This is the 2008-2009 page of the Shigeru Miyamoto Archive.
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2008
Official Nintendo Magazine: An Audience With.. Shigeru Miyamoto
Publication Date: January, 2008
Subject(s): Super Mario Galaxy, Ratchet & Clank
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Chris Scullion, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://tiredoldhack.com/2015/04/23/my-first-miyamoto-interview-from-2007/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20150429074412/http://tiredoldhack.com/2015/04/23/my-first-miyamoto-interview-from-2007/
Scans:
Notes: This interview was conducted over e-mail and part of it originally appeared in Official Nintendo Magazine. Several years later the interviewer, Chris Scullion, posted the full interview, including the original Japanese response, on his website. The summary uses the full version found on Chris’s website.
In October 2007 Ryan Schneider of Insomniac Games said he was flattered that Super Mario Galaxy had been inspired by Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando and Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal.
Scans by Out of Print Archive.
Summary: It’s important to please both old players and new players, which the Wii has a lot of.
There was no major upending of the tea table with Super Mario Galaxy. The game may have been even better if someone like Takashi Tezuka had done so.
He wishes he could go to outer space and look at the Earth and experience zero gravity. The idea with Super Mario Galaxy wasn’t to recreate space, it was create new experiences with the gravity mechanic.
The 2D sections show that 2D and 3D can be switched between when needed. He would like to make another 2D Mario game when he has more ideas.
Yoshiaki Koizumi wanted make a new universe for Mario to vacation in with Super Mario Sunshine.
The orchestral music was important for the majesty of space.
Since the GameCube they have been working on reducing load times.
He hasn’t heard of Ratchet & Clank. The idea for spherical worlds and anti-gravity came up after Super Mario 64, and they have experimented with it since then.
Fantasy adventure games don’t sell well in Japan unless they are from one of a few role-playing series. Role-playing game fans don’t always like The Legend of Zelda because of its action elements. Traditionally in Japan role-playing games sell well initially, but not afterward.
They need new characters when they make a new game. How much people like Rosalina and Luma will determine if they are used in the future.
He is proud that Super Mario Galaxy can be enjoyed by beginners, and of the cooperative two-player.
Iwata Asks: Mario Kart Wii
Publication Date: April 3, 2008
Subject(s): Mario Kart Wii, Wii Wheel
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Kenichiro Ashida, Hideki Konno, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/mariokart/0/0/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220614112710/https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/mariokart/0/0/
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/rmcj/vol1/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210418222722/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/rmcj/vol1/index.html
Summary: When he is listed as general producer in the credits, as he is in Mario Kart Wii, it usually means he had little to do with it. He gave some input to the Wii Wheel and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Super Mario Kart did not start as a two-player F-Zero, the goal was a game that displayed the screen for two players at the same time. It was not a racing game originally.
In regards to the Wii Wheel, he wanted to make something that came in a big box. You get a lot of bragging rights if you do well with the wheel.
He agreed right away about adding a motorbike, to make the Mario world a bit more for boys. Mario Kart Wii is a communication tool.
MTV: Top Nintendo Designer Shigeru Miyamoto Talks ’Wii Fit’ And Appealing To Unhealthy Americans
Publication Date: April 21, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Stephen Totilo, Shigeru Miyamoto
Notes: This is the first part of a two part interview.
Summary: When he started making video games he was not thinking about what was down the road and he never envisioned Wii Fit. He’s never focused on an American or Japanese audience, he’s usually designing for himself. He wanted Wii Fit to make it easy to use on a regular basis. Rather than exercise with Wii Fit everyday it’s more important that people are aware of their health. Wii Fit is interesting if you live with your family and can compare your stats with each other.
Even with almost 2 million sold there have been very few incidents with people falling off the Wii Balance Board. The step aerobics music wasn’t popular with Nintendo of America.
MTV: Miyamoto To MTV: Why ’Wii Fit’ Is Not ’Mario Fit’ Also Talks The Pleasure Of Goals, Hardcore Gamer Complaints And New Characters
Publication Date: April 22, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit, Wii Balance Board
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Stephen Totilo, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.mtv.com/news/uzvl8c/miyamoto-why-wii-fit-is-not-mario-fit
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230124182901/https://www.mtv.com/news/uzvl8c/miyamoto-why-wii-fit-is-not-mario-fit
Notes: This is part two of a two part interview.
Summary: They’ve always been focused on making new experiences but the Wii is the first time they’ve focused on the living room. He doesn’t think of the end benefit as much as finding new ways to surprise and entertain. Wii Fit is about drawing others into the experience of setting your own goal. He saw his BMI improve dramatically after using Wii Fit. They wanted to make the Wii Balance Board as unobtrusive as possible, and its competition is not other games, its scales.
The Wii Balance Board became a character because Wii Fit needed to feel fun, fresh, and a bit silly. Adding Mario to Wii Fit may have limited its broad appeal. They want to expand the gaming population with Wii Fit.
Iwata Asks: Link’s Crossbow Training
Publication Date: April 24, 2008
Subject(s): First-person shooters, Link’s Crossbow Training, Wii Zapper
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/crossbow/0/0/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20221019040254/https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/crossbow/0/0/
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/rzpj/vol1/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20150713201612/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/rzpj/vol1/index.html
Summary: He’s always been into first-person shooter games, they feel natural and comfortable and even proposed a first-person perspective for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He felt there was room in the gap between advanced and casual first-person shooters. He talked to staff about making a The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess side story for people that wanted to continue to play in that world. He eventually proposed a game based around the Wii Zapper, which met some resistance. He told the staff not to create anything unnecessary, don’t make a movie, and keep levels under three minutes long. He wanted the focus to be on the journey, not the rewards.
Someone working on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess rigged up a sort of Wii Zapper and showed it to him. He liked how it felt and got started working with the hardware people on the real thing. Link’s crossbow has rapid fire abilities because it is fun, even if it doesn’t make sense.
The Times: Exclusive: Working out the future with Shigeru Miyamoto
Publication Date: April 27, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit
Format: Transcribed interview
People: John Arlidge, Shigeru Miyamoto
Summary: He wants to show that games can be good for you and enrich your life. Nintendo wants to counter the idea that games are bad for your brain and health.
They want to broaden the idea of what video games are and make games for men and women of all ages.
They would love for family members to talk about Wii Fit in Britain the way they are in Japan.
It’s not good to play games for too long, he tells his children to go outside on sunny days. He went jogging in Central Park yesterday, but he did stretches with Wii Fit.
USA Today: Designer Miyamoto makes video games pulse with life
Publication Date: May 5, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit, Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Mike Snider, Shigeru Miyamoto
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20090817232005/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2008-05-14-miyamoto-wii-fit_N.htm
Notes: This interview contains quotes from several other sources about Wii Fit and Mr. Miyamoto, I have only summarized the new material.
Summary: He tries to take something fun from his experiences and make a fun game out of it. He was inspired to make Wii Fit after weighing himself daily.
He is overseeing all of Nintendo’s big titles.
Sumo wrestlers use two scales and try to balance their weight between them. They found this to be fun so they made a skiing game centered around it.
They want Wii Fit to help families communicate about their health.
He hopes Wii Music helps people who can’t play music use it experience that joy.
The Victoria Advocate: Nintendo’s Latest Game Wants You Off the Couch
Publication Date: May 18, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Barbara Ortutay, Shigeru Miyamoto
Scans:
Notes: This interview was by the Associated Press and appeared in a few different newspapers. It is described as taking place while Mr. Miyamoto was in the United States.
Summary: The premise of Wii Fit is checking your weight.
His family bought a new scale because tracking his weight was fun. He wanted to make a game out of it.
The New York Times: Resistance Is Futile
Publication Date: May 25, 2008
Subject(s): Nintendo characters, Miis
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Seth Schiesel, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/arts/television/25schi.html
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20211103100318/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/arts/television/25schi.html
Notes: The interview is only a small part of this article.
Summary: It’s important that the people he works with are recognized. It’s flattering that anyone would consider Nintendo on the same level as Disney.
People like Mario, Link and their other characters because they are in fun games.
He’s making different games than he was five years ago. Rather than using his imagination to create worlds he’s been drawing from his personal life.
Miis are Nintendo’s latest character. They allow you to become part of the experience.
With Wii Music they are trying to make it feel like you’re creating music.
Wired: Q&A: 90 Minutes With Miyamoto, Nintendo’s Master of Amusement
Publication Date: June 27, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit, WiiWare, hobbies, Donkey Kong
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Chris, Kohler, Clive Thompson, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.wired.com/2008/06/interview-90-mi/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20140410211400/http://www.wired.com/2008/06/interview-90-mi/
Notes: Parts of this interview were made into separate articles on Wired, some from over a month prior. I am only including this one because it contains everything.
Summary: Wii Fit is a family communication tool, a new type of interactive entertainment. When he turned 40 he started swimming to deal with back pain. He started weighing himself every day at 50, making graphs of his weight. He decided to make that into a game everyone could enjoy in the living room.
His wife didn’t play video games until DS games like Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! came out. His wife and children compete in balance games in Wii Fit.
Metabolic syndrome has been a hot topic in Japan lately. People have fewer opportunities to get exercise now.
60% of Wii Fit purchasers are men around 30 years old, but everyone in the family plays it. 40% of the people they surveyed bought their Wii to play Wii Fit.
The Wii Balance Board was made for Wii Fit, but they also tried to make it so that other developers could make use of it.
Video games have become more complicated over time, which has required more complicated controllers. The last few years they have been trying to make controllers more accessible. But some types of games still work better with traditional controls.
The Wii was designed to be unobtrusive and fit in naturally, 70 and 80 year olds play the Wii, so making a button on the screen too small or having to use a D-pad might make things difficult for them. The Wii Balance Board and Wii Wheel are about reaching a broader audience.
America is better at making unique products. Independent developers in the United States have the skills and access to technology. PC game makers in Japan haven’t entered the video game market.
It’s important for managers to create a team that is the right size for the scope of the project. Wii Sports and Wii Fit had small development teams, he wants to set an example of how such a team can make a successful game. 10-20 people made Wii Fit and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is being worked on by 50-100. He encourages other developers to use smaller teams so that they don’t spend more time managing than making the game.
He tells the people working under him about the history of the characters and worlds they are using. Mario games have a unique personality, sometimes he has to tell people what they’re making looks like a Sega game.
He came up with Nintendogs after experiencing the joy of raising a dog. Super Mario Galaxy includes his interest in M.C. Escher-like worlds with strange angles.
Satoru Iwata has told him not to talk about his current hobbies.
Donkey Kong was made with the idea that you are playing in a square maze. You’re moving towards a large object as your goal, and gorillas are big. They made Mario Italian because he had a mustache. With Wii Fit they knew there was going to be a device in people’s living rooms, so they had to figure out what kind of art would make sense for it.
He doesn’t play many games, but he thinks We Ski and Professor Layton and the Curious Village are good.
They took a gamble with making the Wii Remote central to the Wii. It’s validating seeing other companies make motion controllers too. They want controllers to be inviting to a broad audience.
The Wii is well-balanced between its price, interface, and online network. When making hardware they focus on balancing the end user’s experience and creating a good development environment.
Bangor Daily News: Meet the Inventor of Donkey Kong. And Mario. His Hot New Game: Wii Fit
Publication Date: June 27, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Scott Jones, Shigeru Miyamoto
Scans:
Notes: This interview was by the Associated Press and appeared in a few different newspapers.
Summary: Wii Fit helps you become more aware of your body, which can lead to you making better health decisions.
Nintendo told him not to bike to work anymore because it was dangerous.
Many of the puppets he made as a child were monsters or dogs.
Bluegrass music is not popular in Japan.
When he was hired he was told to find a use for leftover Radar Scope machines.
He hopes that his products stand out and that he blends in.
Electronic Gaming Monthly: Survival of the Fittest
Publication Date: July, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit, core gamers, changing gaming’s perception, Wii Balance Board
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Jeremy Parish, Shigeru Miyamoto
Scans:
Notes: Scans by Retromags.
Summary: Core gamers didn’t get a Wii to play Wii Sports, but it gave them an opportunity to share their hobby with nongamers. Wii Fit will also expand people’s interest in video games.
Video games are no longer something that everyone can enjoy. Hardcore games buy things in the first three weeks, and then there’s a dramatic decline in sales. Wii Fit, Animal Crossing games, and Nintendogs sell steadily over time, which is essential to the industry.
Wii Fit is expensive for a video game, but it’s very cheap for exercise equipment.
As new people start playing video games because of Wii Fit, it will change the impression of what video gaming is. Core gamers should see that this is improving the environment for their hobby.
Wii Fit is about setting a goal, making a path to it, and finding a new goal. That’s very similar to what you do in a Mario game.
Wii Fit has sold about 2 million in Japan. Third parties are asking them about how they can use the Wii Balance Board. Install base is the key for supporting peripherals.
Nintendo of America: E3 2008
Publication Date: July 15, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music (52:03)
Format: Presentation/demonstration (live translator)
People: DJ Ravidrums, Denise Kaigler, unnamed Treehouse members, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Video:
Notes: Uploaded by YouTube user CARSLOCK.
Summary: [Mr. Miyamoto plays the saxophone in Wii Music while DJ Ravidrums plays the drums.]
They worked on Wii Music alongside Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit as they finalized the plans for the Wii. Music games usually require pressing buttons at the right time. Wii Music brings the joy of playing music to everyone. You don’t need to follow music notes or rhythm guides. While playing the saxophone he pressed buttons with the timing of his preference. He doesn’t have to worry about making mistakes. You can play over 50 instruments. DJ Ravidrums is using the Wii Balance Board to activate the drum pedals. There are lessons, so you can learn to play the drums in a few weeks.
There is an orchestra game, hand bell choir and note matching modes. Wii Music does not evaluate your performance, but it can record videos. The vice president of corporate affairs, Denise Kaigler, will play the marimba, with the Treehouse horn section.
[Denise Kaigler and two unnamed Treehouse members come out on stage and play a song with Miyamoto and DJ Ravidrums.]
GameSpot: Wii Music Shigeru Miyamoto E3 2008 Interview 1
Publication Date: July 15, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music, Wii Sports Resort, MotionPlus
Format: Interview (dubbed)
People: Unnamed GameSpot interviewer, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Video:
Notes: This video has been unavailable on GameSpot’s website here and here for some time, but I was able to preserve it thanks to Thomas Staudinger.
Summary: Other music games are about matching a rhythm, he wanted to make a game where you could perform a song with your family.
First, they wanted to address the concern of people who can’t play an instrument who were worried about playing the wrong note. By allowing the game to support the player in pretending to play an instrument it can allow them to make the song they want to create. It’s like a music creation tool, with 60 instruments.
They did focus testing with children, and they loved it.
There will be about 50 songs which you can either play accurately or however you want.
An online Wii Sports would be easy, but they found that the Wii Remote is better at detecting broad motions rather than subtle ones. This meant they couldn’t include some of the sports that they wanted. The MotionPlus will allow them to bring those ideas to life. Maybe they’ll make an online Wii Sports after Wii Sports Resort. They also had requests for more accurate motion tracking from third parties. They want to have at least 10 activities in Wii Sports Resort.
He thought it would be more fun if the games he worked on were played by a broad audience. He’s focused on the end user.
Engadget: Liveblog from Nintendo’s 2008 E3 Developer Roundtable
Publication Date: July 16, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music, Pikmin 3
Format: Presentation, Q & A
People: Kyle Orland, Aaron Rosenbeck, unnamed members of the press, Bill Trinen (translator), Katsuya Eguchi, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.engadget.com/2008-07-16-liveblog-from-nintendos-2008-e3-developer-roundtable.html
Notes: This Q & A session took place during E3 2008.
Summary: When they play jazz in Wii Music they do rapid play, so the mistakes are ad libs.
Their five to eight year old play testers couldn’t pull themselves away. Half of an elementary school music class could be devoted to Wii Music.
You can do lessons in the game and learn the drums in a few weeks.
Many of the songs will be from the public domain, but some are licensed.
Wii Music is more of a toy than a video game, which makes it more interesting.
They are working on Pikmin 3.
NBC News: Meet the man behind the Wii
Publication Date: July 17, 2008
Subject(s): Wii, casual vs core
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Kristin Kalning, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25710005
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230119030122/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25710005
Notes: This interview took place at E3 2008.
Summary: Japan’s aging population wasn’t the reason for making the Wii. Gaming was becoming something only for core gamers. Video games should be more than more advanced versions of previous games. Even though they aren’t focusing on high tech graphics they are still targeting core gamers.
E3 is now an opportunity to reach beyond core gamers, to the broader audience, it’s not for showing core games.
He wanted to see his parents and wife play games. Wii Sports and Wii Fit helped break down the idea that video games are violent. Hardware and software development must go hand-in-hand.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was a refinement of the Nintendo Entertainment System while the N64 was an advancement. The Wii and DS are advancements. The next system in five to 10 years will likely be a refinement, and then the one after an advancement.
Wired: Game|Life 21: Shigeru Miyamoto
Publication Date: July 22, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music, Motion Plus
Format: Interview (dubbed)
People: Chris Kohler, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Jjt9ZY_j0
Summary: It’s difficult to learn to play a musical instrument, he is envious when he watches professional musicians. He thought it would be fun for people to feel like they are playing a musical instrument.
The fun of playing an instrument comes from moving your body and playing the notes. Wii Music helps people play the right notes.
In rhythm games the goal has been to play the song in just the right way, but Wii Music gives you the freedom to play how you want. There’s six parts to each song and you can play whichever you want, or improvise.
The Wii Remote aimed to bring motion controls to as wide an audience as possible. They were happy with how it worked out, but they had ideas that required more precise control so they made Motion Plus.
The Telegraph: Shigeru Miyamoto: The man behind the Nintendo Wii
Publication Date: July 24, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music, motion controls, traditional games
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Claudine Beaumont, Shigeru Miyamoto
Notes: This article was removed from The Telegraph sometime between its posting and September 2016.
Summary: Game designers often push for better graphics and network capabilities, but they’d be better off thinking about health.
You can play instruments in Wii Music through movement thanks to the Wii Remote.
He didn’t realize the DS and Wii would be so successful.
The gaming industry was narrowing to just core gamers, so it’s good that it is appealing to more people. Making traditional games is what he’s best at. Those games can take two to three years to make.
The Wii’s motion controls allow them to do new things, but sometimes buttons work better.
IGN: Miyamoto Interview
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Fit
Format: Interview (dubbed)
People: Unnamed IGN interviewer, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTPhCJAIgdI
Summary: He started weighing himself every day. His family got interested in this and bought him a more advanced scale. He was amazed at how much fun graphing his weight was.
They want the Wii to be in the living room. It’s hard for everyone to play Super Mario Galaxy, but everyone can weigh themselves.
A developer saw a sumo wrestler weighing himself with two scales. They tried using two scales with Wii Fit and found that balancing to equalize the weight between both was fun. It’s like your whole body is the joystick.
With Wii Fit there’s strength training, yoga, aerobics, hula hoop, step aerobics, balance games, and tightrope walking.
You can see your balance in real time as you do exercise, it will improve your posture. When you weigh yourself every day you’ll limit yourself from eating too much.
He doesn’t think of Japan versus the other parts of the world when making games. People who have never played a video game will be interested in Wii Fit, and that may make them become interested.
IGN: E3 2008: Shigeru Miyamoto Interview
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
Subject(s): Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wii Speak, Motion Plus
Format: Interview (dubbed)
People: Unnamed IGN interviewer, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0bpregPu-I
Notes: This was posted on the same day as the video interview in the previous entry, but this one is from E3 2008.
Summary: He knows there are people that want to play Animal Crossing: City Folk with Wii Speak and others that don’t.
Wii Speak’s idea is connecting living rooms. It captures many different voices.
Their sports games appeal to a broad audience, he wants to bring them to as many people as possible.
There’s a team always working on The Legend of Zelda and there’s a broader team that moves in and out.
Miis were made with the idea that the people you live with have Miis that live together in the TV.
It’s flattering how Microsoft has used what Nintendo has done used it on their platform.
The Wii Remote is good at detecting large movements while the Motion Plus is better at subtle movements. This opens up more possibilities for motion control.
Famitsu (reported on by VG247, partially untranslated from Japanese)
Publication Date: September 9, 2008
Subject(s): Striving
Format: Presentation
People: Reported on by Patrick Garratt, unknown Famitsu interviewer, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.vg247.com/miyamoto-i-want-to-keep-striving
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230219030218/https://www.vg247.com/miyamoto-i-want-to-keep-striving
Japanese Link: https://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1217978_1124.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20081013134737/http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1217978_1124.html
Notes: CEDEC is a Japanese game developer’s conference that also gives out annual awards. They seem to have given Mr. Miyamoto some kind of award in 2008 and he gave an acceptance speech. There doesn’t seem to be much English reporting on this speech and there is no video. The Famitsu article seems to have more information but no one has translated it as far as I can tell.
Summary: He wants to keep striving as he gets older. They should make sure that the video game business flourishes and that more children want to enter the industry.
Iwata Asks: Volume 1 : Shigeru Miyamoto (Wii Music)
Publication Date: September 25, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/wii_music/0/0/
Archive Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/r64j/vol1/index.html
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/r64j/vol1/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220701084525/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/r64j/vol1/index.html
Summary: His first instrument was the ukulele in junior high. He was on the basketball team, but quit and started a manga club. He listened to the brass band rather than join it. He learned drums in the popular music club. He threw his weight around concerning musical matters at Nintendo until people who knew about music, like Koji Kondo, joined.
He has been trying to make a music game since the Nintendo 64. Wii Music is not a musical instrument nor a video game. He didn’t feel this kind of joy making other games. He hopes it makes a contribution to music, influences future instruments, and gets people into music. He wants Wii Music to be used in music education. He wasn’t this excited when making Super Mario Bros.
Iwata Asks: Volume 3 : The Developers (Wii Music)
Publication Date: September 25, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Kazumi Totaka, Koji Kondo, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/wii_music/2/0/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220826090121/https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/wii_music/2/0/
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/r64j/vol3/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210402145735/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/r64j/vol3/index.html
Summary: Since you learn with your body, you can jump into playing the real thing. He has been practicing guitar for 30 years.
Wii Music is the instrument of the future. While traveling to promote the game, he heard local music differently due to Wii Music, he could hear the individual parts. A translator from Nintendo of America said the same thing.
This is one of the few games he has worked on that he played after release, he plays for hours at a time. He drew four panel comic strips in school.
Shigeru Miyamoto visits a kindergarten (Wii Music, untranslated from Japanese)
Publication Date: October 12, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Promotional video
People: Unnamed teachers and kindergarten students, Kazumi Totaka, Mitsuhiro Hikino, Shigeru Miyamoto
Video:
Notes: The title is a machine translation of 宮本茂が、幼稚園を訪問. This video was originally hosted here, on the Wii website. I’m not completely certain that is Mitsuhiro Hikino.
Channel 4: Meeting Mr Nintendo
Publication Date: October 20, 2008
Subject(s): Violence in video games
Format: Transcribed interview?
People: Benjamin Cohen, Shigeru Miyamoto
Notes: It is somewhat implied that this and the next Channel 4 entry are from the same interview, though this one says “Miyamoto was speaking in London”, which sounds more like a Q & A or presentation.
Summary: He’s worried that developers are using violence to stimulate players. Our first priority is to eat to live, while enriching our souls should be second. Nintendo wants to take advantage of cheap technology to create affordable entertainment.
Channel 4: Inspiring the video games master
Publication Date: October 22, 2008
Subject(s): Wii, Inspiration, favorites
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Benjamin Cohen, Shigeru Miyamoto
Notes: This article implies that it originally included video clips of this interview, but they have been lost.
Summary: Nintendo isn’t against traditional Wii games, it’s for the whole family. Since the Wii is situated by the living room TV its themes are sports, fitness, and music.
Since he’s worked on over 100 games some must take some inspiration from his hobbies, perhaps five to 10. Getting a dog led to Nintendogs. Weighing himself every day led to Wii Fit. He also loves music, which led to Wii Music.
The president of Nintendo tells him not to talk about his hobbies.
People’s eyes move as they think, Nintendo may be able to use that for a game. Brain waves could be used, too.
Since Donkey Kong started his career it is important to him. There was no such thing as a game designer at the time. Super Mario Bros. is the best selling series in the world, so that’s important too. Wii Fit and Wii Music are a new style of entertainment, so those are important.
Iwata Asks: Volume 2 : Internal Software (Nintendo DSi)
Publication Date: October 24, 2008
Subject(s): Nintendo DSi and its built-in software
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Yusuke Akifusa, Masahiro Imaizumi, Yoshihiro Matsushima, Tomoaki Kuroume, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/ds/dsi/1/0/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220826090224/https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/ds/dsi/1/0/
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/interview/dsi/vol2/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220714043342/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/interview/dsi/vol2/index.html
Summary: He really wanted to include art tools and a graphic editor with the DSi. Text messaging on cell phones is beating video games as the easiest way to pass time.
He insisted on a photo editor that could crop photos and combine them and he also really wanted a music application included.
It’s not about “features”, its about creating a satisfying experience that is simple to understand. Everyone who made the DSi struggled, but also had fun.
Iwata Asks: Volume 8 : Yoichi Kotabe (Nintendo DSi)
Publication Date: October 24, 2008
Subject(s): Nintendo DSi, drawing and animating
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Yoichi Kotabe, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/ds/dsi/7/2/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20221217234409/https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/ds/dsi/7/2/
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/interview/dsi/vol8/index3.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210701103656/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/interview/dsi/vol8/index3.html
Summary: He wanted Peach to be stubborn, but charming, with cat-like eyes and imagined Bowser like the Ox King in Alakazam the Great. He worked with Yoichi Kotabe on their designs. He rejected motion capture animation, it can’t combine smooth movement and interactivity. The ultimate video game is a design tool. He hopes Wii Music inspires people to become musicians.
The Telegraph: Interview: Meeting Shigeru Miyamoto
Publication Date: October 24, 2008
Subject(s): Expanding the video game market, accessories, controllers, third-party developers
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Tom Hoggins, Shigeru Miyamoto
Summary: People like to play video games is because it’s like volunteering to do something. In Super Mario Bros. you might volunteer to break several bricks, looking for an item.
Repetition among competitors lead to the video game market narrowing, so they wanted to go back to the basics and appeal to as many people as possible. They knew at the start of Wii development that they needed to rethink controls.
More accessories can mean more complications and more space taken up in the living room. The Wii Balance Board can be a new bathroom scale so it has immediate appeal.
He thinks future game controllers will be expandable.
Most third-party developers are interested in continuing their franchise series. Nintendo always wants to try something new.
Yuji Naka came up with a weird idea that he likes, it’s similar to Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, where people could tap to move Donkey Kong.
The Telegraph: Nintendo Wii: this time it’s musical
Publication Date: October 25, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Tom Hoggins, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3358926/Nintendo-Wii-this-time-its-musical.html
Summary: He wanted people to enjoy music rather than pressing buttons precisely. The joy of music is in expressing yourself. He always wants people to feel creative, Wii Music lets you focus on that.
There was nothing like Wii Fit and Wii Music on the market, but they are still making games Mario, Zelda, and Pikmin games. They want to expand the definition of video game entertainment at Nintendo.
Music is something for families to bond over in the living room.
It can be challenging if you do all six parts of an ensemble.
He hopes children will find the joy of playing music and be inspired to learn more about music theory. People tell him that he inspired them to become a game designer, he hopes people tell him that Wii Music inspired them to become musicians.
GameDaily: Interview: Miyamoto Discusses Wii Music and Future of Gaming
Publication Date: October 27, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music, making games for a broad audience, user-generated content
Format: Transcribed interview
People: John Gaudiosi, Shigeru Miyamoto
Summary: Music games are popular because people call them casual. They make games for people from five to 95. Music has a broad audience.
When he talks about Wii Music’s potential for education people may mistake it for educational software. People also think of it as being for kids, which isn’t the case.
Wii Music was hard to make, and it’s hard to get people to accept it because it doesn’t have a clear goal.
He hopes Wii Music is accepted by a broad audience and that it opens a market for music creation tools. Other developers may be inspired to branch out.
For many years he’s thought it would be interesting to make a game that didn’t require looking at the television. He realized you can do that with Wii Music. He can’t quite call Wii Music a video game for this reason, instead it’s a new type of musical instrument.
For most of his 30 years in the industry he has been making games that loyal Nintendo fans enjoy, and he will continue to do so.
It’s important to keep making the kinds of games they have been making, but they also have to make gaming more accessible. They need new experiences like Wii Fit and Wii Music.
Games with user-generated content will continue to expand in the future. It’s more interesting to let people design Miis than to have their designers make them. Wii Music allows people to share their music videos.
The DSi will have software that is a sketchbook which allows you to draw and animate.
MTV: One-On-One With Shigeru Miyamoto: From ’Wii Music’ To Bowser To.. MotionPlus?
Publication Date: October 27, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Stephen Totilo, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.mtv.com/news/8tqjlp/one-on-one-with-shigeru-miyamoto
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230124055001/https://www.mtv.com/news/8tqjlp/one-on-one-with-shigeru-miyamoto
Notes: The article says this is the first of two parts, but it ends up being three parts.
Summary: He has wanted to make a game about music for 30 years. Unlike other games he’s made there wasn’t a vision for Wii Music when they started developing it. They ended up with the idea that most people aren’t able to make music. He generally feels like no effort goes to waste, except for his years of trying to get better at playing instruments. But making Wii Music made it all feel worthwhile.
People keep asking him if he made Wii Music because of Guitar Hero and Rock Band’s success, so he wishes he had made it earlier. Other developers at Nintendo focus on making games as good as the competition, but he has to tell them that’s the wrong way to think about it, it has to be something unique.
Some people find it difficult when they don’t have a defined goal, but those who create their own goals will appreciate Wii Music. Mario Paint is another game that doesn’t give the player a defined objective, and Flipnote Studio will be another.
It’s difficult for many developers used to traditional controllers to adjust to the Wii Remote. Nintendo tries to give them tools and ideas. They wouldn’t have had the idea for Wii Music with a standard controller.
3sat neues
Publication Date: October 28, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music, learning to play an instrument, Project H.A.M.M.E.R., new technology, augmented and virtual reality
Format: Interview (live translator)
People: Unknown 3sat neues interviewer, Yasuhiro Minagawa (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Videos:
Notes: Uploaded by YouTube user NintendoManiac1993.
Summary: They want the Wii to be central in the living room. Music is important when people are united.
They’ve been working on Wii Music for many years, but in that time there’s been a boom of musical games. This makes it look like Nintendo is copying them, even though Wii Music is different from them. Those are usually about being as precise as possible, but Wii Music is about performing as you like.
He’s been playing music for 30 years, but he’s never gotten good at it. That was one of his motivations for making Wii Music.
When they make a Super Mario Bros. game they decide the central idea and expand from there. There are several reasons they made Wii Music. They wanted musical software for the Wii, since it’s for the living room. They thought they could use the Wii Remote as a musical instrument. Early on you could conduct an orchestra by moving the Wii Remote, but that required being precise. When he performs in a band he gets nervous about messing up. He thought it would be more welcoming to make a game that doesn’t require playing instruments correctly.
He hopes Wii Music encourages people to learn more about music. Normally people first have to take lessons to learn to play an instrument, and can only experience the joy of expression after they learn these things. After experiencing this joy with Wii Music right away they will be interested in learning how to really play instruments.
When they launch a new system he makes a point of making a new Super Mario game. The Legend of Zelda series is also important to him. Nintendo doesn’t talk about when they will come out, but they are always thinking about them.
He’s not involved with Project H.A.M.M.E.R., another department is in charge of that.
Nintendo is not just making games for casual gamers, and there is not a hard line dividing casual and core gamers. Nintendo’s developers are core gamers and they want to make core games all the time. They may seem to have less powerful graphics, but the Wii can handle games for hardcore gamers. If people buy core games it will encourage Nintendo and third parties to make more core games.
He can’t comment on new hardware being worked on. Around 2010 Japan will end analog TV broadcasting. Nintendo is always working with technology as it changes.
All the video game hardware makers take advantage of the current technology. It’s important for Nintendo to be unique. They want to make a framework that allows them to be creative. He doesn’t have a good impression of a game system that requires wearing goggles.
After his European trip he could come up with a new idea. Today’s technologies are special, they give him inspiration to make something new.
MTV: One On One With Miyamoto: ’Wii Music’ DLC, Negative Reviews, And How ’Mario’ Fans Benefit
Publication Date: October 28, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Stephen Totilo, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.mtv.com/news/mganl9/one-on-one-with-miyamoto-part-two
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230124061331/https://www.mtv.com/news/mganl9/one-on-one-with-miyamoto-part-two
Notes: This the second part of a three part interview.
Summary: It would be technically possible to create a system that sells new songs for Wii Music online, but for now they just want people to feel the joy of creating music. It changes the flavor of the game when Miis on your system appear in the audience. It was important that the graphics fit with the Miis.
They are creating more games like Wii Music and Wii Fit that have a broad appeal. Developers who have worked on Mario and Zelda games for years can get a new perspective and make those series have a broader appeal too.
MTV: Shigeru Miyamoto Interviews Me About Hardcore Games, Also Talks ’Punch Out’ And ’Mario,’ ’Zelda’ Shortcomings
Publication Date: October 29, 2008
Subject(s): Genre conventions, fresh ideas
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Stephen Totilo, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.mtv.com/news/nsxr7c/shigeru-miyamoto-punchout-mario-zelda-portal
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20221205172031/https://www.mtv.com/news/nsxr7c/shigeru-miyamoto-punchout-mario-zelda-portal
Notes: This the third part of a three part interview.
Summary: They could make a game that is very similar to other games in its genre, but instead they’re able to innovate by finding something unique and bring it together into a simple form. Other developers might take a gameplay element that isn’t fun and polish it and add other elements. It’s like cooking, sometimes you just have to add some salt and sometimes you have to add a lot of seasonings and sauces.
He’s told the development teams that something was missing from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Super Mario Galaxy was somewhat conservative. The hope is the next games in these franchises feel newer and fresher.
Portal was an amazing game.
Wired: Miyamoto Struggles to Sell Inscrutable Wii Music Game
Publication Date: October 31, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Presentation, Q & A
People: Chris Kohler, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.wired.com/2008/10/miyamoto-wii-mu/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20150528225248/http://www.wired.com/2008/10/miyamoto-wii-mu/
Notes: This event took place October 23, 2008 in a hotel room with about dozen press people. It started with Mr. Miyamoto talking about the features of Wii Music for an hour followed by 30 minutes of questions. There might be a more complete overview of this somewhere else.
Summary: People who have played Wii Music enjoyed it. He hopes to get the word out that you need to play Wii Music to understand it.
He thought having composer Kazumi Totaka direct it would be natural, but it was difficult. A musician has to explore the depths, but a director has to do the opposite. Directors have to distill their thoughts and explain them to others.
Takashi Tezuka knows nothing about music so he keenly watched him play, seeing if he had fun.
They chose songs that had a lot of freedom to be arranged how people liked. Popular music’s progression is usually tied to chord progression, which makes harmony and melody the same.
The kind of person that drums on their desk or hums to a song will find Wii Music interesting.
Official Nintendo Magazine: Facing the Music
Publication Date: November, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music, daily life
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Chris Scullion, Shigeru Miyamoto
Scans:
Notes: Special thanks to Chris Chapman. Although the interviewer here is not named it is almost certainly Chris Scullion, as he states here that he interviewed Mr. Miyamoto about Wii Music while working at Official Nintendo Magazine.
Summary: The idea behind Wii Music is playing music even if you don’t know how to play an instrument, they were able to satisfactorily accomplish this.
Koji Kondo chose songs that were recognizable and simple. Only using simple traditional songs may have been boring so there are some contemporary songs, too.
He knows that some games have hardcore appeal and that hardcore gamers won’t play some casual games. Nintendo wants to destroy those barriers. Wii Music has something for both groups. People start as casual gamers and often become hardcore. His wife became obsessed with playing Dr. Mario in Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day!. She moved on to playing Professor Layton and became upset when the cat hid it.
He wasn’t interested in history or music until high school when he joined a band. Wii Music teaches players the basics of playing instruments. Maybe they should make Wii Stockmarket?
He’s not sure the next Mario and The Legend of Zelda games will be ready to be announced by E3 2009.
The DSi will allow owners to customize it and make it their own. The player function will let you play parts of songs at a slower speed. It’s very convenient for guitar players.
[The following is from the feature about his daily life.]
He’s usually late to work, but stays at least until 8:00 PM, and sometimes until 1:00 AM.
He’s very involved in some games, and not in others. He gets reports about how games are doing.
He has guitars within reach at work, although not everyone likes him playing. Sometimes he listens to CDs.
Working long hours is fine, it’s always fun to make something no one else has ever done.
He’s like a tiger that prowls around checking on things.
He tries to have lunch with Satoru Iwata as much as possible.
He watches TV or listens to music after work, even if he gets home late, and swims at least once a week. He never works on the weekend.
His favorite moment at Nintendo was when he met a United States attorney, it made him realize he was working on something that would be sold around the world.
Nintendo Investor Relations: Corporate Management Policy Briefing/Semi Annual Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2009
Publication Date: November 4, 2008
Subject(s): Coming up with new ideas, keeping up technologically
Format: Investor Q & A
People: Unnamed investors, Nintendo executives including Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/events/081031qa/index.html
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20171103130134/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/events/081031qa/index.html
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/events/081031qa/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210928093647/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/events/081031qa/index.html
Summary: To come up with new ideas it is important to stay light on your feet and have many small meetings frequently. He sometimes meets with people at lunch.
The question is whether more advanced technology will really result in games with a competitive edge. You have to consider the economic side, too. Critics tend to favor the technological side rather than unique ideas. When certain levels of technology are readily available, games start to look the same.
GamePro Germany: Nintendo’s Miyamoto on Wii Music
Publication Date: November 4, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Unnamed GamePro Germany interviewer, Shigeru Miyamoto
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20081210135948/http://www.itworld.com/personal-tech/57205/nintendos-miyamoto-wii-music
Notes: The interview seems to cut off abruptly, there is probably more that has been lost.
Summary: He’s been playing music for 30 years and he’s been in several bands. He has guitars in his home and office. His son plays the guitar and drums and his daughter plays the trumpet and electric guitar.
He loves bluegrass music. Each year he joins a jam session that lasts several days.
In most music games you follow a set musical score and try to accurately keep the rhythm. In Wii Music the player plays what they want, expressing themselves. There’s no score, you play the role of a musical director and decide what sounds are featured.
Wii Music is for everyone, including people that don’t play games. Learning music theory and how to read music are hurdles that Wii Music removes. Some professional musicians find it stressful because they can’t express everything they want with a Wii Remote, but they use it to express themselves in another way. People new to playing music are happy to be able to play with the professionals.
CNET: Video game legend Miyamoto talks ’Wii Music’
Publication Date: November 10, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview, interview (dubbed)
People: Daniel Terdiman, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.cnet.com/culture/video-game-legend-miyamoto-talks-wii-music/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230326004335/https://www.cnet.com/culture/video-game-legend-miyamoto-talks-wii-music/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9Uj6Xjgr8A
Notes: The video version of the interview is also available on the CNET article. It doesn’t include every question asked and the translation is somewhat different.
Summary: They wanted the Wii to be something everyone in a household could relate to, so they needed to cover sports, health, fitness, and music. They started with finding how to portray different instruments with the Wii Remote. He has been reflecting on what makes playing music fun.
They were making Wii Music when music games were popular, and it’s natural for developers to gravitate towards what’s popular. He encouraged the developers to make something different. Other music games were about rhythm matching more than making music.
There are six parts to each song in Wii Music, and you can record each separately. You can also edit other people’s songs and collaborate.
They want to make people smile and Wii Music does that. Entertainment isn’t affected by the economy the way other industries are. Wii Music has exceptional value for families.
He’s not sure Wii Music should even be called a video game, it’s more like a new kind of musical instrument. You can make music without the usual barriers.
He’s played music for a long time but he’s not very good. Wii Music gives children a taste of what it’s like to make music and hopefully gets them interested in music.
It would be the greatest joy if someone tells him 20 years from now that they became a musician because of Wii Music.
He focuses on two things when making games. One is that the player should find their own goals, the other is that the game is fun for people watching it being played. Both are true of Wii Music.
They could have included features in Wii Music to share music online, but they’ve focused on sharing with friends. Some people in Japan have been getting quite few views on their YouTube videos, though.
The Wall Street Journal: Nintendo’s Wii Music Waits for Fans/Interview Excerpts: Shigeru Miyamoto
Publication Date: December 15, 2008
Subject(s): Wii Music, DS, making casual games
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Yukari Iwatani Kane, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB122930373918205685
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB122834417100677251
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230513195721/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB122930373918205685
https://web.archive.org/web/20230513200036/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB122834417100677251
Notes: These two articles were published the same day and are probably the same interview. Nintendo’s Wii Music Waits for Fans just has a few quotes from Mr. Miyamoto, while Interview Excerpts: Shigeru Miyamoto is described as “some excerpts” from an interview. If there is a full version of the interview I haven’t found it.
Summary: [Nintendo’s Wii Music Waits for Fans.]
He doesn’t expect Wii Music to be an immediate hit, word of mouth will spread.
He wants Wii Music to show the joy of music.
Developing for the Wii is a good test of a developer’s abilities.
[Interview Excerpts: Shigeru Miyamoto.]
He’s wanted to make a music game for a long time. The Wii Remote is well-suited to playing an instrument. Scoring the player on how well they played a popular song wouldn’t have been fun. He wanted people to be able to play music without practicing or knowing how to read music.
He wasn’t aiming to make Wii Music educational.
He didn’t think of Wii Music as the same kind of thing as Rock Band or Guitar Hero until he brought the game to the United States.
They made the DS with books in mind. Crosswords are better on digital devices since you don’t have to erase anything. Consoles are tied to televisions, so they should make them more useful. Wii Fit leads to communications between family members.
It’s important to see from the consumer’s perspective.
There are always copycats in the entertainment business. Sometimes copies can turn out great, like with Dragon Quest and Ultima. The more simple a game the more you have to pay attention to details. They didn’t plan on making casual games, that’s just how they ended up appealing to more people.
He doesn’t know what direction software will go in the future. His goal right now is making the Wii a necessity for every home.
2009
Iwata Asks: Nintendo Game Seminar 2008 The Road to Completing Animal Crossing Part 4
Publication Date: January 26, 2009 (translated July 11, 2016)
Subject(s): Animal Crossing (series), Animal Crossing (N64), 64DD
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata Katsuya Eguchi, Hisashi Nogami, Shigeru Miyamoto
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/etc/seminar2008/doubutsu/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20150717210929/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/etc/seminar2008/doubutsu/index.html
Translator: Matt Walker for Nintendo World Report
Summary: Is Katsuya Eguchi looking for atonement after he said he wanted to use the letter feature of Animal Crossing to leave messages for his son?
Famitsu (reported on by 1UP)
Publication Date: Unknown (reported on March 11, 2009)
Subject(s): Chasing trends, Nintendo 64, GameCube, DS
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Reported on by Kevin Gifford, Katsuaki Kato, Shigeru Miyamoto
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20090315183525/http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3173211
Summary: For a time Nintendo was doing what other companies did.
You have to look at the world with wide eyes in the entertainment industry, but he followed trends for a few years.
He was fascinated with 3D worlds during the Nintendo 64 and GameCube era, but after tinkering with the technical side he didn’t know who was making the games anymore.
If Nintendo’s planned and polished games don’t stand out while others did, then the creation process was for nothing. The non-gaming public didn’t talk about Nintendo’s GameCube games.
The considered starting over and making games for people that didn’t play games. The Classic NES series for the Game Boy Advance got the response they wanted. They didn’t want a new game system, they wanted to make the world go crazy.
Hiroshi Yamauchi said “two screens”, which turned development upside down. It would be more expensive and larger but it could attract a wide range of people. The touch controls brought things together.
IGN: E3 2009: Shigeru Miyamoto Roundtable LiveBlog
Publication Date: June 2, 2009
Subject(s): New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Galaxy 2, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Format: Presentation, demonstration, Q & A (live translator)
People: Matt Casamassina, Craig Harris, Unnamed members of the press, Bill Trinen, Tim O’Leary (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/06/03/e3-2009-shigeru-miyamoto-roundtable-liveblog
Notes: E3 2009 was one of the few without a public appearance by Miyamoto, but he did have a roundtable interview with the press. No photos or videos were allowed.
Summary: Nintendo brought fewer people to E3 this year due to Swine Flu.
He had an idea about bringing your DS with you around town and getting information about the places you visit. This has been implemented in Japan already.
He has tried to work in multiplayer to almost every Mario game, but it hasn’t ever come together. New Super Mario Bros. will zoom the camera in and out thanks to the Wii’s power. The cooperative and competitive nature is like Mario Bros. There are about 80 levels.
They had so many ideas left over after Super Mario Galaxy, the sequel is 90-95% new content.
Wii Sports got people off the couch, but he thought it could do better in improving a player’s skills.
The island in Wii Fit Plus is the same one as in Wii Fit. For a long time he has been thinking about making a location a character.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword might require Wii MotionPlus. Some think of Zelda games as a role-playing game with simpler controls.
The Wii Vitality Sensor is unique and he’s been interested in it for a long time.
It’s a challenge to make New Super Mario Bros. Wii enjoyable by a wide audience.
The stamp system in Wii Sports Resort is not the start of an achievement system. He’s not a fan of using carrots to incentivize play.
There’s no power left to spare for online play in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
SimCity had a big impact on him, and he worked on the Nintendo Entertainment System version.
Kotaku: Miyamoto: Super Mario Galaxy 2 Will Have 90% New Levels
Publication Date: June 2, 2009
Subject(s): Super Mario Galaxy 2
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Stephen Totilo, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://kotaku.com/miyamoto-super-mario-galaxy-2-will-have-90-new-levels-5276440
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20190216031733/https://kotaku.com/miyamoto-super-mario-galaxy-2-will-have-90-new-levels-5276440
Notes: This interview took place at E3 2009.
Summary: They usually don’t have two games from a franchise on the same console. Super Mario Galaxy allowed them to experiment with spherical worlds and there was a lot they wanted to do.
For Super Mario Galaxy 2 they originally wanted to make variations of levels from the original, but they had so many ideas that 90% of the levels are new.
There’s something like a ghost, but different.
Kotaku: Miyamoto Sorry He Has No New Pikmin For Us Yet
Publication Date: June 2, 2009
Subject(s): Pikmin 3
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Brian Crecente, Stephen Totilo, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://kotaku.com/miyamoto-sorry-he-has-no-new-pikmin-for-us-yet-5276531
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20191111171406/https://kotaku.com/miyamoto-sorry-he-has-no-new-pikmin-for-us-yet-5276531
Notes: This interview took place at E3 2009
Summary: He’s sorry, but there’s no Pikmin 3 at E3 because the team working on it is still small.
There are more than 2 people on the team and it will be a full sized new game. The idea is for it to be deep and simple to control.
IGN: E3 2009: What Happened to Link’s Sword?
Publication Date: June 4, 2009
Subject(s): The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Super Mario Galaxy 2, new IP, Pikmin 3
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Unnamed IGN interviewer, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/06/04/e3-2009-what-happened-to-links-sword
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210621060633/https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/06/04/e3-2009-what-happened-to-links-sword
Notes: This interview took place at E3 2009. There is a video of part of the interview here.
Summary: The work he does generally appeals to a wide age range. He has no problem with the games he’s worked on with second and third parties that don’t. The gaming audience is shrinking and he wants to help expand it. When they work with other developers they often want to do something like what Nintendo does, but they have to tell them that’s not what they want.
In the art shown off for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword at the press-only roundtable Link is missing something.
When they make Mario and Zelda games they have to appeal to long time fans as well as people who have never played them. He has to make sure he doesn’t make the game too difficult when he gets involved.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks will have four player wireless play, it will have cooperative elements, and won’t include swords.
Pikmin is not the last IP they have made. There’s Miis, Wii Sports, Nintendogs, and the island in Wii Sports Resort. He’s all dried up in terms of new hardcore IP. The young people at Nintendo are driving new IP.
The basics are done on Pikmin 3.
The puppet team still really wants to work on Marionette.
He wanted to do Flipnote Studio for a long time, he’s working with Yoshiaki Koizumi on it.
They are releasing a black Wii with Monster Hunter Tri.
Wired: Q&A: Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto on Mario, Zelda, Project Natal and More
Publication Date: June 12, 2009
Subject(s): Wii Sports Resort, video game controls, Super Mario Galaxy 2, the Japanese game industry
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Chris Kohler, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.wired.com/2009/06/shigeru-miyamoto-interview/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20141214182818/http://www.wired.com/2009/06/shigeru-miyamoto-interview/
Notes: This interview took place at E3 2009.
Summary: He has made some WarioWare: D.I.Y. games, but they are weird.
He’s always wanted to make a multiplayer Mario game, but it was difficult because one player will get left behind. There was a Super Mario 64 experiment where the camera would zoom out as Mario and Luigi were separated. With the Wii the resolution is high enough that you can still see your character when the camera is zoomed out.
They have looked at motion-sensing cameras before but decided not to use them. Wii Sports Resort uses Wii MotionPlus and shows off what it can do.
You need something physical to hold onto, otherwise it doesn’t feel interactive. The archery in Wii Sports Resort is very good. You can hear the sound of the Frisbee from the Wii Remote speaker.
They made Super Mario Galaxy 2 because they still had more ideas. One such idea was China Syndrome, the idea that if you drill through the Earth you will eventually come out on the opposite side. The drill was the first thing they made. Yoshi makes it easier to carry things around in the game.
He feels like Mario games aren’t suited to a detailed story, unlike The Legend of Zelda. He stopped Yoshiaki Koizumi from putting more story in Super Mario Galaxy 2. Mario games are physical and active. The developers want elaborate sequences where Princess Peach gets kidnapped, but he tells them that she likes cake, so cake can be bait that leads to her getting kidnapped.
It’s not healthy for the video game industry to announce games so far in advance.
Hopefully Wii Sports Resort will show good Wii MotionPlus is. Some people may hesitate to play motion controlled games because they’re afraid they won’t look cool.
Perhaps the Japanese game industry has just been making whatever they wanted and it’s sold well until now. They may have been making games for which there is no demand. Level-5 is a Japanese developer that has been doing well all over the world by not jumping on trends.
G4TV: Shigeru Miyamoto E3 2009 Interview
Publication Date: June 15, 2009
Subject(s): New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Format: Interview (dubbed)
People: Blair Herter, Tim O’Leary (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20130310044219/http://www.g4tv.com/videos/39175/shigeru-miyamoto-e3-2009-interview/
Notes: This interview took place at E3 2009.
Summary: He’s wanted to make a multiplayer Mario game since the first. New Super Mario Bros. Wii has four player multiplayer so they can get families or groups of friends playing together.
The developers are excited about Super Mario Galaxy 2 and they keep adding more. They see 2D and 3D Mario games differently, so it hasn’t been hard to work on both Mario games at the same time.
Bringing in new staff members helps keep the creativity going. Young people want to change things but they learn there are more important things.
They usually have big announcement events for new The Legend of Zelda games, but since they are taking a different approach with development this time they thought it would be better to announce it at a smaller venue.
When players use motion controls and move their whole body they have fun, and it’s nice to see Microsoft and Sony recognize that. He’s all for expanding the audience of video games.
The people who work at Nintendo love to play games so they’ll keep making games that people enjoy.
Kotaku: The Great Chain Interview, Part 1: Miyamoto Questions Metroid Director
Publication Date: June 15, 2009
Subject(s): Retirement
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Stephen Totilo, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://kotaku.com/the-great-chain-interview-part-1-miyamoto-questions-m-5291233
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220118070945/https://kotaku.com/the-great-chain-interview-part-1-miyamoto-questions-m-5291233
Notes: This is the start of Stephen Totilo’s second “chain interview”, where each person interviewed answers a question from the previous interviewee, and poses their own to the next person. Mr. Miyamoto started the chain and only got to ask a question. This took place at E3 2009.
Summary: When does Yoshio Sakamoto think he should retire?
GameSpot: E3 2009: Shigeru Miyamoto: The State of Nintendo Interview
Publication Date: June 16, 2009
Subject(s): Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Metroid: Other M
Format: Interview (dubbed)
People: Ricardo Torres, Tim O’Leary (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=168LjsWN5Bc
Notes: This interview took place at E3 2009.
Summary: Wii Sports Resort ended up more advanced and with more variety than they had planned. They chose sports that worked particularly well with MotionPlus. Wii Sports got people with different levels of game experience to play together, and Wii Sports Resort provides the opportunity to improve your skills and compete.
With a game like Wii Sports Resort you want to be able to look your competitor in the face, so they didn’t make it playable online. It doesn’t lend itself with the selection of sports.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii works as a single or multiplayer game. If he told the developers they had to put in the Tanooki Suit they probably could, but don’t count on it.
MotionPlus would lend itself well to a new The Legend of Zelda game. He doesn’t think of Zelda games as action games so much as experiences in Hyrule.
He’s not a producer of Metroid: Other M, but that team is working on making it third person plus first person.
Iwata Asks: Punch Out
Publication Date: July 13, 2009
Subject(s): Punch-Out!! (series), Punch-Out!! (arcade), Punch-Out!! (NES), Super Punch-Out!!, Punch-Out!! (Wii)
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Makoto Wada, Kensuke Tanabe, Genyo Takeda, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/punchout/0/0/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220826090045/https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/punchout/0/0/
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/r7pj/vol1/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20150718002842/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/r7pj/vol1/index.html
Summary: They needed to come up with an arcade game that used two televisions because they had an excess amount left over. Genyo Takeda thought a boxing game should have a glove interface, but he thought that was ambiguous, so they went with standard buttons and a joystick.
He didn’t feel confident in his ability to draw the boxers so he sent his drawings to Takao Kozai to make better versions, who said they were interesting. He was really impressed with Kozai’s work. Punch-Out!! created a lot of connections. He drew the player and referee, which is why they look worse. Takeda is free-wheeling and was ahead of his time with the boxing glove controller idea. There was no approval system for Mario back then and he got snuck in under his nose as the referee in Super Punch-Out!!
Punch-Out!! for the Wii is more compatible with the Wii Balance Board than expected, and was interesting. Punch-Out!! is a memorization game and its game elements are well defined. Young game designers add new things to make a game fun when they should be making what they already have more fun instead. Moms should try Punch-Out!!, they will find it exhilarating.
The Telegraph: Shigeru Miyamoto interview: A new resort for Nintendo
Publication Date: July 17, 2009
Subject(s): Wii, Wii Sports Resort, Motion Plus
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Tom Hoggins, Shigeru Miyamoto
Summary: When developing the Wii they decided to pursue state-of-the-art technologies that would make you feel like you were there, rather than photorealistic graphics.
They want Wii Sports Resort and Motion Plus to provide new experiences that Wii Sports couldn’t. Not all games will require Motion Plus. They were only able to make Motion Plus so small and at the price they are selling it for because of advancements that happened after the Wii launched.
The Mercury News: The Mercury News interview: Shigeru Miyamoto, head of game development, Nintendo
Publication Date:
Subject(s): Recession, Physical versus digital, motion controls, Wii Vitality Sensor
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Troy Wolverton, Shigeru Miyamoto
Summary: With the recession they are continuing to focus on making what people want. They think about how people spend their entertainment budget by making something the whole family can use.
Digital distribution eliminates the cost for packaging and other things and creates opportunities for some developers. He likes physical media and he doesn’t see a majority of their products becoming digital only.
It’s a great trend that others are using motion controls now too because it allows more people to get into games.
They have a lot of creative ideas for the Wii Vitality Sensor.
Famitsu: Wii software Samurai Warriors 3 presentation with stellar guests such as Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and GACKT expressing their enthusiasm, Game.Watch: Koei holds Wii Samurai Warriors 3 presentation, with special guests including Shigeru Miyamoto and GACKT (untranslated from Japanese)
Publication Date: August 5, 2009
Subject(s): Samurai Warriors 3
Format: Presentation
People: Kenji Matsubara, Yoshiki Sugiyama, Hisashi Koinuma, Shigeru Miyamoto
Japanese Link: https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/307314.html
Japanese Archive Links: https://web.archive.org/web/20090808073926/https://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1226458_1124.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20180917105357/https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/307314.html
Notes: The article titles are machine translation. Samurai Warriors 3 had a mode based on The Mysterious Murasame Castle, which Mr. Miyamoto was there to promote. Mr. Miyamoto is not credited as having worked on The Mysterious Murasame Castle.
Iwata Asks: Volume 1 (Wii Fit Plus)
Publication Date: September 29, 2009
Subject(s): Wii Fit Plus
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/wiifitplus/0/0/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220826090100/https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/wiifitplus/0/0/
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/rfpj/vol1/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20150718123637/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/rfpj/vol1/index.html
Summary: The idea of Wii Fit Plus was to train minds as well as bodies. The personalized menu was remade four times. You can weigh your pets now, unlike Wii Fit. He wanted cats added after he got a cat. You can weigh babies or any household object. He carries a measuring tape so he can guess and measure lengths of things. The priority was to get back people who stopped using Wii Fit. He wants to go door to door to every Wii Fit owner and tell them to exchange it.
MTV: Miyamoto’s First Video Game Experience Was Violent
Publication Date: October 15, 2009
Subject(s): First gaming experience
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Russ Frushtick, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.mtv.com/news/k0zcyv/miyamotos-first-video-game-experience-was-violent
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230124202742/https://www.mtv.com/news/k0zcyv/miyamotos-first-video-game-experience-was-violent
Notes: This is probably from the same interview as Mario Creator Talks Disappointment With ‘Star Fox’.
Summary: His first experience with a video game was at a Game Center. There was an arcade game with gunmen. It’s like if Martin Scorsese’s first movie was Babe: Pig in the City.
Wired: Miyamoto: New Mario Tests Your Hard Core Gaming Chops
Publication Date: October 16, 2009
Subject(s): New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus, “Captain” Lou Albano, Super Guide, Wii Music
Format: Presentation/demonstration, Q & A
People: Tracey John, Leigh Alexander, Jamin Brophy-Warren, Andrew Yoon, Craig Harris, Chris Grant, N’Gai Croal, Chris Buffa, Chris Plante, James Brightman, Scott Stein, Nick Chester, Jason Cipriano, Elise Vogel, Tom Holoien, Brightman, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.wired.com/2009/10/shigeru-miyamoto/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20141012125305/http://www.wired.com/2009/10/shigeru-miyamoto/
Summary: Since people tend to find it difficult to fit in time for exercise they tried to make Wii Fit Plus faster to use. There are sportslike elements and you can weigh your pets now. It’s more like an upgrade of the original, so it’s being sold at a lower price.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii had to be designed so that everyone in the living room can interact with it. The original Super Mario Bros. concept was about playing together. They found during the development of New Super Mario Bros. that balancing the difficulty for new gamers and long-time fans was difficult. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is more difficult, but advanced players can bring novice players through the levels. It’s a full Super Mario game with a story and eight worlds and up to four players can cooperate. There are also two multiplayer modes.
When people played it alone during testing they would look serious, but when playing with someone else they would smile and jabber.
After you die eight times a Super Guide block will appear. It acts like an instruction manual, it doesn’t show secret areas or star coins. If you beat the game without making the Super Guide appear will get something special on the title screen.
Coin Battle mostly uses the same levels as the story mode, but there are five exclusive ones.
It looks so much like Super Mario Bros. because they wanted it to be accessible and it was a good fit for a multiplayer Mario game.
They wanted to focus on a living room experience, making it online would have taken away from other parts of development. It’s more suited to an in-person experience.
The video game market is still a package-based one. He prefers to have something physical.
Giving the player a prize for playing in a specific way is something they’ve done with Mario for a long time, it’s not like an achievement system.
He did not know about Lou Albano’s death until being told just now.
All of his titles end up behind schedule. They focus on the skeleton framework of the game more than the graphics and sound. If it’s not working he upends the tea table before the graphics and sound are done. His bad habit is telling developers to change things when it’s too late to do so.
He has an interest in a Mario level creation tool, side-scrolling games are especially well suited to them.
Since people have different favorite elements of Mario games they try to bring some back. The Coin Battle is like Mario Bros. and one of its stages is a parody of 1-1 from Super Mario Bros.
The Japanese market as a whole is not suffering, New Super Mario Bros. and Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies sold millions there.
He was surprised that people can have fun in multiplayer without doing much of anything.
The Super Guide is like putting a strategy guide or online guide into the game. It may not be used in other games, some games are more suited to this kind of mechanic than others.
The developers of Wii Music were a bit shocked by the response to it. It was interesting how some people really liked it and some really didn’t.
People are remembering what is good about 2D games. Multiplayer platforming is better suited to 2D than 3D.
They asked themselves what kind of Mario game fits the Wii. One answer was the Super Mario Galaxy games, the other was New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Mario games have to be simple to understand and control, they are about unleashing creativity. You can freeze enemies in this game, but it raises several questions, like does a flying enemy fall from the air when frozen? Does something happen when it hits the ground? Should you be able to jump on it before it falls? It’s important that a Mario game can answer these questions.
He wanted to have Princess Peach playable at first, but the Toads are more similar to Mario and Luigi in size and shape. They also would have had to program how the skirt is handled. If Wario was playable he’d have to be able to fart.
Popular Mechanics: Exclusive Interview With Nintendo Gaming Mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto
Publication Date: October 19, 2009
Subject(s): New Super Mario Bros. Wii, favorite character, Donkey Kong players, blowing on cartridges
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Seth Porges, Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/a4690/4334387/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20150213021502/http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/gaming/a4690/4334387/
Notes: The article has an embedded video of part of the interview. Although one version of the article says it was published in December, another version is dated October 19.
Summary: They want the New Super Mario Bros. series to be accessible to different kinds of players. People who have never played a game, people who used to play games, and avid gamers.
In making New Super Mario Bros. Wii they kept in mind that the Wii might reach an even broader audience than the DS, and it is typically played by multiple people. It was hard to get the difficulty right, but they added the ability for players to carry each other through a level.
Mario is his favorite character, but he’s also fond of Goombas.
They had a limited palette when making Donkey Kong. They had seven pixels for Mario’s face, and he wanted Mario to look as distinct as possible.
Mario was a carpenter in Donkey Kong since it took place at a construction site and a plumber in Mario Bros. since it looked like a New York sewer.
He’s not good at making totally heroic or villainous characters, other than for The Legend of Zelda. Mario isn’t that serious.
He doesn’t consciously include Japanese mythology in The Legend of Zelda, or cultural elements from any country.
They don’t generally make detailed back stories for their characters, though The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an exception.
He hasn’t seen King of Kong, but hardcore Donkey Kong players have an amazing understanding of the game. Bill Trinen promised to give him a copy. He’s not familiar with The Wizard, either, so maybe Bill will bring him two movies.
Since the DS and Wii launched there has been an increased understanding of video games and they’ve become a greater part of people’s lives. People who grew up with games are parents now, and understand what their kids are playing.
Video games used to be seen as toys, but now they are essentially computers. They benefit from being more approachable than a computer. Video game consoles are going to bleed into other aspects of life.
Some the rituals people used to get Nintendo Entertainment System games to work did in fact work. Blowing on cartridges might get moisture on the contacts, which helped them connect. If you’re having trouble with your cartridges you should get the official cleaning kit.
They don’t have concrete plans for the Wii Remote in the future, but it’s likely they’ll try to make it more compact and cheaper.
No one has ever thrown barrels at him, but you’d see that kind of thing in the manga he read growing up.
Itmedia (Asiagraph Award speech, untranslated from Japanese)
Publication Date: October 24, 2009
Subject(s): His history in the game industry
Format: Presentation
People: Shigeru Miyamoto
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20200929015727/https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/games/articles/0910/27/news082.html
Notes: I’m only going off of machine translation here, but this is an article about a speech Mr. Miyamoto gave at DIGITAL CONTENT EXPO 2009 after winning an Asiagraph Award where he talks about his time working at Nintendo.
MTV: Mario Creator Talks Disappointment With ’Star Fox’
Publication Date: October 27, 2009
Subject(s): Disappointing sales, Star Fox
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Russ Frushtick, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.mtv.com/news/dzkww7/mario-creator-talks-disappointment-with-star-fox
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20230124031259/https://www.mtv.com/news/dzkww7/mario-creator-talks-disappointment-with-star-fox
Notes: This is probably from the same interview as Miyamoto’s First Video Game Experience Was Violent.
Summary: He tends to forget about the games that don’t see the success he expects. He’s a big fan of Star Fox games, he always hopes people will like them as much as he does. Fewer people buy Star Fox in Japan over the years.
Edge: An Audience with Shigeru Miyamoto
Publication Date: November, 2009 (assumed)
Subject(s): Traditional versus new games, Nintendo’s hiring practices, his work day
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Unknown Edge interviewer, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Interview:Edge_December_14th_2009
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20140814031304/http://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Interview:Edge_December_14th_2009
Notes: Zelda Dungeon has a link to the original interview hosted on next-gen.biz, but it was not archived. Although this article is dated December 14 on Zelda Dungeon, a Eurogamer article about this interview was published November 23, so I am assuming this is from the November, 2009 issue.
Summary: When they make Mario games, The Legend of Zelda games, or other traditional games they know what the game will feel like from the start. They create a new theme and go from there. They have teams make a prototype and look for something unique. The process isn’t so different for something like Wii Music or Wii Fit. They have something different to bring to these kinds of titles.
Their basis is to make games simple. The Super Guide in New Super Mario Bros. Wii is like a built in guidebook.
There aren’t many differences between long running series like Mario and Zelda and games with completely new rules. They have to incorporate certain elements into Mario and Zelda games, but they also have to make them accessible to someone who has never played one.
There are rules and you have to show them to the audience for both types of games. With established games it’s interesting to add new things and challenge the framework. With New Super Mario Bros. Wii they wanted to make a multiplayer game that would be challenging and fun for a wide group.
His style hasn’t changed much. He has tended to work more in depth as a game nears completion. With newer games like Nintendogs and Wii Music he’s more involved in the early stages. The biggest change in his career is becoming more involved with hardware design. Starting with the DS he has been very involved with designing hardware.
It’s difficult to judge people applying to Nintendo at an early stage. The people who stand out often become lone wolves, but working well in a team is very important.
Hiroshi Yamauchi would say that people have luck sometimes, and it would move to other people. That’s how he saw the world.
Nintendo is a company that recent graduates from good universities apply to, which makes the competition fierce. He tells Satoru Iwata that he’d probably not get hired if he applied now. He tries to find something about applicants that can’t be judged by their degree.
About a third of his time is spent in meetings, about a third is spent with people outside of the Kyoto office, and another third is spent on internal game development. If nothing is working he has to write the development sheets himself. He’s in the office from 9:00AM to 10:00PM or midnight. He keeps Tuesday free for swimming.
Nintendo always wants to be different, while others try to be better at something that someone else has done. Even for the Mario and Zelda games they always ask what’s new and fresh about this one.
Bloomberg News: Nintendo’s Game Designer Unfazed by Profit Drop
Publication Date: November 1, 2009
Subject(s): The Wii’s future, New Super Mario Bros.
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Damian Joseph, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2009-11-01/nintendos-game-designer-unfazed-by-profit-drop
Notes: Mr. Miyamoto is described as “rarely speaking in public”. The quotes from Mr. Miyamoto are described as being from a recent interview in the U.S., it’s not clear if Damian Joseph was the one who interviewed him.
Summary: Many are satisfied playing their Wii, and some are looking for a higher-powered console after that. Nintendo is always conducting research.
Companies shouldn’t necessarily do the same thing, he’d like them all to use their unique strengths.
Wii Fit Plus and MotionPlus show that there are a lot of possibilities left for the Wii.
New Super Mario Bros. nearly missed the holiday season because he was polishing it.
Nintendo Investor Relations: Corporate Management Policy Briefing/Semi Annual Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2010
Publication Date: November 2, 2009
Subject(s): New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Vitality Sensor, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, high definition graphics
Format: Investor Q & A
People: Unnamed investors, Nintendo executives including Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/events/091030qa/index.html
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20171103032018/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/events/091030qa/index.html
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/events/091030qa/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220907222720/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/events/091030qa/index.html
Summary: New Super Mario Bros. Wii is New Super Mario Bros. built for the Wii, everyone can enjoy it. The key feature is four person multiplayer. They have been talking about multiplayer Mario games since after Mario Bros. Super Mario Galaxy’s multiplayer was a system where dads could help their kids, or kids could help their mom. The Wii’s hardware allows for zooming in and out to show all players. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is game that can be enjoyed by everyone equally, rather than a game everyone can clear equally. More people have been carrying around their DS because of Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies’ Tag Mode and they want to develop something based on that. He has recently gotten cats.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks may be too hard for Japanese players who had their first adventure with The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. While developing Zelda games for the DS he has found that one of its core appeals is uniqueness. They want to be as creative as possible for the next Wii Zelda game, using the Wii MotionPlus for realistic use of swords. In regards to the Wii Vitality Sensor, transforming something invisible into a number will be materials of new plays and can improve lifestyles.
His only concern with technologies is that they cannot swim against the tide, customer’s tastes become more refined. Some customers see high definition graphics once and say they cannot go back. It is hard to pay off games made only for the Japanese market. Zelda games do not have the same popularity in Japan that they do worldwide, they generally sell five times more overseas, Mario games around four times more. They have to ask themselves if high definition is needed for Wii Fit, wouldn’t it be better to use it for Pikmin?
New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Shigeru Miyamoto Interview
Publication Date: November 9, 2009 (approximate)
Subject(s): New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Format: Interview (dubbed)
People: Bill Trinen (translator), Shigeru Miyamoto
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW3MRqOUSaY
Notes: This video originally appeared on the Wii’s Nintendo Channel. Uploaded by YouTube user NintenDaanNC.
Summary: The Wii and DS have led many who quit playing games to start again, and others to start for the first time.
Every time they’ve made a Mario game they’ve tried to get multiplayer to work. New Super Mario Bros. Wii finally allows for that.
They thought it was fun to shake the Wii Remote so they made a lot of gameplay depend on it. They have made some moves that work well with the controls.
They tried to address how to appeal to players who have played the whole Mario series as well as people who have never played it before with New Super Mario Bros. For New Super Mario Bros. Wii they made the Super Guide to help newer players. Activating the Super Guide block will cause Luigi to run through the stage, showing you what to do.
There are several multiplayer modes. In one you play through every world. You could bring a child through the game. With four people only one person needs to stay alive. There’s also coin battle where you fight for points. Free for all mode lets you play through levels in any order.
Playing face to face with people fits the Mario experience better than playing online.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is in the middle in terms of difficulty. In between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World. Seeing the Super Guide block can be frustrating. If you beat the game without the Super Guide block appearing some kind of reward might appear.
Iwata Asks: New Super Mario Bros: Volume 1
Publication Date: November 13, 2009
Subject(s): New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mario’s origins, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., New Super Mario Bros.
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/nsmb/0/0/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20221019040253/https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/wii/nsmb/0/0/
Japanese Link: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/smnj/vol1/index.html
Japanese Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20220922164257/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/interview/smnj/vol1/index.html
Summary: They analyzed why people played the most popular arcade games. Gunpei Yokoi explained a lot to him. He sketched out five ideas for games, including a Popeye game, which eventually became Donkey Kong. A fun game should be understandable immediately. A game may have two simple actions, but managing both can be tricky. Climbing and jumping over barrels are both easy, but doing both is tricky. The game is four separate screens because the hardware couldn’t scroll. Mario could jump to make use of the button included.
Mario had a mustache and hat to more easily fit into a 8×8 pixel space and he wears overalls so his arms are a different color from his body, which makes animation look better. Mario was originally called Mr. Video and he knew he wanted to include him in every game he made. Someone at Nintendo of America came up with the name Mario. Gunpei Yokoi suggested Mario be able to fall from any height in Mario Bros., and that the game should include hitting enemies from underneath platforms. The only creature they could come up with that would recover after being struck from below was a turtle righting itself.
To let players know when the turtle would recover they had it pop out of its shell and walk back to it. The idea for pipes came from manga. They decided to have pipes that warp from the top to the bottom after seeing a wall with pipes in it. They were green because it looked good when combining two shades.
He feels that jumping games had been Nintendo’s idea and that other games copied it. Super Mario Bros. had the concept of a large character negotiating land, sea, and air. Mushrooms making Mario bigger was not an idea from Alice in Wonderland, there is a relationship between mushrooms and magical realms. He made sure players realized the mushroom was a good thing, and not like a Goomba.
There are two strands of Mario games now: 2D and 3D. 2D can be enjoyed by anyone. New Super Mario Bros. was a bit too easy, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a bit tougher, but allows players to have an easier time with the Super Guide. It took a lot of discussion to nail down when the option for the Super Guide would appear. They tried to get simultaneous multiplayer to work in Super Mario 64, and the fixed camera mode is a relic of that. Thanks to the bubble system even people who never played a Mario game can see the final level.
They originally thought it was totally outrageous to have a block floating in the air. He told the audio staff to make the propeller powerup sound like a beetle, but that didn’t sound right. Mario is fundamentally a game where if you fail, you are sent back to the start. It feels good to play the easy parts of the level and not just the hard parts. This is unlike an arcade game that just gets more and more difficult. Replaying the levels of an action game is the correct way.
The Telegraph: Shigeru Miyamoto interview: something old, something new for Nintendo
Publication Date: November 13, 2009
Subject(s): Motion controls, Wii Music
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Chris Schilling, Shigeru Miyamoto
Summary: It can be taken as a compliment that Sony and Microsoft are implementing motion controls on their systems, though it makes Nintendo less unique.
Wii Music still has great potential. Flipnote Studio is somewhat similar to Wii Music, players can make something of their own and compete in creativity.
Entertainment Weekly: Super Mario’s super mastermind: Shigeru Miyamoto talks about the evolution of Nintendo
Publication Date: November 17, 2009
Subject(s): Making Mario accessible, Mario’s appeal, making old ideas work
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Margaret Lyons, Henning Fog, Shigeru Miyamoto
Link: https://ew.com/article/2009/11/17/super-mario-miyamoto/
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20221201003543/https://ew.com/article/2009/11/17/super-mario-miyamoto/
Summary: Early on they wanted Mario to be a symbol of digital entertainment that would take advantage of new hardware’s features. Over time they found that Mario games went from something everyone could play, to only being for fans of Mario. Now they want to make Mario accessible to everyone again.
He wants to encourage creativity with Mario games, and to reward players when they are creative.
People feel close to Mario, but it isn’t necessarily because of the creativity the games encourage or because Mario is cute. They feel close to him because Mario is a stand-in for the player.
He feels close to Link, and he’s fond of the Pikmin.
They started on Nintendogs after his family got a dog, and Wii Fit began after he started weighing himself and tracking his weight.
The longer he spend in the industry the more people want him to make the next game in a series. He doesn’t have a preference for making revolutionary or evolutionary games.
When he releases a game he often looks back and sees that it is the culmination of many different things that they were never able to get to work. An example are Miis. He did work on something like them 15 years ago. They’ve also done many experiments with multiplayer Mario games, and were only able to pull it off with New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Famitsu (reported on by 1UP, incomplete)
Publication Date: Unknown (described as “this week”, reported on November 25, 2009)
Subject(s): New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Format: Transcribed interview
People: Reported on by Kevin Gifford, unknown Famitsu interviewer, Shigeru Miyamoto
Archive Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20160129060651/http://www.1up.com/news/miyamoto-wario-fart-attacks
Summary: There were suggestions for Wario, Waluigi, Toad, and Princess Peach to be playable in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. If they were to use Wario he’d need a fart attack, and Peach would need to be able to fly with her skirt. They wanted every character to play the same.
There was debate about the game pausing when someone loses a life. Without the pause people would just focus on themselves, but with it people would tell each other that they screwed up.
Players respawn in bubbles because they need to be able to respawn in a safe place. The fun of multiplayer is being able to choose not to let people out of them.
It’s more fun to play in person than online, and designing around online play would have meant putting limits on what they could do.
BBC Radio 4: Front Row
Publication Date: December 8, 2009
Subject(s): Donkey Kong, Mario’s origins, movie and video game convergence
Format: Interview (dubbed)
People: John Wilson, James Newman, Shigeru Miyamoto
Video:
Notes: James Newman is not part of the interview, he talks about Mario’s influence and background about Nintendo. More context is available here, and the full radio program can be listened to here.
Summary: He never could have imagined Mario or Donkey Kong becoming so popular. When Donkey Kong came out he was thinking about how he wanted to use in many more games Mario more in the future.
He prefers the idea of an ordinary person over a perfect hero. A middle-aged man doing nice things for people.
Mario was originally a carpenter because it fit Donkey Kong, which was set on a building site. Mario’s pet ape had escaped and kidnapped a woman.
His games can reflect his hobbies. He tries to build things at home.
Nintendo always tries to be different while other companies try to outdo their rivals.
Mario inhabits a colorful, nonthreatening world. It’s been developed for over 20 years so it feels complete and real.
Movies and video games utilize some of the same technology. He’s been asked why he doesn’t make movies, but those are completely different. Using movie technology can save time, which can be put towards reinforcing the interactivity of games.
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