[Harry]

Hi,

here is a full interview with Mr. Miyamoto held a couple of weeks ago at Virgin Megastore in London. We just received it through our pr at Nintendo. Enjoy.

Transcription of Interview with Shigeru Miyamoto
Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street
February 21, 2003

Richard Marsh, Nintendo Official Magazine: I want to know where you drew inspiration on wind controlling for the game. Were you planning to use fire or water in the game?

Mr Miyamoto: First of all we had to come up with a specific stage of a game for Link’s adventure and we came up with the idea of the ocean and how Link would move. We decided to use a ship and make use of a sailing boat so players could have control over the wind and that is how we came up with the idea of wind control.

We were thinking also in terms of the advancement of the technology. Many people focus on beautiful graphics and we wanted to take advantage of areas that no one else was using and that was the controlling of the wind by taking advantage of the high performance of Nintendo Gamecube. Zelda looks like animation and not like anything else available.

Corey Brotherson, Gamesdomain: What were the main elements of Zelda that you didn’t have the time to put in. What were they this time around?

Mr Aonuma: First of all in terms of time for completion we had to delete two stages, which included some dungeons. Yet, of course, the volume is big enough, but we had to delete some elements we were originally going to incorporate in the game.
But I think this time, other than that, most of the ideas we were originally thinking about were incorporated into the final game.

Mike Cooper, Computer and Video Games Magazine: The new style of Zelda was a radical change when it was first shown. It sent big shock waves through the industry. Can we expect a similar type of shock with Mario 128 this time around?

Mr Miyamoto: Actually we never intended to create a shock wave its just we were trying to make something new. Of course it’s best to base it on something consistent, but we always try to make something new. We wanted to make a new figure of Link and were confronted with a problem that if we went forward with a much more realistic graphic of Link, we may have had a big problem with being comfortable playing the Link character in the real world.

If Link is just walking and if he makes three steps, he would walk a metre away. In the real gameplay it is not natural, it does not make good sense in terms of game play. That is the kind of basic argument we had when we were making the Link character. Now talking about Mario 128 we have not come up with the specific stages of reformation for the Mario character. Once again, I try not to make any shock waves in the industry, it’s just that I am always thinking of perfect game play and character control.

Mr Miyamoto: One question has anyone played with the English version of The Wind Waker. No? Japanese? Yes.

Didn’t you feel that it felt very natural to control Link?

Yes.

Martin Kitts, NGC Magazine: Now that you’ve created this fantastic new game engine, will you be tempted to reuse it in future games?

Mr Miyamoto: It is now taking such a long time to come up with the basic engine for whatever game we are working for and if we can make use of an already completed engine, it is better for me as a Producer. I want to make ideas come to life. As a Producer and Designer, I am hopeful we can make use of the Wind Waker engine for future games too. The basic functionality of the Gamecube is so high I am sure we can easily make use of this for future games.

Mr Aonuma: In answer to the former questions, we really didn’t leave anything out when we completed Wind Waker, and those kinds of ideas which I had, which we could not incorporate into Wind Waker, are already incorporated into our next projects which may or may not make use of the Wind Waker engine.

Jay Filmer, Game.uk.com: Another question about the graphical style. Given the cute childlike look and the mass markets leaning towards realism, do you see any problems reaching a large-scale audience? If not, what about Zelda appeal to people who like realistic games?

Mr Miyamoto: Well for example, in Japan we have a very popular cartoon movie maker, called Miyazaki who has created so many good titles that appeal to children and adults alike, and many of the fans of Miyazaki movies are fathers and mothers. It is a good example that in order to appeal to the mass audiences real graphics are not always necessary. Making use of the Wind Waker graphics isn’t a handicap to reach out to the mass game users. We should not strictly be talking about this game alone as Nintendo as a whole has created a new looking type of game and we are working in new areas too. We are always trying to produce a variety of different things for many different audiences.

The games industry, especially in Japan, is having hard times in terms of making good business but on the other hand, looking at the movies, Miyazaki stimulated the market and attracted many audiences to the animated movie. I don’t think it is a good idea to focus just on the gaming industry if we are just narrowing down what kind of tastes there are. For example if one theme is popular and if everyone tries to get on the bandwagon then that will have a negative effect on the industry as a whole. What is more important for the games designer is coming up with many unique ideas rather than trying to create something similar.


Violet Berlin, Whizbang TV: I would enjoy the game even more if I new what kind of influences you had, what were you watching, reading, doing to give you inspiration for your creativity.

Mr Miyamoto: I have been saying that we need to do a lot of different things to stimulate the industry. That question is about what I am doing personally and I am always thinking about games and talking with my friends in the industry. But it is important for me to always try to be positively involved in other activities other than making games. Nintendo is trying to sell its own games to its users and nongamers when we are trying to expand a market. What is important for me and for us is making a lot more relationships with people in other industries.

Most specifically I like playing some musical instruments, so I try to have communication with musicians and also I kind of like gardening so I have relationships with professional and expert gardeners and you may not believe it but I have relationships with dog trainers and I have serious conversations about what “dog” means!

Mr Aonuma: Well often I have to stay at the office until very late at night and I don’t think this is a good idea in my experience, so now I am trying to finish my work as early as possible and try something new all the time.
Recently I became a father, and having a new baby boy is turning out to be quite a challenge. I was a very lucky though as I was able to take a one month long holiday to spend with my new baby in the midst of the development of Wind Waker.

Stefan Walters, Spong: Last year you said that Mario Kart was giving you the most trouble out of all the games you were working on. Have you resolved that trouble and can you tell us anything about it?

Mr Miyamoto: First of all let me remind you that Mario Kart was not involved in the film, not because it’s not completed but because we want to show it at E3. We don’t have any problem with the development of Mario Kart but we had to focus on the making of the Wind Waker so many designers were involved in this meaning we could not share resources for Mario Kart. That was the main problem.

Johnny Minkley, Computer and Video Games.com: In previous years, Nintendo sold the most popular games in the world. Tastes have changed though. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is currently the biggest game in the West. What are your thoughts on such a violent game being so popular?

Mr Miyamoto: That is quite a tough question and I really don’t have any quick answer to make. If we were just focusing on the games and if the game can sell then it’s very good business and we would just sell that kind of title. It is not that simple for Nintendo as we are not making those kinds of games. After all, as long as people can realise what kind of morals they should have playing with a video game, many games are alike including the excessively violent games. But when we are talking about the mass audience, many people have different viewpoints and have different ways of making use of the technology in front of them.

As the makers, we have the responsibility to think about how it will be used and thought about by the mass audience. In Japan, no companies are willing to market Grand Theft Auto but it will become different if people become desperate to sell their software. Companies right now are not marketing Grand Theft Auto but people now have an idea of the danger of the current situation and the more important thing is that we need to think of a substitute for Grand Theft Auto in terms of video games sales. It is our mission to think of an alternative that is unique and not as violent .