Shigeru Miyamoto, The Walt Disney of Our Time 195
circletimessquare writes "The New York Times has a gushing portrait of Shigeru Miyamoto. His creative successes have spanned almost 30 years, from Donkey Kong, to Mario (as well known as Mickey Mouse around the world, the story notes), to Zelda, to the Wii, and now to Wii Fit — which according to some initial rumors is selling out across the globe in its debut. The article has some gems of insight into the man's thinking, including that his iconic characters are an afterthought. Gameplay comes first, and the characters are designed around that. Additionally, his fame and finances and ego are refreshingly modest for someone of his high regard and creative stature: 'despite being royalty at Nintendo and a cult figure, he almost comes across as just another salaryman (though a particularly creative and happy one) with a wife and two school-age children at home near Kyoto. He is not tabloid fodder, and he seems to maintain a relatively nondescript lifestyle.'"
Re:You know what that means! (Score:5, Informative)
It's an urban legend that Walt Disney became increasingly interested in cryogenics in his later years, requested to be frozen when he died, and was frozen after he died.
All three parts are untrue. It's impossible to rule out that Walt Disney had even heard of cryogenics, but there's certainly no proof he did, let alone that he became obsessed with the idea. He was, in fact, cremated, the polar opposite of being frozen, if there is one!
Depends which ones you watch? (Score:5, Informative)
Still, there are tons of great anime that are really creative. Death Note springs to mind. I can't think of anything else where the suspense was that strong, or where the characters were that intelligent.
I know some will say that 'anything popular is crap', but Bleach & Naruto have very engaging stories, too (the manga, not the crappy Naruto filler). I admit, those two are getting a little long in the tooth, but at the outset, they were on the top of their game.
And once you get into lesser-known series (say, Hikaru no Go, Kekkaishi, Rental Magica, REC, Hayate no Gotoku, Dennou Coil, Code-E, Bamboo Blade, or Akagi) you'll find that there's a lot more to be had than robots, sentai and tentacle porn.
Re:The decay of time (Score:2, Informative)
Either way there is no real innovation at Disney. Half the stuff they stole from the Japanese and the other half is just old stories retold with nice animation.
Walt was a good business man but I wouldn't say it was a man of innovation. Where as Miyamoto / Nintendo is responsible for so much innovation in gaming even if they're are just churning out Mario Party and other boring titles these days and Mario Galaxy has proven that they still have it.
Re:Japanese not creative? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Depends which ones you watch? (Score:3, Informative)
I've seen some good writing, and a smart section or two, but Death Note towers above most series in that category. It's simply and absolutely phenomenal how the author can keep up that level of engagement.
If you find any, let me know, too! Even just with an OT comment as an AC to some random, recent comment. I'd love to find more anime like Death Note in terms of intelligence (or suspense).
Hmm, wait. Actually, Detective Academy Q *DOES* have a number of good tricks in it. It's just not on the same level, but it's another good series I forgot to mention.
Watch out for that dumb cactus guy, too. You wouldn't think that a guy in a cactus suit (or later, a godzilla suit) could blend in until you have the fact that you didn't notice him shoved in your face