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Miyamoto Talks to Extended Play

by Max Lake - March 7, 2002, 7:52 pm EST
Source: Tech TV

Shiggy’s press tour continues as Nintendo’s premiere creator goes on Tech TV to discuss creativity and game design.

Discuss it in Talkback!

Miyamoto keeps popping up all over the globe to discuss all things Nintendo. Every stop, he’s had something new and interesting to say. Recently, he conducted an interview with Extended Play that will air on Tech TV. Here’s a couple excerpts of what he had to say!

Miyamoto on game design:

“A lot of people ask me if I start designing games with a story in mind, or a particular scenario, or a particular character, but actually I start on a much more basic level. And really what I do is, I start with some basic core experiments, testing out the action on the screen or a specific gameplay style. When we started with Mario, all we had were some blocks on-screen, and we would try to make those blocks bounce around and jump as we intended them to do using the controller. So it's really at that core element that our game design begins.

“Of course, putting the graphics in and drawing the background, drawing the characters, and creating the story is a natural part of game design and something that is required. But really, what I think is most important is that core element and getting down to the basics of what is fun. So that's why it's important for me to watch people playing Mario and see them moving the controller in the air as they're playing the game. That's really what exhibits the true fun of the game.”

Miyamoto on fan feedback:

“Now with mass communication and the Internet having the voice that it does, there is much more clamor from the user, and you hear a lot of opinions coming in all around you and a lot of pressure is put on game designers and game producers to really meet the demands of the users and create the games that the users want. I think that almost limits the creativity of the producer, and I would really like to see more producers who are willing to break away from that and be more creative and to create what they really want to create.

“The one thing that I can say that I think is very important is that whatever you're creating, you should start by creating what you want to create, and thinking about what you want to create rather than think about who you want to create something for. For me, that is where the importance lies.”

Get the rest over at Tech TV and be sure to check out the listings when you can watch the interview for yourself!

Thanks to reader Alex Kell for the tip!

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