Nintendo Has Worked To Escape Its 'Childish' Reputation, Says Miyamoto

I've been playing Nintendo games ever since the NES days, and love their colourful cartoony (anime?) presentation. It drives me mad that many so called "hardcore" gamers dismiss the company because of this perceived childishness. I hear it all the time, especially from 15-25 year olds. Blood spatter and decapitations are what's cool apparently. The success of the Switch is certainly changing things though, much more than the DS and Wii success, which I think was driven more by the older previously non-players market rather than the younger 15-25 age group.

How about offering a freakin direct !! The withdrawal is getting real over here

Peoples call Nintendo so childish, my answer is simple: "It's kiddie and so what ?"
(Back to play Nintendo games and ignore the trolls)

I'm glad i never gave a f*** what my school mates thought and stayed with nintendo all the years

I don't need people in my life to judge me for what I like anyway

Soooooo... Does this mean F-Zero?

Nintendo's school of game creation has raised two whole generations by now. At the very least, they have clawed their way back into being respected across the board for their ingenuity and their focus on functional, multilayered design, accessible to everyone.

Here in northern Europe, they are still considered thoroughly 'uncool', but they're successfully proving their point about other types of expression than just 'coolness' being of great value in connecting with adult audiences.

I don't particularly care if they're childish or not. I respect that some titles need to retain the image we saw in them as kids. I also understand that this is dependent on the series. You'll always have more mature series as well as those that are for everyone.

What I would like is for them to address the reputation they have gained for being a bit behind in terms of online services. Not sure if any information out there exists but the way they are implementing some things (e.g virtual consoles games) comes across as a decade old....heck the Wii still did it best tbh.

@Pigeon Miyamoto makes Pokemon? That’s a new one

Their platform would seem to cater more to mature people if they had proper online functionality, and actually updated their Switch software to be able to do things which are expected for modern platforms.

Nintendo for me have all about blurring the lines & making games accessible for all ages. I'm 36 & get excited for each new Mario game like many others. It's strange when you look at the more adult titles like GTA, FIFA & CoD, yet the demographic for those entries is likely to be around 12-14.

@Zuljaras Yeah, games like Pikmin 4.

If you look at a property like Disney, which falls under the same blanket of family-friendly content, their movies aren't really labeled as "childish." People of all ages love them. With the Switch, Nintendo has entered back into the mainstream, and I feel like that has really helped to rectify the stigmas surrounding their games. They've also stopped that awful and cringe-inducing marketing from the Wii U days.

People are also just more open-minded nowadays. I don't think a colorful and cartoony shooter like Fortnite (say what you will about it) would have succeeded 10 years ago in the days of bleak and realistic shooting games. I don't feel that same embarrassment about being an avid Nintendo gamer nearly as much as I did in high school, and it's not just a matter of personal growth.

That's because "having fun" is childish. Gaming is serious adult business.🧐

Everytime my coworkers spot me playing Bayonetta, Mortal Kombat 11, Doom, or one of the horror games on my Switch they ironically yell at me that Nintendo is supposed to be for children. 😋

Yeah it's childish! And I love them for it!!!!

If Mario was ever 'cool', it was SMB3. From Super Mario World onwards, we've gotten dumbed-down cute SFX with no oompf, we've gotten Yoshi's stupid voice, that cringy WAH WAH instrument that accents all the music tracks, and so on.

Odyssey improved things a bit though and made Mario more family rather than "This game sounds like I'm in a goddamn childcare center".

The Switch has changed things a lot. These days instead of dealing with "Nintendo is for kids", we now deal with "why would you want to play a gimped version of [x] when you can play it in 4K elsewhere?"

The internet will never be satisfied.

Keep doing what you do, Nintendo.

Well Miyamoto, if that is the new goal then bring Devils Third to the Switch.

Shotting, slashing, dacapiating and smoking cigarrets. And super fun gameplay!!

Well, I always considered Nintendo games to be for everyone rather than exclusively for children.

I honestly don't care. There's no reason for me to let a company's reputation or people's opinions influence how I spend my own money and free time.

Offers peace of mind until mario party, kart or smash bros is booted

They are still seen as 'for kids' in the UK. I think the Switch has improved that image, but the Wii certainly made it worse.

Nothing to do with topic but i still want to see them bring back donkey kong kidnapping the princess in a mario game.

well Nintendo need to try harder. a metroid for example with a more dark environment than the likes of prime trilogy would suit the game better.
because thats what metroid was from the beginning! Super metroid and the original metroid were games that brought a space fear and solitude in the player. IMHO Dead Space 1 and 2 where more close to the original metroid feeling than any metroid prime. even though primes where awesome.

I stick with Nintendo because I'm ALWAYS guaranteed a quality game with a good story. Did everyone forget how Nintendo's quality seal was the main reason why the video game industry today even exists? If the problem is that Nintendo's games are childish, I'd like to point out the Sin and Punishment series, the heavy sides of the Zelda series (i.e. Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, Breath of the Wild), and the Metroid series. Pokemon, which is deemed to be childish, is not even owned by Nintendo (the series is owned by Game Freak and the Pokemon Company). Excuse us, by the way, if we enjoy games that aren't dripping with themes of sex, drugs, and murder.

I've just always gotten the most joy out of Nintendo consoles. I've had fun with others but the Switch is really just amazing to me- it came at a time when I needed video games back in my life and it fits my crazy-ass lifestyle cause it can go wherever I go. There are more powerful consoles, edgier games, whatever- but I stick with Nintendo because I feel like the love is there, and I feel like they really DO try to make products that have an emotional connection to as many people as possible. It goes beyond processing power for me.

I, for one, love the colourful games from Nintendo. They make me cheerfull. I'm not looking for realism and grit in games. I'm happy Nintendo delivers on this aspect with, most of the time, sound gameplay experiences.

The Uk classes Nintendo as Childish, sorry you have failed to deliver your message here.

I remember in the 90s Sony using their media wing started the smear that Nintendo was for children, games for kids, games of the past (because of carts vs CDs.) That due to their tentacles into the media were able to get the media all over it spreading that myth at a time when N64 had more T/M games than PS1 percentage wise. Sadly, it stuck, and Gamecube being purple with a handle didn't help despite its library.

@dew12333 not necessarily. MarioKart is played the whole country over by children, students, (grand)parents, low middle high income earners. Everyone loves MarioKart and it’s accepted as family friendly. The image has changed a lot since N64/GC days when PS was new and “mature” and nintendo smeared as Childish. In some circles sure Nintendo will still be seen as childish but that’s probably in “teenagers wanting to be seen as mature” circles and not the rest of us. For me Nintendo equals quality family time that is irreplaceable.

Except in Italy.... here it's seen as a crappy company that makes games for little kids... sigh

Uh.. the Wii was the main instigator of that stereotype.
It is to this day the most casual family focused Nintendo console. And was in stark contrast to its competitors at the time.

For me Nintendo is the developer of the most mature and well-designed games.

Once you grow up you see through the weak storylines and repetitive gameplay of your so-called gritty mature action games and hopefully realise that you were the kid all the time.

@Ainz While I agree that in a lot of ways the Nintendo online services have notoriously been limited and behind the times, I also think that some of those limitations are in place for good reason. One of the main problems I had as an Xbox 360 owner was anytime i played an online multiplayer game I had to put up with listening to players (normally children) shouting obscenities through their microphones. I know you can normally mute other players in games but that's still only something that you would do after getting fed up with hearing it. As a new dad who wants to enjoy gaming with my son and, providing I am fortunate enough to have them, more children to come, I think the limitations on who you can talk to online are actually a great way to avoid this type of behaviour and using the platform as a way to bully people.

Sorry for the long comment, I hope it doesn't come across as a lecture. Just thought I'd offer up another point of view.

Nintendo - Our games aren't childish.

Also Nintendo - Mai Isn't In Smash Because The Game Is For Good Boys And Girls

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/11/sakurai_says_fatal_furys_mai_isnt_in_smash_because_the_game_is_for_good_boys_and_girls

@JoeM103 I'd rather receive a long thought out reply than a short passive-aggressive insult, so don't worry!

In response to your reply though, I didn't really take voice chat into account to be honest. I'm too used to using other applications (e.g Discord) that I don't mind if Nintendo did or did not have it. However being able to message friends, join their games, getting one AAA title per month to play, a more robust matchmaking system for games like Mario Maker, etc. There are many small quality of life improvements that could be made.

Also this is for the Switch in particular. Having themes for the menu would be nice haha.

I happen to come from Italy, which is sadly pretty much Sony-land as far as I can see.
That said, however, it's been a fantastic ride so far. Glad to have jumped ship to Nintendo after the PS1 days were over, I've bought a PS2 only much later and just for the Kingdom Hearts games.

how people forget that nintendo love hotels where once a thing.

I never viewed ninty as childest. It's entertainment for all ages. I never understood that you need mature shooters or themes to be "Adult".

It's a stupid view imo

@mesome713 Seriously. Will never understand that view

I think an ability to play any style of game you want without worrying about what other people will think about you says a lot. I happen to enjoy Nintendo, but I also enjoy a lot of the so called “‘mature” or “gritty” games on the market.

I think it’s fantastic to live in a time with so much variety in our chosen hobby!

Videogames in general are still considered childish to most adults over 50. I hear it all the time. Oh and what's all this about being teased for still liking Nintendo when the Xbox 360 was out? I was high school age when N64 released and i got crap about it then.

Didn't care though. I like videogames more when they are whimsical colorful and just plain bonkers! That's what a good videogame should be. If i want realism I'll turn on the news or something. Plenty of blood and guts on there.

Funny because I think the Switch is the most childish looking console out of all Nintendo consoles with the bright neon colors, small joycons that are hard to use for adults and online restrictions and every single game from Nintendo is super cartoony looking unlike the Wii which was white and black with special editions and the darker and realistic games like twilight princess, eternal darkness and more, but now it's been saved by third party

True maturity is being able to enjoy the things you enjoy and not being concerned about other people's opinions on what is and is not "childish" or "adult". There's a reason that most of the backlash comes from teenagers and young adults who feel they have something to prove.

I remember being alot more concerned with my maturity level in my teens than any other time. Back then everybody is pushing you to grow up and teasing you for clinging to childhood. You'll eventually get to the age where the opinions of others don't seem nearly as important.

Yeah i like Nintendo and i even still watch cartoons when I'm in the mood. What of it?

I love that they are family friendly and offer so many styles and classics over the years. My holy quadrilogy of Mario world, oot, Yoshi island and super Metroid will never be beaten x x

I remember getting people saying this growing up and my response was always that yes, we were in fact children. It just falls into the category of letting people enjoy what they like

@beazlen1

For me it means the same as you. But for me in England is very much dominated by sony and microsoft. Nintendo have done very little to change that, they only advertise on kids tv channels, and displays in shops are generally geared towards cartoony looking games.

No one ever said I was childish for playing Nintendo. One person called me gay, though (and not the happy kind of gay like from Christmas carols such as "Deck the Halls"), for playing Nintendo.

Although, I can't help but wonder how many of those people who call Nintendo childish go to see Disney movies, not just the animated ones, but the live-action remakes of their animated classics, Marvel, and Star Wars. One could argue those are for kids.

I like games. I play games.

The number one indicator of childishness is to consciously try to style yourself as "mature".

Not yet it hasn’t! But it did help when you (shiggy stepped away).
Now let’s fix the chat up the power and make it serious!

The whole “Nintendo is for kids” ideology is still to this day one of the most ignorant views a gamer could have. It’s an illogical concept usually held by elitist gamers that think they’re too cool for school.

The voice chat situation on Switch is still a sign that their online first party games are for kids. They've intentionally obfuscated voice chat, and moved it all to a separate phone app, to prevent predators and kids easily talking to each other over the console.

Who cares what others think? I’ll play what I want.

@Hobbesyall Nintendo Direct = Drugs and Nintendo is our dealer?

I’ve seen clowns on here go on about “big boy games”, and “real AAA games” and “serious horsepower”. I can’t think of anything more sad and childish personally. It’s pubescent willy waving by people not comfortable with themselves.

It’s mostly virgins who do the complaining.

Even Nintendo's first party titles have mature themes. Fire Emblem, Xenoblade Chronicles, Metroid, and Mother/Earthbound. These games aren't for the light-hearted.

Well, it's really simple to be honest.
Children and high schoolers always like what looks gritty and "mature" cause they don't wanna be seen as kiddy, so everything colorful gets thrown out and everything with blood, boobies and such is "cool".

When you mature a bit, though, you understand that it's often the other way around, because - surprise! - if bloody shooters appeal to 12 years old, they must not be that mature to begin with; the mistake is calling something "mature" not for its storytelling merits or atmosphere, but for its content, which doesn't make sense. Bioshock is a mature game, not for the blood and gore, but for its deep narrative and worldbuilding, and the philosophical ideas that are explored throughout the game.

So when you grow up you learn to understand the depth of the gameplay, scope of the narrative, etc. and judge a game by that, and, since you're grown up and don't have to deal with the same kind of peer pressure, you learn that every kind of game has its place and purpose, so instead of refusing to play some games altogether, you learn that they too have merits, even if you personally don't like them.

For example, when I was in school I was the Nintendo guy and refused to play any shooters and such cause I found them unappealing and childish.
Now I freaking love the Doom series, for example, as well as many other gory shooters, but I know enough to recognize such shooters as profoundly childish: I mean, being a war machine that tears demons apart without rhyme or reason looks to me like the most basic masculinity-driven child power trip. Yet I still love them.

Of course this all applies if you're willing to put the passion and time into gaming, otherwise you'll stop after the first glance and judge everything superficially, as is always the case when you don't put your cognitive resources to use.
And that's fine, not everyone needs to be passionate about gaming.

TL;DR: you gotta learn to appreciate every game for what it is and wants to do, beside a superficial glance.

A good majority of their games are childish, but there's a market for that. Adults buy those games too.

Funny, I consider the Wii to be a dark era for Nintendo. One that they have only recently dug themselves out of.

@JR150 Xenoblade is now owned by Nintendo, but I wouldnt consider that a Nintendo game. It's now a continuation of Perfect Works.

@jswhitfield8 you saying look deeper says it all. Nintendo’s image of being childish started around the time of Grand Theft Auto 3 being released. That game helped take gaming to a whole new level. It made it more mainstream. If your games weren’t violent like GTA or the increasingly realistic third person shooters (remember that Shadow Sonic game?) you get labeled as childish. Nintendo losing the Final Fantasy franchise, with its increasingly cinematic storytelling, didn’t help. They weren’t consistent enough with trying to capture the “mature” audience. An occasional Resident Evil, main game, release (GameCube) and Mario being in a DDR game didn’t help. The look of the GameCube really didn’t help.

But, as you said, People had to look deeper. If they did, they would have seen that Nintendo made some of the most hardcore games in the industry. A lot of the games that came out were nowhere near as challenging as Nintendo’s games. Zelda’s ending may be brutal, but people had major issues with the cel shaded look. Also, that infamous “realistic” Zelda trailer they showed at E3, only to announce the Wind Walker instead didn’t help.

Does anyone remember the original review for Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door in Game Informer where the reviewer scored the game ridiculously low (I forget the number) but was accosted constantly for it and he made the quote that was something along the lines of "Paper Mario is a kiddie game and that's why we rated it so low. We rate games here based on what our readers want." I always found that to be amazing they would go out of their way to rate a game based on their audience for the magazine and not how they perceived the game.

@yuwarite it's a smart move on Nintendo's part to move voice chat on a phone app so the console has more power to use

I'm 50, and therefore far too old to give a stuff what other people think of the things I love. I've been a gamer since 1982 (ZX Spectrum) and people thought I was weird then because "video games are for boys". Phooey to that, I play what I want and what I want is nearly always on Nintendo. Got a Gameboy Color over 20 years ago and have been almost 100% handheld and almost 100% Nintendo since then, Pokemon saved my life in my early 30s and I have never looked forward to a game so much as AC New Horizons or Breath of the Wild 2. I'm always glad there are different games for different tastes, nobody's forcing anyone to buy any game in particular so if colourful escapism aint your thing you can still always "f*** s*** up" in Saints Row if you want, or "romance" your way through every possible female NPC in Witcher 3, even on Nintendo. On the bus. I'm quite happy to stick with Pokemon, AC, Dragon Quest and whatever else takes my fancy - I have a huge backlog so obviously that would be a lot.

I really like the labelling of Nintendo as kiddie machines. 😀
Because i can get a lot of kiddie games, girly games, cute pet simulation games, quirky games from Nintendo. 😋
Also, Nintendo machines are always colorful as kid's toys. 🤩
Thanks to Satoru Iwata since Wii and NDS era for providing more games for girls and kids. 😉

Nintendo has always been one of those don't judge a book by it's cover companies. Their games have a child friendly cartoonish aesthetic and storylines but it's the gameplay that is mature and that's what's most important.

Nevermind when the Xbox 360 was modern gen, Nintendo was "childish" during the N64/PSX era, even though the N64 had Goldeneye. Before you argue "It was the same when it was SNES/Genesis (Mega Drive)," in my personal experience, the only "console war" was in the media. SNES and SEGA owners got along just fine. Maybe it was different for you, but on my playground, it was nothing but love.

But I didn't care back then. As the world praised their PSX, Original Xbox, and PS2 (which I didn't own until 2007, purchased for Soul Calibur 3), I happily played my N64 and Gamecube and still do. Today, I own an assortment of recent consoles and a gaming PC, but I play the heck out of my Switch and wouldn't give it a second thought to play it in public.

I think nintendo is confused. I don't think most people call them childish today because they still make games about plumbers eating mushrooms. They're childish because their hardware lacks basic features and trust the other major platforms all enjoy. Its like instead of smartphones, we have something stripped down that can only call 10 preprogrammed phone numbers for children and old people who can't handle any more responsibility than that.

I’d say that anyone dismissing Nintendo as childish must be a little immature themselves!

Like Ghibli or Pixar movies or other quality works of “family-friendly” media, kids and adults can appreciate Nintendo games on different levels.

If you forego Nintendo games just because of the cute aesthetics or their lack of gratuitous sex and violence, well that’s a pity as you miss out on some of the best-crafted, most fun game experiences ever made.

Miyamoto-san, don’t worry so much about dispelling any supposed kiddy image and just keep your games accessible and true to the Nintendo brand!

That said, I do wish the Switch had better online features for grown-ups who want them! 😉

Nothing about Nintendo reads 'childish' to me. Well, except friend codes, that's kind of dumb in this day and age, but I don't play games much online anyway. The Switch provides all the gaming functionality this old man needs, while my PS4 collects dust and I'm not even sure if I want PS5. But that's just me.

@CodyMKW Lol, "more power to use". You make it sound like voice chat takes up so much processing power, when it wasn't even an issue 20 years ago for the Xbox.

Trust me, it has nothing to do with performance, and everything to do with Nintendo's Japanese management being out of touch and afraid of online predators coming in contact with their players, who, even they themselves, assume are mostly children.

Yeah Astral Chain and Xenoblade is childish

I see a lot of people who purchase Nintendo products for their children, so their atempts for a family-friendly image work well, generating them profit.

I enjoy my Nintendo consoles, thoroughly.

And yet the whole of 2020 so far has pretty much been just Animal Crossing?

@Ainz I will admit it would be nice to have some of the quality of life features that just come as standard on other systems like the friend messaging. The other thing I've always thought is why aren't there more applications? Netflix, Spotify, a video maker so you could use your capture button to create videos? I know that people in the States can use Hulu and I dont know if there are others.

Oh man I would love to have themes, would be so cool to be able to put a Metroid or MarioKart one in. Imagine how cool they could make them, not only having the background image but changing the sounds you hear when unlocking the Switch

@JoeM103 honestly region specific applications are annoying. Aside from those that are like that for technical reasons, I do wish publishers (beyond the game industry) would work towards treating the internet as one larger platform than an extension of their country only. Netflix would be nice, though for me its having an internet browser that's easily accessible which would do it for me.

A Metroid theme would be great. I really like the sound effects idea. Though I wish more apps in general allowed people to customize their own experiences without necessarily having the ability to share it.

@Ainz 100% agree. The original purpose and why the internet was created was to give a worldwide platform to communicate and share and was the main reason it was made an open domain that everybody can use. A browser would be ideal but i would be happy with more accessibility through apps. To be honest at the moment I'd be happy with another teaser trailer for Prime 4 haha. What do you mean by being able to customise within the apps?

Just been having a look through your listed games wanna trade codes? I could do with someone showing me how to use this discord anyway

@JoeM103 Right. Another Prime 4 teaser (or better yet a trailer) would be nice. I mean being able to choose what colour background, text, etc you want. Not too many applications allow you to do that (for understandable reasons) but the ones that do are all the better for it.

I can see your code in your profile, I'm not a terribly active player (barely have time to do the Ninja Speed Runs haha) but I'll add you when I find the time to do so later today.

@Ainz Yeah I get you, Oldschool gaming used to let you change about with loads of stuff. Pokemon used to have the different colour pallets and borders you could choose from and Tetris with its different music. I know games are way more advanced now but yeah it was cool.

Tell me about it mate what with family life, work and taking the dog out for walks even if I do get chance to fire up the Switch its normally not for longer than an hour tops.

@CodyMKW And you clearly don't know anything about the Vivox SDK, that allows for native voice chat on Switch, and is already supported in games like Fortnite, Dauntless, Smite, Paladins and more on Switch. The 'software' is literally right there for Nintendo to use, but they're not going to, because they want to keep kids away from native voice chat, at least in their first party online games. They assume kids are less likely to own a smartphone, thus that's their asinine method to prevent kids playing with predators.

I dunno if this statement is 100% true.

I won't say it's completely false either.

You could easily argue that while Nintendo is allowing mature games on their hardware now and to be fair they were open to them mid way through the Wii U's life too, their getting a good amount of mature games too which again is great but the reason why they can never shake off that childish image.

Because their own first party games are all aimed at all ages, which includes children.

Their own first party games is always their biggest focus for marketing the Switch and rightfully so, its their biggest sellers and the reason why most buy their consoles.

but while those first party games are not of mature content then no matter how many adult games 3rd parties put on here, that image will never truly go.

I'd say its a good 60-40 though in favour of maturity over kiddy... but it'll never be 100... or even any higher than it is now.