4. “Nintendo’s Weird Sound Game”

Iwata - After researching what kind of people are taking notice of this game, we found that a rather wide age range of women have shown interest.

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - I was surprised that this was being received well by women, though there are some aspects of it that make sense.

Iwata - Such as?

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - I’ve never heard of any auditorial psychology research or experiments that indicate a difference between men and women in regards to listening ability. So when I considered the thought that this would be due to differences in lifestyles it occurred to me that women have an overwhelmingly better chance of communicating with others and having auditory communication. Women have the ability to properly listen to and comprehend what others are saying, even as they themselves are talking. Men, on the other hand, very often stop listening to others when they start stating their opinions (laughs).

Iwata - Ooooh… That makes sense (laughs).

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - In that sense, perhaps it’s easier for women to “get” this game.

(Nintendo) Sakamoto - Additionally, this might just be my opinion, but I have a feeling that women are happier than men to have the kind of experience or feeling you get when all of a sudden you’ve mastered some trick, or trained enough that you’re suddenly able to hear something you weren’t before.

Iwata - Video games most often tend to be these experiences where you compete to be number one, or try to take something down, so perhaps this mysterious kind of feeling is breaking new ground. “Tomodachi Collection” (※13) was also overwhelmingly supported by women - maybe there’s some shared trait there.

※13 “Tomodachi Collection”＝ Friend communication software released for the Nintendo DS in June 2009.

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - Actually, I feel that “Tomodachi Collection” and “Kikitrick” have a similar feeling about them. In “Tomodachi Collection” communication is important to make friends, right? To that end, in “Kikitrick” you begin interacting with people that you can’t hear and understand, and while that’s going on you develop friendships with them - just like in “Tomodachi Collection.”

Iwata - Indeed, you do end up becoming friends with them after you’re able to comprehend what they’re saying.

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - Right. Being able to comprehend what the other person is saying is the first step to becoming friends with someone. That’s why it made perfect sense to me when I heard that Sakamoto-san had made “Tomodachi Collection”.

(Nintendo) Sakamoto - I think if I was going to pinpoint the commonality between “Tomodachi Collection” and “Kikitrick” I’d say it’s the fun in communicating with people in regards to it outside of the game.

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - I think it’s that undercurrent that’s so similar. “Communication outside of the game” is something you really sympathize with. Because I’m an expert in hearing I feel this all the more, but I think in today’s society we’re packing too much information into hearing. Hearing isn’t a particularly high volume sense, so if there’s no information going out, the listener begins to feel stressed.

Iwata - You could also say that’s a problem of the mix of hearing relevant and irrelevant information at the same time.

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - Right. That being the case, I think that “Kikitrick” is incredibly well positioned for balancing out the five senses of the modern person.

Iwata - Well then, in closing I’d like to ask everyone to explain in their own words just what kind of product this it. Satō-san, let’s start with you.

Satō - That’s a hard one… I’ve given presentations to a lot of people about this, but in the end rather than explaining it with words I made a one minute demo that I then had them look at. This demo is included in the game, but first off there’s an announcement that says, “The sound you are about to hear is a person’s voice.” Then Noise-kun speaks in static. When I have people listen to this demo they’re all incredibly surprised. Having people actually experience this is the best way to surprise someone, so I’ve felt that it’s not something that you can fully express in words.

Iwata - Sakamoto-san of Oto Designers, how do you feel?

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - To put it simply, I’d say, “It’s a fun game that you can participate in even if you’re not looking at the screen or holding a Wii Remote.”

Iwata - That’s something we’ve almost never had precedent of up until now. You can play even if you’re not facing towards the television, and all you have to do is turn and say the answer. It’s similar to quiz shows, where someone who’s not looking at the TV can whisper the answers all of a sudden.

(Oto Designers) Sakamoto - Right. It’s exactly that feeling. That’s exactly what’s special about hearing, and it’s what’s fun about this.

Iwata - (Yoshio) Sakamoto-san?

(Nintendo) Sakamoto - I also feel that it’s incredibly hard to describe in words. That’s because I feel it’s incredibly difficult to explain that moment when you get the words that you couldn’t understand before. That’s why I think that by looking into a way that we can have people experience something as Satō-san described, we can flaunt the appeal of this new style of play if we’re good at leading people to the idea that it’s the kind of game that can be enjoyed even by people that aren’t holding a Wii Remote, as Nakamoto-san of Oto Designers had mentioned.

Iwata - I’m always thinking about how you can put into words that moment when you’ve made something new. Naturally, the best way is to experience it yourself, but it would be easier to get that feeling across if there was some kind of keyword you could use when sharing with those who haven’t experienced it. But if you can’t put something into words, it’s hard to get it to spread, so I’m constantly searching, thinking about it.

(Nintendo) Sakamoto - … It may be pretty reckless, but saying “Nintendo’s Weird Sound Game” might be a pretty easily understandable way to describe it (laughs). As long as their reaction is, “What IS that?!”, perking their interest.

Iwata - It’s the “weird sound game” from the team that brought you “Tomodachi Collection,” “Made in Wario” and “Rhythm Heaven” (laughs).

(Nintendo) Sakamoto - Just glancing at screens it gives off a rather pretty impression, so it would be good to describe that “weirdness” or “peculiarness” in words. In some says, “weird” is one of our group’s most important weapons.

Iwata - That weird fun of this team is what makes me grin ear to ear when I’m experiencing those products made from it (laughs).

(Nintendo) Sakamoto - That’s part of the reason we do it (laughs). There’s no doubt that one of the most important things is what kind of faces people are going to make when they play, so I’m always thinking about what we can do in that regard.

Iwata - And furthermore this time, regardless of who’s in the room holding a Wii Remote, or who’s playing the game or not, the ambition is that everyone will get involved, regardless of what they were doing.

(Nintendo) Sakamoto - Right. I think it’s fun to have people jump in and participate, so I’d like people to play like that.

Satō - The official website also has that demo from the beginning that we mentioned earlier, and hard to make out sounds from the game, so I hope people will go and have a listen.

Iwata - There’s still lots of deep, interesting things about hearing that currently, only researchers are really aware of. But if there’s any way that Nintendo can make that mysteriousness even a little tangible, more people could develop an interest, and I think it would be amazing if some of those people did auditory research of their own and were able to give back in some way. Thank you all very much for your time today.

Everyone - Thank you.