Miyamoto Keynote Speech

Kuroyi writes "For those interested, Nintendo has posted an article containing Shigeru Miyamoto's March 18th Keynote Speech at the Game Developer's Conference in San Jose. Quite interesting. It looks at the history of game design and his ideas behind Zelda64. "

Better hardware doesn't make better games

[Kuroyi]

That is very true, but having programmers and engineers on the forefront of game design does not and should not exclude "real" game designers. He makes a very good point that it takes more than programmers and engineers to make a fun game.

On the one hand we have Mr. Miyamoto saying this:

I am sure that each case has its own unique cause, but I know that when (Nintendo's) game designers and producers make their plans without a sufficient grasp of the technology and engineering necessary to make their game, they will often fail. Also, we may be frustrated to find that a game we are developing never really becomes fun to play no matter how hard we try to improve it.

And on the other hand we have what he says about a new zelda game on their next hardware:

Shall I begin making Zelda for our next generation hardware? At this point, the answer to that question is no. The reason for my saying this is that all of the elements for which Zelda has received so much praise for had already been incorporated into the game more than a year before completion, when I felt the game was not fun to play. [...] With improved hardware, I can imagine Zelda having more detailed graphics and a quicker response time, but when it comes to increasing the degree of fun, I cannot be certain of that at this time. This is something that I feel we as designers must reconsider.

So basically it takes both to make a good game. Without good programmers and engineers involved in the design it will fail, but without "real" game designers the resulting game will not be fun.

Laters,

Rick (rick at chillin dot org)

Filtering

[John Campbell]

So, would it be possible to get different categories for console games and for games on real computers so we can do some filtering on them?

Proprietary Games

[slim]

I'm normally *very* pro software freedom, so it's a little difficult to explain why I don't think games "count".

I *think* the key point is that although you're partly buying a piece of software engineering, you're *mostly* buying graphic design, level design, gameplay, music, voice actors etc etc

A good modern game is closer to a movie than it is to (say) Apache. Anyone want to suggest that movies should be GPLd?

I'd agree that there's a case for freeing the source for the game engine, but that's such a tiny part of the game as a whole, that it scarcely matters.
--

PSX vs. N64

[Mandrias]

Sony can show off their PSX2 all they want if they continue to do what they've been doing with PSX. With the freedom they give their developers we are bound to see lots of great games.

Nintendo on the other hand has had problems with game development from the launch of the N64. At least I think so. He can go on and on about how it takes more than hardware and I point to PSX with it's less than grand hardware specs but with games that keep me coming back again and again. The recent Nintendo games are childish and lack a depth that I feel from the old NES. Zelda64 could have been much better in my opinion if a few of the corny childish aspects of the game were toned down. Kids would have loved it as much...and the older fans of the series could hold their heads up with pride at a great game. But as it is now...a lot of people that loved the original Zelda are saying how much they love the game (don't get me wrong I like it too) but under their breath and when they're alone they are saddened by direction Nintendo has taken. They aim at kids when they could make everyone happy. Oh well.

Zelda 64

[Mooset]

What is it that makes commercial software and free software different? The answer is obvious. Commercial software is produced by a team of paid professionals for market sale to turn a profit. Free software, on the other hand, is created by programmers who work without compensation for the benefit of the community.

Obviously, a game like Zelda 64 has never been created as free software. Hundreds of people were employed for months doing various tasks to create the finished product. This is obviously a massive investment for Nintendo, and they would not want to 'give away' the result of their work. Games such as Zelda have always been commercial ventures and there has never been a free software project of the same scope.

The typical problem with such projects in the free software community is trying to coordinate a large number of people to dedicate themselves to working on the project. Skilled programmers are not enough, we also need skilled leaders to keep everyone involved in the project on task. This is much more important for us than it is for the commercial community, because it is money that keeps people dedicated to the project.

Could there be a free software project on the scope of Zelda 64? Hell yeah. There have been many massive projects like this before, and they all have 2 or 3 individuals driving the developers and keeping things coordinated. Free software games on the other hand are usually chaotic in their development, resulting in programmers becoming disgruntled and abandoning the project. Once we overcome this, anything will be possible. Anything.

Better hardware doesn't make better games

[Harlequin]

In his keynote Miyamoto pointed out that it wasn't just hardware and technology that made games fun. I'm not sure if you're trying to point that out or contradict it, but he wasn't advocating simply going forward with technologically superior games. He challenged the game developers to try and make games that are fun. I actually thought the keynote by Phil Harrison (a vp at sony) was a lot more interesting. I was really interested in the PSX2 demos he showed. Apparently the polygon throughput is amazing on that. The bext part, however, was when he stated that Linux would be the psx2 development platform. He said the reason for that was they wanted a stable platform for development. The entire crowd cheered that (except for the 30 or so people from Microsoft who I could just imagine sinking down into their seats).

Zelda 64

[JamesKPolk]

But it's proprietary software!

Until Nintendo releases the source to the game engine, Zelda 64 and games like it should be boycotted by all who love free software. :-)

must-read for all fields!

[LadyNymphaea]

For example, the Network Solutions thread above-Mr. Miyamoto makes good points about technology and design working hand in hand to produce a good, enjoyable, and useable product. They should have read this speech before designing that site.

I love what he says about Nintendo:
Accordingly, in our company, all designers must go through technical training.
If only all companies were that intelligent (and maybe gave the techies some design training too!)

I wanna be this guy!

[Erik Bethke]

The game business is stable enough - if you are good enough.

Do what you want & be good at it.

-Erik Bethke

Better hardware doesn't make better games

[bafful]

And in recent years, as I predicted, advancements in technology have once again brought programmers and engineers to the forefront of game design, and we are now in age in which we cannot accomplish anything new without these individuals.
Sad but true. I always liked those games the most which didn't use the most modern hardware, but concentrated on ideas and good gameplay.

Better hardware doesn't make better games

[bafful]

Miyamoto seems to know there's more to a good game than fast hardware, that's true. But unfortunately, many people don't. I wasn't there and have not seen the psx2 demos, but if it was just huge polygon throughput, that doesn't impress me at all. They can do more polygons now? Fine, but let's see what they make of it.