E3 may be changing, but for Nintendo development legend Shigeru Miyamoto, that doesn’t mean game-making has to. The famed designer had some interesting thoughts to share with the LA Times at this year’s E3 Expo in Los Angeles, commenting on everything from Nintendo games as a genre to what it means to be “cool” in the world of modern gaming.
First, his thoughts on Nintendo’s own games.
Nintendo isn’t one simple element of an overall gaming industry. I really think there needs to be a Nintendo genre that’s almost its own entity.
Committing to Nintendo really does feel like buying into a unique or exclusive genre sometimes. There’s a consistent thread that runs through most if not all of the company’s games, ensuring fun and good design regardless of a title’s actual genre.
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Later in the discussion, Miyamoto talked about the seriousness of many modern titles. Though Nintendo isn’t explicitly against such games (Zelda has been known to offer straight-faced plot development), what Nintendo brings is more in-line with performance art than cinema.
It’s not that I don’t like serious stories or that I couldn’t make one, but currently in the video game industry you see a lot of game designers who are working really hard to make their games seem really cool. For a lot of us at Nintendo, it’s difficult to decide what cool is. In fact, it’s a lot easier for us to laugh at ourselves. It’s almost as if we’re performers. Our way of performing is by creating these fun, odd and goofy things.
Though it may sound a bit oversimplified, Miyamoto’s claims have recently been right. Mario Kart 8 is the company’s latest savior with over 2 million copies sold, while new IP like Splatoon (squids shooting each other with paint) and Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (Abe Lincoln commanding an army against aliens) caught people’s attention at E3 like nothing else could.
We don’t yet know how those games will turn out, of course, but it’s nice to hear that Mr. Miyamoto is sticking with what catapulted him and his company to prominence in the first place.
