Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto currently acts as a 'Creative Fellow' at the Japanese video game giant – passing on his ideas and knowledge to the next generation of game designers. As a result, he's not quite as involved as he used to be.
For example, he no longer comes in mid-development to "completely" rework projects. Here's exactly he had to say in the most recent issue of Famitsu (celebrating the Switch's third anniversary), courtesy of a translation by Oni Dino from Nintendo Everything:
I might say something in the early stages of development like, “What if we didn’t do this?” Or “If you’re going to do that, then what about this?” But I no longer come in mid-development to completely rework things. I don’t “upend the tea table” just as a hobby or something, I only do so if I can see how the whole game will pan out.
By changing the structure of things when a game isn’t turning out right, I “upend the tea table” when I can see how things like the visuals and the merits of the game can change. If I can’t see a clear vision for the game, then that doesn’t mean something should be changed. After all, you can’t see all the key components unless you’re the director.
As highlighted in the translation, "upending the tea table" is an infamous phrase used to describe when Miyamoto would step in and change a project's direction drastically. Though, in saying this, he still has "influence" over aspects like controls (citing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild), to ensure they're user-friendly as well as the concept phases of a game's development. After that, it's up to the designers to work out the rest.
How do you feel about Miyamoto being less involved in Nintendo's modern projects? Are you glad to hear this industry veteran still has at least some input? Share your thoughts below.
[source nintendoeverything.com]
Comments 41
The tea table that was Pikmin 4 must have been upended, broken, smashed, burned, the ashes spread over the ground where a new tree grew, that tree was cut into wood, turned into a tea table, and then Miyamoto upended that tea table as well.
THAT'S why we haven't gotten Pikmin 4 yet.
Sounds like he has confidence in those he’s mentoring.
The man is an indisputable talent. But that doesn't mean he is always right. I think it's probably good for him to take a more advisory role and the mentor younger talent.
It's nice to see them easing him into retirement by showing the next generation of devs what he finds important in a game, hopefully it'll keep the spirit of his work alive after he's not.
@ChrisDono Nope, wasn't Hey Pikmin! After that game came out he was asked and he confirmed that he was referring to a different game, but he'd been told by marketing to stop talking about it.
I think disruption can be key to innovation but perhaps modern AAA games can be so complex that it is often no longer viable to change an essential ingredient late in development. I there is still that spirit of experimentation in a lot of the small Indie and unity games and I love the quirky fun that results from it.
What are some of the projects he’s reworked mid-development, and how did they change? It would be interesting to know about what could’ve been.
Were there, besides Pikmin 4, F-Zero, WaveRace, Advance Wars, ExciteTrucks on that table?
This is very good to hear honestly. Miyamoto is a legend with great ideas but sometimes he puts in too much to games where developers may have an entirely different vision. When you mess with someone's artistic vision of what their game should represent you're making the development very disjointed and games turn out worse than what could have been.
Need I mention Paper Mario and how it dropped off in quality?
I would much rather Miyamoto put his energy into his own franchises which always turn out to be golden. Put your focus into Pikmin, please, it's long overdue.
The man can do whatever he wants, he's a god of gaming. Fly free Miyamoto, you are truely the best.
Some like to bag on Miyamoto as if they have worked in the same office as him. Unfortunately few of us will ever get to see him in action and really know how things go
I am like 900% sure that pikmin 4 was reffering to
...the spinoff...
There's a tea table permanently suspended in the air for F-Zero.
@Franklin that F-Zero tea table has now created its own force field due to heavy uninterrupted rotation and there are some reports that it is now used as a renewable source of electricity at Nintendo HQs.
Did Sony invite Miyamoto to see some of their games at the beginning of the year or something?
I mean, they had a flurry of delays all at once.
Oh my god maybe we actually might get a good Paper Mario game again then?
Star fox zero lol
@rjejr Tell me about it. Seriously depressed that game didn’t happen when Miyamoto even said it was basically done and ready to be released.
Miyamoto is fine as long as he stops bursting into dev rooms screaming "But what if actually Starfox?!"
Good, no more Star Fox Adventures and Sticker Star.
@echoplex
They got boost power!
@Euler I know the Zelda team is always excited, yet dreads his visits. He literally questions everything they do. They appreciate it, but he will sometimes go "I think there should be a rock here." : https://www.wired.com/2016/06/zelda-breath-wild-aonuma-demo/#slide-2
I think Paper Mario Sticker Star got re-worked because of a comment of his about "Mario not needing a story." Not sure if that was an order or them taking him too seriously.
The only other one that comes to mind is Dinosaur Planet, where he asked: "why don't they use StarFox?" And that's how we got StarFox Adventures.
He is a genius, but because of that people can take his word a bit too seriously. I don't think he even realizes how much weight his words have sometimes.
Tezuka is the real secret weapon
@rjejr Thank you. Yes, poor Pikmin 4. I check everyday, I mean everyday for a possible Pikmin 4 announcement, and so far...nothing. Would you like a cup of tea for that tea table?
I think Miyamoto san should retire and be a gamer only. Thanks for Mario, Link and Olimar, but please stop poking on other director's artistic views
@PBandSmelly he said after Hey! Pikmin was released that it wasn’t Pikmin 4
He may have some (tons) of bad ideas, but his good ones change the entire gaming landscape. When Nintendo games stray from his principle design philosophies, be it by him or another designer, they end up not so great.
Sticker Star is my least favourite Nintendo product that has ever existed. The way that game turned out is so disrespectful to the fans of the series, and disrespectful to good game design in general.
@rjejr Maybe we need to start a #brakefreepikmin4 on Twitter lol
still waiting on Pikmin 4 information Mr Miyamoto
@MJL Color Splash was good. Not great but good.
@BAN Like 4 times now he's mentioned it over 4 years. At least nobody at Valve is still talking about Half-life 3.
@Joe-b I check first thing every morning for a Nintendo Direct announcement while a little voice inside of me whispers "don't hope for Pikmin 4 news, you're only prolonging the agony".
@Spoony_Tech What's the opposite of upend? #downendPikmin4 😂
@rjejr yes, I hear that same voice.
@Heavyarms55 he does that now, you know. And he’s still right about a lot of things in game development
To be honest, I actually like Star Fox Adventures. It's a game I can play over and over again and still be amazed every time I play it. Miyamoto made the right call for this one.
Now. Star Fox Zero, on the other hand, is hot garbage that I most likely will never play again, unless I want to punish myself some more by trying to get the medals and a high score. Miyamoto did not make the right call on this one.
There was that Japanese arcade game where you upend the tea table. I played that. I broke it.....
Really pleased he’s no longer involved...his last failings are a testament to this..(star fox zero)
@EarthboundBenjy
I don't think I've ever experienced such a massive discrepancy between reviews of a game, and the game itself.
first of all, let me just say that Miyamoto is one of THE most influential people in the industry but he's prone to shoehorning a gimmick in a game from time to time.
Second of all, YES YES YES! THE MOTION CONTROLLED TYRANY IS OVER!!!
Radar Scope was repurposed into the hugely successful Donkey Kong, & set Nintendo on fire in a good way, in the American arcade scene. Next year, Donkey Kong, and the 3 characters within said title (DK, Ossan/Mr. Video/Jumpman/"Little" Mario, & Lady/Pauline) will be 40yrs old! This is what Miyamoto came up with, after he couldn't use the Popeye license. According to some sources, he is 67 now, so he would have been 27 when he created this stuff.
Nobody is perfect, & Wii Music should have had an actual composition mode, similar to Mario Paint. To this day, my favorite co-work of his, with Tezuka, is Super Mario Bros. 3.
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