Miyamoto Steps Down As Nintendo Game Design Head 112
RobinEggs writes "Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator and producer of the Zelda and Mario franchises among other works, is stepping down at Nintendo. After personally managing Nintendo's blockbuster franchises for ~20 years, Miyamoto said today: 'What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself. Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small.'" Update: 12/08 21:35 GMT by T : Note that Nintendo is careful to say that this is not retirement, even if Miyamoto's role at Nintendo changes.
Sad, then happy! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sad, then happy! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Sad, then happy! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sad, then happy! (Score:4, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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I'm not in game development and I already want to preorder it.
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Absolutely. This man can be substantially credited with inspiring me as a child to pursue the software engineering career I now enjoy.
Yep, I'm a game developer largely because of the influence of his work. Other major influences: Roberta Williams (King's Quest series) and Sid Meier (Civilization), and plenty more I'm missing. And whoever made all those awesome Odyssey II games (my first console).
Wishing the best of luck to him in whatever he chooses to do, or whatever wisdom he imparts to future game designers.
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You: "I read this as 'I'm burnt out. I'm tired of the front lines and really just want to play the role of grandpa now.'"
If you want to believe your own narrative based on your own intuition, fine. But there's no particular link between his words and your narrative.
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Not quite true if you read on...
"Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small."
This coupled with other statements regarding "retirement" to me structure a rather specific narrative. Perhaps "burnt out" is a rather strong statement but all the same he's clearly stating he wants to slow down and play the role of the sage elder/grandpa.
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Yeah, he might just be saying what sounds good, and go live in an RV in rural Arizona with no address and watch satellite TV all day. But that's not what he's saying.
Not "burnt out", "wanna get back to coding games" (Score:5, Insightful)
"Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small."
This coupled with other statements regarding "retirement" to me structure a rather specific narrative. Perhaps "burnt out" is a rather strong statement but all the same he's clearly stating he wants to slow down and play the role of the sage elder/grandpa.
I took it more as evidence that managing huge multi-year projects is not as fun as building something with more immediate turnaround times. Skyward Sword, from what I've heard, is the culmination of a longstanding dream of Miyamoto's to build a Zelda game where you could actually control the sword and shield instead of just mashing thumbs. But it took years to complete, and I bet Miyamoto spent most of that time dealing with management-type work rather than getting into the nitty gritty of creating a game.
He's a gaming kind of guy, and he's been big on new ideas over the course of his career, so if he gets out of managing huge projects and gets back into designing and making smaller games, I predict an increase in the number of interesting ideas that Nintendo can implement. I heard that Nintendo's share price took a dip on this news, but I think that's only because analysts hadn't really digested this -- sure, if Miyamoto left Nintendo, that'd be bad; but if he's getting back into active game design, that can only be a big plus, in my eyes anyway.
Cheers,
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MMM, it sounds similar to when David Attenborough stepped down as "director of programmes" at the BBC. Being a high level boss allows people to have a bigger impact but it's also highly stressful and takes them away from what they really want to be doing with their life.
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What, seriously?
Shigeru Miyamoto is by far the most famous person with the Miyamoto surname. Especially outside of Japan. Don't be ridiculous with the "who else thought of" type posts.
Re:Who else ... (Score:5, Informative)
Also, outside of Japan people are usually referred to by their family name and Miyamoto Musashi is the most famous person with the Miyamoto family name.
However, in all fairness, it is rather unlikely that a samurai who spent the last 366 years being dead would be a game design head at Nintendo.
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Ok, gotta reply.
Surname=Family name: Miyamoto.
Given Name=Personal name: Shigeru
Shigeru Miyamoto is an Anglicization of his name, and you just corrected me without either
A. Looking up his name for yourself and seeing the Japanese order being Miyamoto Shigeru
or
B. Understanding the word I used.
I wouldn't mind that, except somehow you got modded to +5 informative for an incorrect correction. Slashdot depresses me.
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I did. But this is the new Slashdot. I doubt many people here have read The Book of Five Rings or are interested in Japanese culture. Your would have gotten a better response on 4chan.
Re:Who else ... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's sad when you can claim a better understanding of culture and history exists in a cesspit like 4chan, and be correct.
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Re:Who else ... (Score:4, Insightful)
I did. But this is the new Slashdot. I doubt many people here have read The Book of Five Rings or are interested in Japanese culture. Your would have gotten a better response on 4chan.
So let me get this straight. The "new Slashdot" actually respects the old-school and can recognize the names of people responsible for some of the best of what Japanese gaming has to offer (and what saved the US video game market after the crash). And... that's somehow NOT an interest in Japanese culture, even peripherally? And, when given the name of the creator of the Mario and Legend of Zelda series, amongst the most famous video games in the history of the artform, in the context of Nintendo, we were supposed to pull two wholly unrelated names out of our asses?
I... what? It... how does that even... are you high? Like, right now? That has to be one of the most surreal trollings I've seen in ages.
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Re:Who else ... (Score:5, Interesting)
actually I consider obsessions with japanese culture to be an extension of inferiority complex that comes from low self esteem. A slashdot without so much of that is a benefit. the people i've known like that were truly pathetic as they'd put japan on a pedestal and try their damnedest to act, think, and look like stereotypical japanese. of course they weren't fooling anyone and just ended up looking like total idiots. I'd also think that a genuine japanese would find this behavior somewhat offensive.
It's funny, we say the same thing about American culture in Asia.
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Too bad our corporate culture has overrode much of society and Japan's greatest exports are reinterpetations of American culture?
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What? The sword from Highlander was Japanese!?
slashdot behind again (Score:5, Informative)
Nintendo already came out and said he was not stepping down. slashdot is behind like always
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Yup. Kotaku reported this yesterday as a rumor.. then later reported that he said he wasnt leaving Nintendo... and now Kotaku is running a little editorial about the day Miyamoto did not retire. :)
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Denied (Score:5, Informative)
Nintendo has apparently already denied this.
http://spong.com/article/25917/Nintendo-Strongly-Denies-Miyamoto-Retirement
As long as the franchises don't go to... (Score:2)
...Michael Bay, James Cameron, George Lucas or Steven Spielberg, then I'll be happy.
Debunked (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114616-Miyamoto-is-Not-Stepping-Down [escapistmagazine.com]
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I hate you, internet, for making me feel silly.
Debunked! (Score:5, Informative)
http://wii.ign.com/articles/121/1214255p1.html [ign.com]
Word from Nintendo is that Miyamoto is NOT stepping down and this was a misinterpretation.
Getting out while the getting's good? (Score:1, Interesting)
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Yeah, here it is: http://uk.gamespot.com/news/3ds-sales-on-track-to-best-ds-first-year-in-us-6345402 [gamespot.com]
3DS first-year sales in the US may overtake the DS; 250,000 Wiis sold in the past year. And Skyward Sword rumoured to be the best Zelda game yet.
Not too sure they're "sliding" anywhere!
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They may be looking good compared to other portable game systems - but honestly, the portable game system market is facing tough competition from smartphones and higher-end MP3 players that run smartphone OSes (such as iPod Touch, and the Samsung Galaxy Player series)
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They may be looking good compared to other portable game systems - but honestly, the portable game system market is facing tough competition from smartphones and higher-end MP3 players that run smartphone OSes (such as iPod Touch, and the Samsung Galaxy Player series)
Yes and no. While there is competition, I'd like to point out that the original DS didn't have that type of competition and did comparatively worse at launch. I suspect the market that has been really latching onto gaming on apple / android devices wouldn't be gaming otherwise.
The core demographic that Nintendo targets is kids. While some have iPods or phones, many don't. Mobile games have served to expand the market without a sizable impact. The main sales that these new mobile games are going to steal com
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Still I think the GPs point holds.
Yes there is on online store for the 3DS like there is on the Wii, PS3, PSP and XBOX360. However the online stores on consoles are optional. You can still walk into a game shop, buy any of the aforementioned consoles and one or more games, give the console and games to a kid (either your own kid or a friend/relative's kid) and they can start playing without ever having to connect the console to either the internet or a computer.
Afaict the only way to buy games for a (non-ja
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Something small (Score:2)
Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small.
He's in the right country for making small things I guess.
Write more games! (Score:2)
Stepping down to work more directly with the games (Score:2)
Crazy game ideas (Score:3)
http://blog.esuteru.com/archives/5428429.html [esuteru.com]
I found this page recently, it's scans of a Japanese magazine interview where Hayao Miyazaki (of Ghibli) talks with Shigeru Miyamoto about game ideas. It was in the '90s.
I don't have time to translate the thing, so maybe someone here could try?
There's a part where Miyazaki seems to be proposing a open-world game where you could be a WWII pilot flying off on a mission - or stay on the ground and grow potatos until you're captured by the Americans.
Shigeru's response: "Hmmm"
I bet he's had to deal with a lot of strange ideas over the years :D
Oblg. XKCD (Score:2)
Miyamoto-san just 1-up'd [xkcd.com] Nintendo. I'm looking forward to his new venture.
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You were supposed to never, ever say that!
-dZ.
Minecraft influence (Score:4, Insightful)
Mr. Miyamoto, please make some cool original stuff like Minecraft did. Blaze the trail !
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While Minecraft is both good and successful, I haven't yet seen how it has made any significant contributions to gaming as a whole. It may be that your point is that a single developer can make a great product, which is true. However, that has been shown before, and Minecraft's gameplay hasn't made much impact on the market at large, as far as I can tell. Examples of it would be interesting and appreciated, though.
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Thanks for the response. I'd say that the substantive "beta" product is definitely new concept, at least for budget titles. "Indy" has been around a while and modding has been around forever, so I'd it will be interesting to see how much the "beta" aspect of Minecraft matters in the long run. We saw recently that "Version 1.0" didn't mean much, so the release model has essentially been "Release when playable, continue development indefinitely". Have any other games since Minecraft tried this? Have they
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Minecraft is wildly successful because it provides a simple, understandable world model that players can manipulate easily, and a compelling naturalistic procedural environment. It already has a hugely successful imitator in the 2d Terraria (which has probably over a million sales at this point, at less than a year in development, and is regularly in the top 10 games played on Steam). The modding community are already making every kind of playable thing you would build on a base like Minecraft, with the a
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Isn't that a lot like Second Life?
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Dear community,
I can't think of a better place to ask this question, so I'll stick it down here where it will likely be buried. I'm not attempting to feed the trolls or anything, sorry.
Is there a report/ban request process on slashdot? I looked around briefly but can't find one. Obviously looking through the troll's post history, having them on the site is a waste of time and server space. Is this the kind of thing that karma and filtering are supposed to take care of, or is there a separate system to re
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You can foe them (click on the little circle next to their name), and then I halfway remember an option to either block them, or show them as reduced karma (in case they have a highly ranked post), but I didn't find it in my little check of the options page. Maybe someone else will chime in to help...
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I use the 'friend/foe' mechanism to flag people who are trolls, nuts, or spout obscenities. It doesn't hide them, but it lets me know not to try to engage them in discussion.
Pigs and dogs (Score:1)
please, not talking about angry birds and crap like that
Which is why one of the NES launch titles was a game where you shoot the birds and a dog grabs them by the neck.
False (Score:2, Informative)
Hey, apparently this isn't true. Nintendo's official denial has been circulating for a few hours now - before the original post.
"Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto's role at Nintendo is not changing. He will continue to be a driving force in Nintendo's development efforts. In discussing his priorities at Nintendo in a media interview, Mr. Miyamoto explained how he is encouraging the younger developers at the company to take more initiative and responsibility for developing software. He attempted to convey
Thanks Miyamoto (Score:2)
This is a man who probably more responsible for the modern video game industry than any other. While it's not likely he'll re-revolutionize games, seeing his new work could be both interesting and enjoyable.
What I'm personally more interested in is the direction that Nintendo will take in his absence. His franchises are the core of their offerings on every platform for the past 25 years or so. Will those franchises continue to balloon beyond the bounds of reason? Mario and Link will likely sell more gam
Read as iPhone... (Score:3)
I read that as he wants to make iPhone games. So much of his stuff is really experimental. If he wasn't tied to alway making another "blockbuster" for Nintendo, we'd probably see a lot more games.
He would mop up the cash with 2-3 new franchises and the Angry Birds model of small, regular updates.
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Exactly. Mobile gaming converts another industry legend.
Can't make DSiWare in your home (Score:2)
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Add to that as a designer his hands get tied only doing 1-2 games a year that are "bet the company" and sell for $50-$60. Imagine what the guy could do making 25MB games that sell for $1-$5? He is clearly somebody that wants to make lots of different KINDS of games... Nintendo probably only publishes a fraction of what he imagines.
Happy Avians (Score:2)
Apparantly he is working on a new game called Happy Avians.
It's about smiling birds that build houses for friendly pigs.
Animal Crossing (Score:1)
I feel the same way (Score:5, Insightful)
My reward for being a good designer/coder was to oversee a large design/code team. I miss designing/coding.
Disappoint (Score:2)
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It's dangerous to go alone! Take this... (Score:2)
'What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself. Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small.'"
Let's hope he at least has a sword and full heart containers, then.
It's a shame more people don't do this (Score:3)
When he first started out, he was an employee at a relatively small company trying to break into a very small industry, and as such there were very few people to push back when he tried to push the boundaries. Now fast forward a few decades and you have this massive industry comprised of massive companies, there is going to be push back when you try to push the boundaries, and massive hurdles to clear if you do, esp. if you want to do so while working for an already established company. By becoming a mentor Miyamoto can use his prestige to help elevate some of the good ideas and people that otherwise might have otherwise been wasted toiling at the bottom rung. It's actually a shame that more visionaries aren't like Miyamoto and spend their last years working as advisors and cultivators of good ideas. While I'm sure his input will be missed at the top levels, he can do the company a lot more good spending his final years trying to identify and help the people that will one day take his place.
Ok... reading between the lines for you all... (Score:3, Insightful)
The Japanese Video Game Industry has stagnated. [gametheoryonline.com] All the real development cash cows are here in the United States. [gametheoryonline.com]
I think it is very important to point out that there is a strong possibility that Miyamoto stepping down is very likely him making an attempt to reinvent himself and, by extension, the JVGI.
I really hope it works out. There hasn't really been an over-the-top, flashy game that was enjoyable to play since Zone of the Enders 2. As good as the games are that are made in the states, we focus too much on "realism". We still just don't have anything that mimics the flashy antics of Japanese design.
This is just the beginning (Score:1)