Miyamoto: Super Mario Galaxy Crosses The Line

The time has finally arrived when casual and hardcore come together as one.

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Miyamoto: Super Mario Galaxy Crosses The Line
You're sure to have seen the story we ran last week about Japanese gaming bible, Famitsu's interview with Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and new images of Super Mario Galaxy. Once you'd dealt with the images - Dead Mario! Well, Ghost Mario - the interview with Shiggy would certainly have intrigued you.

Well, here's the meat. And the meat will cause some indigestion to the hardcore gaming fraternity. Remember that at this year's E3 Miyamoto made the following statement: "One game that I wanted to introduce to you all at E3 this year was not Super Mario Galaxy, not Zelda for the Nintendo DS, and not Mario Kart, it's this game Wii Fit"?

We took that to mean, "Bugger the hardcore, I'm here for the casual stuff from now on!" or words to that effect.

Well, Shiggy's expanding on this in the Famitsu interview. He's now not even sure that there is a difference between the casual and hardcore gamer. He says, "The fact is, I don’t think there is such a wall between both audiences. While there are indeed games designed for core and casual markets, core users are also enjoying casual gaming."

All well and good - sure 'core' gamers like to fiddle about with mini-games and the like. However, Miyamoto goes further and expands on how Super Mario Galaxy itself is being fitted into the new regime. "It is very hard to tune the difficulty just for the core market. Even for us, we would still have difficulty finding the right balance. But I think the future is games that are not difficult and yet very fun to play.

"What I mean is that there is no point in making a difficulty level the fun factor of a game. We are making Super Mario Galaxy as a new and fun experience which aims at providing a very appealing, convincing and, before all, fun experience. If we managed to do so, then I’m sure even the core gamers will find it appealing.”

In short, the great man appears to say that he's either done the impossible (and, well, it's Miyamoto, so we're not saying he hasn't) and has made SMG work at polar levels. Or he's saying that the hardcore - because it likes casual gaming as well as the next person - will have to get used to 'fun' over challenge and possibly even failure.

Looking at the man's track record you've got to err on the side of the former - he has managed to pull off the equivalent of producing an album as equally loved by a Napalm Death fan as it is by a Steps fan.

Still it all makes for excellent build up to Super Mario Galaxy.




Translation Source: Next-Gen
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Comments

Joji 14 Aug 2007 11:06
1/4
That's all well and good Mr Miyamoto, but Nintendo can't always be right, and they should be concerned if the gaming public don't bite their view with good sales.

We were once told Virtual Boy was so and so too, and look what happened to that. Change is a good thing but not always for the better.
ozfunghi 14 Aug 2007 11:46
2/4
The man obviously know more about gaming than all of Spong and the rest of us combined. From the previews i read of SMG, none was complaining that the difficulty was over-easy. Look at Nintendogs, what a "dumb" game right? The guy is usually spot on. Also, personally, some levels in SMS were too hard for my liking. I don't consider myself a casual gamer, but nearing my 30's, i don't have nearly enough time to spend on games. And amazingly, he wasn't involved in creating SMS.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I also thought Miyamoto's group wasn't responsible for the Virtual Boy, but Yokoi's group. I could be wrong here.

Nintendo can't always be right, but Miyamoto usually is :-)
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Rorkimaru 17 Oct 2007 00:17
3/4
if you sy dificulty cant be a deciding factor of fun in a game you must never have heard of devil may cry 3. that game is ridiculously difficult and brilliant as a result. the skills you have to hone for the game make it one of the best games i have ever played. sure casual is fun but you cant play a casual game for a few hours and become enthralled in a deep story. dancing arround with a modified tv remote is fun but its not real gameing
5tein-o 18 Oct 2007 20:14
4/4
Miyamoto is essentially saying what everyone else has been saying for years: that "core" gamers just need to get a life. Maturing gamers recognize that gaming is a pastime, not a lifestyle.
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