GamesIndustry.biz - Nintendo's Miyamoto Unsatisfied with Creativity in Games

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto said in a general shareholders meeting that he wasn't too inspired by what he saw at this years E3:

"Every year a number of companies exhibit at E3 and Nintendo is compared with other companies, most likely with Sony and Microsoft," Miyamoto said. "This year, the majority of what the other developers exhibited was bloody shooter software that was mainly set in violent surroundings or, in a different sense, realistic and cool worlds. Because so many software developers are competing in that category, it seemed like most of the titles at the show were of that kind."

More information.

I'm not surprised at all. Not the tiniest bit. It was to be expected since years ago. The "dark & gritty fasion" in gaming is at full swing now. And not only the PC platform has become degraded (lack of creativity, almost monopoly of 1-3 game genres, no colourfulness …), now it's the consoles as well …

This is kind of funny. Nintendo is slowly discovering that:

1. Teens and adults play most video games.
2. Adults generally don't want video games that look like children's cartoons.

But Nintendo holds a platform where every video game is tame and cartoonish by even an adolescent's standards, so they cry about the violent and "immature" nature of modern video gaming. Ever watch the news or modern television like Game of Thrones, Nintendo? It seems violence and immaturity are everywhere outside Nintendo and Nick Jr.

Originally Posted by Burress
2. Adults generally don't want video games that look like children's cartoons.

Don't forget that I'm the great exception from this "rule" !

Originally Posted by Burress
Ever watch the news or modern television like Game of Thrones, Nintendo? It seems violence and immaturity are everywhere outside Nintendo and Nick Jr.

I don't. BECAUSE of the violence of the series - I don't even read the books.

Another point is, that - in my opinion - both gamers AND the industry are focussing too much on violent games - and thus doing as if non-violent games were … uncool, unneccessary, immature … I'm mainly talking about the PC platform here.

It's as if a vocal minority says - through the internet, of course ! - that "colourful, lighthearted games are immature ! We want violence ! We want blood ! We want dark games !"

And, of course those who do NOT use the internet as much - the more casual gamers - and not even heard by the companies, because they are deaf on theior non-internet ears …

And don't forget that "the industry" is following the Path Of Money ! They invest ONLY in THOSE games which promise revenue ! AND these ARE violent dark & gritty games …

I think it's become an vicious circle already.

And, besides, I personally strongly believe that most adults DO want to play games with an lightheartzed look - but thise gamers I mean are the casual family gamers … Those who are already in the 50s - 60s … But that's my personal opinion, which I got after a few talks with family people in shops looking for games trhey could play within their family … And I personally don't believe that a whole family (ages between 15 - 60) would want to play only shooters and war games …

It's not that adults don't enjoy non-violent cartoon-like games period, it is just about an impossible sell to an adult population that a console will only sell games that a 6 year-old can watch and play.

I am trying to think of non-violent cartoon-like games I have played recently, and I occasionally play Peggle 2 and Bejeweled. I played the Curse of Brotherhood with my niece and nephew, but even in that child-like cartoon game every living thing in the game is trying to kill you. Another example, Limbo is dark, gritty, and violent as well as one of the most fantastically beautiful games I have played.

Violence is an important adult theme, not immaturity. We are all a couple of generations out of all LARPing Call of Duty, and violence is a threat everywhere and a prevailing status in many regions. Violence isn't something restricted to playground tussles over name-calling, it is something that could kill you anytime, anywhere. We all have violent tendencies in our makeup, survival instincts, and games allow an expression of this universal identity that doesn't actually end up with real dead people.

Dark and gritty, as just a color scheme or a theme of gameworld, is another adult expression. There is an inherent harshness to the world we need expressed, and we can get it in our fantasy and fiction. Hopelessness, oppression, and depression are facts of adult life, you can't get through it without experiencing it and it is so affecting it is branded to our identities.

So it's not that all games must be violent and dark, but if Nintendo thinks it will conquer an adult market that is constantly wanting to widen the expression available in video games with offerings that are all fit for 6 year olds, it is going to lose. Sony and Microsoft make consoles that offer both light-hearted and mature games, how is Nintendo going to "dominate", in Miyamoto's words, when it can only corner the market on parents who don't play video games who have 6-12 year-old children?

Nintendo are probably missing out on the market of 14-25'ish year olds, a big market for sure. That's the period in life when most (males) have some insecurity issues and don't want to be associated with anything "childish". I think their main market is 7-13 year olds + older people (30+).

I don't think that applies to japan/ asia at all though, they have a very different view on cartoonish graphics than what we have.

I agree with him that if you just look at the games at e3 it's mostly just a blur, there's very little creativity overall. Not that i think Nintendo are that exceptional, but i do love Mario, Mariokart and Zelda. Mariokart isnt doing much new stuff at all though.

The creativity today is mostly on PC, and it comes from smaller indie developers.

I haven't cared about anything anyone from Nintendo has had to say since the Snes and apparently neither do many 3rd party dev's.

I guess creativity is regurgitating the same few franchises over and over and introducing new controllers with every system. I can do without creativity in that case.

Originally Posted by Burress
2. Adults generally don't want video games that look like children's cartoons.

I'm not that kind of adult.
You can sell me cartoon game (Stick of Truth is a masterpiece!).

What Miyamoto probably discovered on E3 was that people don't care about his opinion, his kind of games and his kind of pathetic toys that can't run TW3.

Originally Posted by joxer
I'm not that kind of adult.
You can sell me cartoon game (Stick of Truth is a masterpiece!).

What Miyamoto probably discovered on E3 was that people don't care about his opinion, his kind of games and his kind of pathetic toys that can't run TW3.

Now you know the Stick of Truth is rated M and is thus immature and lacks creativity, by extending out Miyamoto's implication, don't you? Violence, cursing, nudity, sexual humor… this is what Nintendo is against.

Games like the Stick of Truth are totally not what I meant.

This is the real question, would you be the kind of adult who buys a Wii U for themselves? Do you know many who would?

Wii U doesnt stand out that much other than the controller and that Nintendo develops games for it, it has plenty of adult games.

Their problem is that they're always lagging behind when it comes to performance / tech though, so people who arent too interested Nintendo exclusives would probably choose another console.

Originally Posted by vurt
Wii U doesnt stand out that much other than the controller and that Nintendo develops games for it, it has plenty of adult games.

Their problem is that they're always lagging behind when it comes to performance / tech though, so people who arent too interested Nintendo exclusives would probably choose another console.

I didn't know this and couldn't believe until I googled Nintendo games rated M and found some shooters and such for the Wii. Every game I have been interested in has never been available for recent Nintendo consoles so I incorrectly assumed they had some sort of M-rated wall up.

Originally Posted by Burress
Games like the Stick of Truth are totally not what I meant.

I know.

Originally Posted by Burress
This is the real question, would you be the kind of adult who buys a Wii U for themselves? Do you know many who would?

No. I'd never buy a console for myself. Sorry. I'm too spoiled with PC and would never ever accept lesser quality and unmoddable gaming.

I don't know anyone in RL that would buy Wii U. More precisely I don't know anyone who did buy it. Everyone is on PC, a few are on Playstation.

Originally Posted by vurt
I agree with him that if you just look at the games at e3 it's mostly just a blur, there's very little creativity overall. Not that i think Nintendo are that exceptional, but i do love Mario, Mariokart and Zelda. Mariokart isnt doing much new stuff at all though.

Actually they added going upside down in MK8. And they are changing the gameplay in Mario(ie form SMG to SM3dworld) and they are adding an open world to Zelda. At least in terms of gameplay there is some creativity in Nintendo games. If we are talking characters and story, yeah they are not.

The creativity today is mostly on PC, and it comes from smaller indie developers.

I agree.

I would really like first party adult games for my wii u but Nintendo does not serve adults, it only serves families and children. Thats why sales of their consoles have gone down during each generation (wii excluded thanks to wiimote) since the 8-bit Nintendo.

Maybe it was enough to create family games in the 80s but nowadays gamers want more than that.

If nintendo had its own tv channel it would only show cartoons (no simpsons though) and family-shows. They would never show game of thrones or walking dead.

I have bought every 3rd party "adult-rated" game with decent rating for the wii u. I love playing them with the gamepad. Thanks to quick UI combined with 2TB usb storage I can quickly start any game (i.e assasins creed 3 starts in seconds) and I can play it anywhere in the house.

Generally people who want more than family games wont buy wii u because they know that Nintendo does not want to serve them. And its totally understandable. Why buy a game console which producer does not want to serve you?

Even I bought wii u originally just for the family games (mario 3d world was amazing) but now its my main console for adult games too. My current backlog for wiiu:

-Ac3
-Ac4
-Splinter cell blacklist
-CoD:Ghosts
-Resident evil
-Batman arkham city

Thats about it I think. So there is not that many left to play. Atleast its manageable unlike pc which backlog is hundreds of titles long.

I agree. There is only one first party adult game aside from Zelda even if you can consider that an adult game and that is Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Originally Posted by Damian
I agree. There is only one first party adult game aside from Zelda even if you can consider that an adult game and that is Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Yes just one and it is released like two years after wii u was launched. Im really looking forward to that (amazing rpg) but with the 2 years delay it feels like Im getting lip-service here.

Just to add:
http://kotaku.com/kids-think-the-ori…unk-1600895792

Kids Think The Original Game Boy Is A Piece Of Junk

I'm not a kid and I think that too.

Whaaaat? The Game Boy was amazing for it's time. I have many fond memories of being a kid and playing Bubble Bobble and countless other classics.