Nintendo Wii Fanboy

It's something Nintendo's been criticized of for awhile now, especially since E3: not caring about the core, and chasing down those almighty casual dollars. Well, during an interview with GameDaily, Miyamoto said a lot of the same stuff he's been saying ever since Wii Music has been completed (Nintendo hasn't forgotten about you, there's a lot of games in development, and so on and so forth).

Miyamoto commented that 30 years he's been "making games" and for the majority of that time, these have been games "that the loyal Nintendo fans enjoy." He went on to say that those games are "the types of games that my career is based on and we're going to continue to make those types of games. In fact, we have many of those types of games in development right now." Sounds like a plan to us, Shiggy, but it doesn't make the waiting any less painful!

Shigeru Miyamoto recently hosted a Wii Music roundtable with a select number of websites and magazines (clearly, our invitation was lost in the mail), in which the great man appeared to insult other music games! Shock! Horror! Headlines!

Of course, we understand Miyamoto probably wasn't trying to be mean when he compared playing franchises such as Beatmania and Guitar Hero to being part of a cover band. If anything, we suspect Shiggy was merely explaining how Wii Music is more freeform -- which it is, of course. "My goal wouldn't be to try and lull people to join the best cover band," explained Wii Music's dad, "but rather, to let them move beyond that rather basic level of music training."

He also found time to defend Wii Music's track list, which has come under attack from some critics, including IGN's Matt Cassamassina, who we like to think shifted awkwardly in his seat when Miyamoto brought the subject up. Apparently, a lot of modern songs don't have a suitable chord progression for Wii Music, while the harmonies and melodies of many contemporary tracks came across as too samey. So there you go: Nintendo didn't just choose a ton of public domain songs to save cash.

If you were to tell us that Shigeru Miyamoto could see into the future and fire rainbows from his fingertips, we'd totally believe you. We just love the guy so much that we believe he's not even human and some kind of freakish evolutionary leap for our species, as his mind churns out these amazing things on a regular basis. So, it's no wonder that Channel 4 in the UK interviewed him out of all of the prominent figures in gaming about the current financial woes and if they'll have an impact on gaming. He plugs Wii Music a bit, but, for the most part, tells us how Nintendo has and always will make gaming affordable.


[Via CVG]

The Zelda team is currently beavering away at the next game in the series, and it sounds like the title might introduce a different spin on the usual Zelda formula.

Shigeru Miyamoto has told IGN that the Zelda franchise requires "big new unique ideas," and added that the development team "is very focused on trying to find those ideas." He ruled out adopting a first-person perspective for the series, after IGN reminded him that Eiji Aonuma showed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess played through Link's eyes at GDC 07. May we recommend a side-scrolling game interspersed with lengthy, high-quality cut-scenes? Oh, uh, never mind.

Anyway, while Shiggy's comments are rather vague, this does raise another issue: is the Zelda series growing stagnant? The initial outcry over Wind Waker suggests change is a delicate issue with the fans!


[Via Go Nintendo]

In what is now a time-honored tradition for Nintendo's first-party releases, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto came together over a cup of tea and a Jammie Dodger* to have a chinwag about Wii Music. Neither man fell about laughing hysterically at any point in the interview, so we assume the game is actually going ahead.

As usual, Shiggy came up with some corking soundbytes, in between reflecting on the ukelele he received as a youngster and other trivial details. These included the shocking revelation that he had never been so excited while making a game as when making Wii Music -- not even when he was crafting Super Mario Bros. In an even more controversial twist, the conversation then turned to how Wii Music could (in Iwata's words) "raise people's basic level of music education." Not surprisingly, Miyamoto agreed, adding, "I've even thought it would it would be great if kindergartens or elementary schools got Wii Music and began kid's music education with that ..."

So there you go: according to Nintendo's top men, Wii Music could kickstart basic music skills in kids ... by making them play invisible instruments. Eh?

* Awaiting confirmation on this.


[Via Kotaku]

We like kittens. This post from yesterday just got them on our brains and their cute, furry little selves won't get down from up there. So, we figured we'd ask you all about your favorite game kittens, or just plain old felines.

So, out with it! Love the cat in Chu Chu Rocket? Are you a fan of Bubsy?

Just kidding, Nobody likes Bubsy.

Shigeru Miyamoto played the role of diplomat to perfection when IGN asked for his views on Microsoft's (plainly Mii-influenced) Avatars. The Nintendo guru claims he found the nabbing of his personalized, blobby creations to be "quite flattering," and then went on to suggest that "the basic ideas behind those two different systems are different, and because of that I think they will probably develop in different ways."

Way to stay on the fence, Shiggy. We like to think he was privately fuming inside.

According to Time's latest interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, there may have been some genuine upending of tea tables during the making of Wii Fit, as opposed to the metaphorical kind that Shiggy prefers.

Chatting to the publication to promote the game, Miyamoto confessed that the he and his team felt "a lot of nervousness" while developing the title, and that the lofty expectations of other people caused some stress. The article also mentions that the game's development "nearly led his 15-person development team to quit in frustration," though we've no idea whether that's Time slightly embellishing a story, or what Miyamoto actually said.

All this talk of feeling stressed, Shiggy, and yet our letters offering slow, sensual shoulder rubs still go unanswered. He can't complain.


[Via Go Nintendo]

We all made it happen. The man, the myth, the legend himself, Shigeru Miyamoto, has crushed the competition on the voting block and secured his rightful place at the top of the list for Time Person of the Year. Of course, this doesn't actually mean he's going to be on the cover of Time magazine, but it's good to know he's at the top of the list. If anything, this will mean that Stephen Colbert will make fun of him on his show (check past the break).

Good job, everyone. You've done your duty, soldier, now enjoy some much-needed R & R.

Now might be the right time to construct a bigger, stronger mantelpiece in the Miyamoto household, because Nintendo hero Shigeru Miyamoto has just won another damn award. This one comes courtesy of Japanese gaming bible Famitsu, which recently held its own awards ceremony in recognition of its 1,000th issue.

As Miyamoto picked up 2007's MVP gong and subsequently burst into tears on stage, it seems fitting that two of his most ubiquitous Wii creations also did rather well, with Wii Sports (not a pack-in game in Japan, remember) bagging the Best Hit award, and Wii Fit grabbing a trophy of its own for innovation. So congrats, Shiggy -- even if you don't return our daily letters asking to meet up IRL for a chat, some chamomile tea, and a round of Wii Sports tennis (he'd be really good), we still love ya!

At first, we weren't going to post about Shigeru Miyamoto's Wii Fit interview with The Times, as it seemed fairly unremarkable. There are the usual platitudes from Shiggy about reaching out to all ages, and some tiresome examples of how mainstream press outlets still expertly patronize gamers (according to the article, the games industry "has long been the preserve of obsessive, nerdy teenagers, mostly called Alan"), but there's actually some interesting parts there also, tucked away amongst the fluff.

For starters, it appears that Miyamoto is an absolute hard ass when it comes to parenting. Well, not really, but the Nintendo legend does reveal that he's always nagging his kids to get off of their backsides and go outside when the weather is good. And this guy is trying to sell videogames?

More intriguingly still, the Nintendo legend speaks about how he hopes Wii Fit will have an impact on family life. As Miyamoto puts it: "In Japanese households, suddenly new conversations are springing up between fathers and mothers, fathers and daughters, talking about Wii Fit. We would love that to happen in Britain."

Can you folks envisage a day when your family time is dominated by talk of your BMI and hula hoop personal bests?


[Via videogaming247]

Had you described Wii Fit to us three years ago, we'd have gambled our entire gashapon collection on Mario, a man with a quite ridiculous number of pastimes, being on the front of the box. A title such as, ooh, we don't know, "Mario Workout" wouldn't have been out of the question. Not any more, though -- not in the age of the expanded audience. Nowadays, Mario doesn't have a divine right to appear in every vaguely sporty Nintendo game.

And we're glad about that. Not only do we totally dig Wii Fit's sleek, minimalistic look, but Mario is already in enough stuff, and even Mario's daddy, Shigeru Miyamoto, agrees with us (great minds and all that). As Shiggy explained to MTV's Stephen Totilo: "We wanted to create it so that people of all ages could look at it and feel it was for them. I think [including Mario] might have limited its ability." So including Mario might limit the appeal of something? How novel!

It's that time of year again, folks -- the point at which we implore you to help us shamelessly rig an internet poll so that Nintendo design guru and all-round hero Shigeru Miyamoto can climb as high as possible in Time magazine's list of the year's most influential people.

The Shigster is amongst 207 names to be shortlisted for the final Time 100, and currently lies in 25th spot, after coming ninth last year. At the time of writing he's sandwiched between Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (who, as a self-made billionaire of 24, we find eminently punchable) and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the assassinated Pakistani politician Benazir Bhutto.

On his profile page, the magazine mentions the usual Miyamoto achievements (Donkey Kong, Mario, father of modern videogaming, etc.), but also refers to Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Fit, and ponders whether the latter will help "reverse gravity for all the obese, video game–playing kids out there." If it does, we'd say that's worthy of a top five spot next year!

[Via Eurogamer]

After Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii has become the latest title to appear in the excellent "Iwata Asks:" series of interviews. Featuring producer Hideki Konno, Wii Wheel project leader Kenichiro Ashida, and Shigeru Miyamoto (in fully relaxed, shirt-open mode) getting grilled by Satoru Iwata, it's a treasure trove of information for Mario Kart enthusiasts.

Alongside an enjoyably lengthy dissection of the series' history, there's also discussion about Mario Kart Wii's online play. The online matchmaking in particular sounds a treat, in that it allows players to join a race once it's finished, thus avoiding races becoming one-on-one affairs (as so frequently happened in Mario Kart DS). Players can use the Mario Kart Channel to check which of their friends are currently playing online, and even join them instantly.

Producer Konno and Miyamoto also explained the decision to include bikes in this game, with Konno admitting that his own hobbies influenced the choice, and Miyamoto stating that the bikes are there to "make the world of Mario a little more for boys [by] adding an extreme-like element to the game." (Apparently, the title was originally known as "Mario Kart X," with the "X" taken from "extreme")

Finally, we hear more on the Wii Wheel, and the reasoning behind it. As expected, the peripheral is designed to make Mario Kart more approachable than ever before, and project leader Kenichiro Ashida reportedly created "about thirty" prototypes (many of which you can see in our gallery). Oh, and he even made gold and black versions -- just for the hell of it. Do want!

Everytime Miyamoto talks, we listen. The man has some serious clout. And, for good reason, considering that just about every single thing we love about Nintendo can be directly attributed to his efforts at the company. This latest interview is the usual Miyamoto fare, where he comments on just how utterly insane he is (making your own puppets and playing with them?!).

The piece focuses mainly on Mario (considering his recent success). His origins, as well as where he has come after all of these years, is discussed with the iconic figure. Oh, and he even takes some time to talk about the horrible movie based (oh-so-loosely) on the gaming property.