that technology is obviously very different from the route that we're going to be taking. On the business side of things I see where we're going and I see where they're going and I'm not worried at all. I don't think it's going to influence us at all. We're good to go.
IGN: We don't have any "tech specs" for Revolution. We don't have an educated idea or an estimate of how powerful the machine will be. Can you shed some light?
Shigeru Miyamoto: Let me pose a question to you. When we launched the Nintendo DS, we didn't really say too much about its power. Do you think we've suffered?
IGN: No. Definitely not.
Shigeru Miyamoto: We're kind of in a strange period where power is the crux of whether or not something is going to be successful. So again, that seems a little bit odd. If we rely solely on power of console to dictate to where we're going with games, I think that tends to suppress the creativity of designers. They tend to rely solely on what the technology allows them to do instead of thinking of new and creative ideas. The way we are approaching the development of Revolution is we pose the questions to ourselves: why is the home console necessary? What functions in a home console would make everyone in the family say, "Yeah, we need that and want that." We pose those questions and the answers to those questions are what's guiding our development.
IGN: Can you give us an update on Mario 128?
Shigeru Miyamoto: [Chuckles] I'm just really sorry. I think I've given people the wrong impression with Mario 128. With all the questions I'm getting about this, I really feel like I've done people a disservice. In regards to Mario 128, we're currently doing a lot of Mario experiments back in Kyoto. We are definitely going to have a new Mario for Revolution. Whether or not that's 128 or not, I can't really say. It might be a new Sunshine. We're not sure. We're doing a lot of Mario tests right now for the Revolution.
IGN: Is Super Smash Bros. for Revolution deep in development or has work just started on the project?
Shigeru Miyamoto: Well, the original Smash Bros. was developed when Mr. Iwata was over at HAL and I was a designer here at Nintendo. Now, of course, Mr. Iwata is the president of Nintendo. I really don't have much to do with Super Smash Bros. It's pretty much him.
IGN: You are a producer on Metroid Prime 3 for Revolution. Can you tell us about the game?
Shigeru Miyamoto: I've been working on the Metroid series with Mr. Tanabe. He's pretty much in charge of where that's going right now. I've been really trying to focus more on the Zelda, Mario and new DS titles, and I'm not really in a position to talk about them right now.
IGN: Speaking of Zelda, does the game story parallel that of the movie Ladyhawke?
Shigeru Miyamoto: Our game should not be paralleling that movie very closely, no. That's not our intention. In regard to the animals in the game, it's an RPG and the more of those natural elements -- in this case represented by the wolf and the haw -- the more we expand the realm of the RPG and give ourselves room to grow and fill into. We thought that by adding these animals it would help us create a larger and more realistic world.
IGN: Absolutely.
Shigeru Miyamoto: Well, we obviously can't ignore that. Okay, we'll get the Eggplant Wizard coming back.
IGN: Can you talk about Revolution's download service? What games will we be able to download?
Shigeru Miyamoto: We have not set a price or determined a list of software for the Nintendo Revolution download service. But, we're looking at this as a consumer service and not so much from the business end. What we want to do is provide the product that is going to make the Revolution the console that people want in their homes. So it actually might be driven from the consumer end rather than from us. You know, the games that they most want might be the ones that we do. From a technological point, we can do any of them. It's just, we haven't determined which ones we'll do yet.
IGN: Can we expect Nintendo to collaborate with more third parties on Revolution games?
Shigeru Miyamoto: At this point, we've only been talking with a few companies. However, if other companies come forward and they want to join us to work with us to create games, of course that would be great for us. One thing we want to make sure that we don't do is have too many games of the same type or genre. We don't want too many games involving the same themes or characters.
IGN: Will Revolution appeal to the mainstream gamer over the hardcore one?
Shigeru Miyamoto: Our goal with Revolution is to appeal to all gamers -- the casual gamer and the hardcore gamer. On top of that, we really want to get non-gamers involved as well. So it's a console that we want people to feel comfortable with and happy that they have in their home. So for example, you might bring you DS home, turn it on, sit down next to the Revolution and there is some connectivity that allows you to play something that's better than it was with separate components. Our goal really is to build a system that appeals to everybody.
IGN: Have you seen or played any non-Nintendo games at this year's E3 that have impressed you?
Shigeru Miyamoto: I haven't seen any other software yet. I haven't left this room [laughs]. As far as the other company's software, I've heard that Sony brought out a whole bunch of stuff that looked really pretty, but I haven't heard that any of it is playable. So let me ask you something: have you seen anything on the show floor that's really pretty and playable?
IGN: Yes. The game that first comes to mind is Okami from Capcom. It's amazing.
Shigeru Miyamoto: What is that on?
IGN: PlayStation 2.
Shigeru Miyamoto: Anything for PlayStation 3, that was playable?
IGN: Nothing playable. Unfortunately, some of the PS3 demos were rendered. But there's no doubt it's going to be a beast of a machine. You don't have to speak specifically on the title or titles, but is there a game for Revolution that validates to you the path you seem to be taking with the console?
Shigeru Miyamoto: In the development of the Revolution, I can't really elaborate on anything that explains why this is the specific path for us. We know this is the path for us. I just can't give you specific details that maybe reaffirms for you that we feel comfortable. What thing I can say is that Sony and Microsoft are going down the same road. They have chosen their path and they're sticking to it. They're going down that road together. We have chosen the road less traveled and we're happy with that. We do think that is a good thing.