Miyamoto speaks on GameCube launch
Plus online GameCube strategy and possible SquareSoft dig inside!
Radical sweater dude!
Following the disappointing Japanese launch of Nintendo’s GameCube, Nintendo guru Shigeru Miyamoto has spoken to Japanese publication Mainichi on how he feels everything went.
Translated by the marvellous Fengi at VideoSenki, Miyamoto faces up to some of the toughest questions asked of Nintendo in recent times.
When asked about the Japanese launch Miyamoto said, “I'll admit that, deep down, I wanted it to sell a little better. It's not a simple matter anymore to sell something that costs 30,000 or 40,000 yen with software, especially when it's not even Christmas season. Still Pikmin's done well enough to get a repeat.” Pikmin 2 eh? Cripes!
Miyamoto was asked if Nintendo was ever considered releasing a Mario or Zelda game with the machine. “It's no given that the same pattern will work over and over again. You've always got to try new things. It's obvious that the industry is slowing down. That's why we, the creators of video games, have to change ourselves. I'm not going to deny what we did in the past, but we've got to keep getting more people interested in games who wouldn't normally care.”
When it was put to him that Nintendo has a pessimistic online strategy, Miyamoto was, as ever, very cagey. “That's not really true; we treat games as a form of communication. That's why we've been actively doing products we're capable of selling, like the Mobile Adapter GB. On the other hand, we dropped the idea of doing it the way other companies do at the research level. We can't make an online game that uses the Internet until the technology makes it into enough homes, but we did need to prepare the GameCube for that eventuality in the future. However, one big problem with online gaming is that we have to constantly provide and maintain hosting services for the games. That's why online games really haven't arrived yet from a business perspective. There's not enough fun in online to generate a hit console game that'll sell two or three million copies.”
Then, when asked about what games Nintendo plan to put online, Miyamoto makes an uncharacteristic attack on some other game companies, possibly Square. “I have a lot of ideas, but they're all secret. One thing that alarms me, though, is this trend I see of companies running out of ideas, getting into trouble, and then looking for an escape in online gaming. I'm not trying to criticise anyone, but I want people to ask themselves whether online is really the pinnacle of gaming.”
Translated by the marvellous Fengi at VideoSenki, Miyamoto faces up to some of the toughest questions asked of Nintendo in recent times.
When asked about the Japanese launch Miyamoto said, “I'll admit that, deep down, I wanted it to sell a little better. It's not a simple matter anymore to sell something that costs 30,000 or 40,000 yen with software, especially when it's not even Christmas season. Still Pikmin's done well enough to get a repeat.” Pikmin 2 eh? Cripes!
Miyamoto was asked if Nintendo was ever considered releasing a Mario or Zelda game with the machine. “It's no given that the same pattern will work over and over again. You've always got to try new things. It's obvious that the industry is slowing down. That's why we, the creators of video games, have to change ourselves. I'm not going to deny what we did in the past, but we've got to keep getting more people interested in games who wouldn't normally care.”
When it was put to him that Nintendo has a pessimistic online strategy, Miyamoto was, as ever, very cagey. “That's not really true; we treat games as a form of communication. That's why we've been actively doing products we're capable of selling, like the Mobile Adapter GB. On the other hand, we dropped the idea of doing it the way other companies do at the research level. We can't make an online game that uses the Internet until the technology makes it into enough homes, but we did need to prepare the GameCube for that eventuality in the future. However, one big problem with online gaming is that we have to constantly provide and maintain hosting services for the games. That's why online games really haven't arrived yet from a business perspective. There's not enough fun in online to generate a hit console game that'll sell two or three million copies.”
Then, when asked about what games Nintendo plan to put online, Miyamoto makes an uncharacteristic attack on some other game companies, possibly Square. “I have a lot of ideas, but they're all secret. One thing that alarms me, though, is this trend I see of companies running out of ideas, getting into trouble, and then looking for an escape in online gaming. I'm not trying to criticise anyone, but I want people to ask themselves whether online is really the pinnacle of gaming.”
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