Topic: Miyamoto Challenges Third Parties on Wii and DS

[Karl Castaneda #2]

Nintendo's most famous employee answers all in a new interview.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=13263

 N'Gai Croal of Level Up recently sat down with Shigeru Miyamoto to discuss his and Nintendo's showing at last month's Game Developers Conference. When asked why he chose to talk about the past instead of revealing his next big game, Miyamoto responded that he wanted to share what he'd learned from the Wii and DS with his fellow designers.    

Perhaps most interesting, though, was his response to third parties not being able to sell their games on Nintendo systems:    

If there's only one piece of advice that I could give to the managers of third party companies, it would be that a lot of times it seems that when they're putting games out on Nintendo hardware, those games are being developed by their third-string team or their fourth-string team. Maybe that's because they see those products as being unique projects or somewhat smaller-scale projects. But when Nintendo puts out a title that is designed to really support and sell its hardware, that title is always developed by one of our number one teams. And so I think that when it comes to the question of trying to compete with our software, I would really like to see the parties try to do that with their number one teams rather than with the third- or fourth-string teams.    

Also talked about was his reaction to Sony's HOME and LittleBigPlanet, and why he welcomes the idea of other companies innovating in the same vein as Nintendo. You can read the interview in its entirety here.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I could swear I've read the third-string comment somewhere before, but I can't remember where I read it or who said it.

[Blue Plant]

I believe it was Reggie who said it recently.  This reminded me of his statement, as well.

[cubist]

I read the 3rd string comment in the forums before I saw it out here.  There's already a long thread about it.  Go check it out.

In terms of the actual article itself.  It seems that with the success of the Wii, a lot more people can listen to Miyamoto's long answers.  The Miis are a huge hit (as evident with Wii Sports and Wii Play).  I can't wait for the next firmware upgrade that makes the Mii creator taking the depth up a notch...and a better interface than the plaza/parade deal.  

I actually want Miyamoto to come out with a Mii/Animal Crossing hybrid and call it "Wii Live".  Put a Mii characters in almost every Nintendo game.  Instead of Olimar, have my Mii control the Pikmin.  Throw in some Miis as a playable character on Smash Bros.  

...uhmmmm...maybe that's taking it too far...

[Mario323]

3rd string???

PS:  I wouldn't get your hopes up about an update to the Mii maker.

[that Baby guy]

What makes me angry is the whole "It's on the Wii, and people think that's the same hardware-wise as the GC, so let's make a game that looks worse than the average PS2 game, and then call the Wii crappy." syndrome.
I think we all know this is going on to an extent.  We see Super Mario Galaxy, we see Metroid Prime 3, but we accept the PS2-level graphics of other games, because developers get a little too cheap.  Sure, you aren't going to have to pour out polygon upon polygon of picture-perfect goodness, but when Pikmin, a first gen GCN game, looks much better than a release five or six years later, that's sad.

Though, I do make an exception for games that actually are stylized, but most developers use it as an excuse.  Games like Super Paper Mario, Wario Ware, and Wind Waker all look very nice.  Right now, I can't think of a game that doesn't look so good, but they're out there by the boatload.  An example is just about any non-updated PS2 port with barely energetic Wii controls.

That said, we've got some very nice titles on their way.  Control is beginning to get more sophisticated, and developers are beginning to see that the Wii-mote isn't a gimmick to tack on, but if used properly, it can actually add much to the game.  I'm curious to see what becomes of RE4, mostly to see if it falls into the category of a lame port, or if they get things right.

I'm also expecting to see a Kingdom Heart: Final Mix (and soon after KH:II FM+, if they aren't in a combo pack) version ported to the Wii, and I bet if SE decides to go that route, the controls would end up being interesting.  Although if it does happen, they may end up being tacky.  SE should at least give it a shot.

[planetidiot]

This was the problem with the Gamecube. "Hey let's take a PS2 game and convert it to the Gamecube with no graphical improvement!  Oh, it turns out the Gamecube doesn't have a lot of ram, oh well I guess it will look worse than a PS2 game!  Wait why is it sellling badly?  Why does Resident Evil 4 look so good?"

Design a game for the system with a good team and you're going to have a solid game, or take proper time with the port like the TimeSplitters series or Soul Calibur 2 for Gamecube.  It's not a big mystery why crappy ports fail.  See also: Burnout on the DS.

[Ceric]

Quote
Originally posted by: planetidiot
This was the problem with the Gamecube. "Hey let's take a PS2 game and convert it to the Gamecube with no graphical improvement!  Oh, it turns out the Gamecube doesn't have a lot of ram, oh well I guess it will look worse than a PS2 game!  Wait why is it sellling badly?  Why does Resident Evil 4 look so good?"

Design a game for the system with a good team and you're going to have a solid game, or take proper time with the port like the TimeSplitters series or Soul Calibur 2 for Gamecube.  It's not a big mystery why crappy ports fail.  See also: Burnout on the DS.

Yep I never got how the more powerful Cube always got shafted like that.  Also I hope they move the KH Series to Wii because I rather not buy a PS3.  I would like a compilation myself of KH:1, Chain of Memories, and 2.  Just KH:1 and Chain of memories be fine too.  

[BlackNMild2k1]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ceric

Also I hope they move the KH Series to Wii because I rather not buy a PS3.  I would like a compilation myself of KH:1, Chain of Memories, and 2.  Just KH:1 and Chain of memories be fine too.

If they did that I hope Chain of Memories is able to be transported to your DS fo handheld play (it was a GBA game right?) and then you transfer your progress back to the Wii to save your game. That would be a win for Nintendo, Square and us, as it will not only sell a Wii to a DS owner, but it would also sell a DS to a Wii owner and that inturn will sell more games in general & I have never played KH and have always wanted to. SE make it happen.