Game Boy
The brains behind Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda,
Shigeru
Miyamoto has created some of gaming's most iconic heroes. Now
he's fast becoming one himself.
, Illustration by eBoy
Gazing across the table at living legend Shigeru Miyamoto in a
closed-door meeting room at this year's Electronic Entertainment
Expo (E3), I get the impression that I might as well be enjoying an
audience with the pope. And it's not because of the four hour-long
lines of enthusiastic fans queued up to sample the legendary
software designer's latest creation - the new motion-sensitive
video-game console Wii (pronounced "wee," see "The Wii Revolution,"
page 70). Nor, for that matter, is it because of the ever-vigilant
security guards standing watch over a special roped-off section
behind employer
Nintendo's public booth, where pedestrian-choked
product kiosks and blaring loudspeakers ostentatiously trumpet the
company's latest wares.
Even the site of our sit-down - a nondescript conference area
located next to a bar and, somewhat incongruously for a bustling
convention floor, an ice cream machine - isn't entirely responsible
for the effect. Rather, it's due to the subtle lines that now mar
the familiar visage of my companion, adding a hint of unexpected
sadness to his ever-smiling face and mischievous eyes.
Surrounded by translators, official handlers, and a host of
underlings, the visionary whose life's work has come to define so
many millions of people's childhoods no longer seems so impish as
he does outright exhausted. At age 54, having worked on more than
70 individual titles, the man Time magazine called "the Spielberg
of video games" looks like he'd rather be anywhere (e.g., in his
beloved garden) than here, surrounded by 60,000-plus admirers.
Or, as he puts it, half directly and half through an intermediary
(Miyamoto's fluent in English but still uncomfortable with the
language): "[All this attention] is embarrassing. I find it quite
awkward. Looking back, it's fair to say fame was never supposed to
be part of the deal."
INDEED YOU WOULDN'T find a less likely candidate for
superstardom than this former bohemian, who spent his childhood
days in a rural community near his current home of Kyoto, Japan,
painting, drawing pictures, and dreaming of imaginary worlds. His
explorations of the territory surrounding his home - of rivers,
rice fields, and caverns - provided fertile inspiration for later
games such as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.
But in 1977, the long-haired romantic and former bandleader, fresh
out of college after a five-year stint, was just another naive
idealist desperately seeking work. His father, a friend of Hiroshi
Yamauchi, head of the then playing-card and toy manufacturer
Nintendo, arranged an interview for Miyamoto, which eventually led
to a job as Nintendo's first staff artist.
Come 1980, after three years of producing art for use in
coin-operated arcade games, Yamauchi assigned Miyamoto a
monumental task: to revamp Radarscope, a failed title he'd staked
the company on. Miyamoto's response: He scrapped Radarscope's
design entirely, citing cinematic inspiration and the need to
employ moviemaking characterization techniques.
In its place, the legendary Donkey Kong was born. Released in 1981,
the title (whose name came from a humorously misguided search
through a Japanese/English dictionary) went on to storm arcades
around the globe and save the firm. It also introduced the world to
the mustached hero Jumpman, who eventually evolved into the
character we recognize today as Mario.
Over the next 25 years, Miyamoto's design philosophy led to a
string of breakthrough hits, including 1985's Super Mario Bros.,
the most successful video game ever (and one that set the archetype
for countless platform-hopping romps to come); 1987's The Legend of
Zelda, stemming from Miyamoto's youthful ventures into the
pitch-black caves near his home and which sees players exploring
forests, mountains, and dungeons while fighting fearsome beasts;
and, of course, 1996's seminal Super Mario 64, heralded by critics
and consumers alike as the first game in which
3-D gaming showed
its true potential. Even his less historically renowned outings,
including Duck Hunt, Hogan's Alley, PilotWings 64, Super Mario
RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, F-Zero, and Luigi's Mansion, still
rank among the biz's best.
Miyamoto attributes his ongoing triumphs to a simple design
philosophy. "Most important is that a game be fun to play and that
its environment be used to effectively capture an audience's
attention," he says. "Players can't be forced into activity … they
have to voluntarily want to enter the interactive space and
explore. Flashy graphics and fancy sound effects aren't the answer
- interactivity is. Encouraging players to immerse themselves
within virtual universes is crucial."
HENCE THE THINKING behind the just-released Wii, which aims
to speak to the entire family, not just to tech-savvy teens and
20-somethings, as its chief competitors PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
are prone to doing. "[Microsoft and Sony] have done little to
expand their core market," explains Miyamoto. "They continue to
play to the same general users. At Nintendo, we believe in speaking
to people of all ages and interests, whether you're five years old
or 95. There's a new, ever-growing audience for video games out
there. We're leading by example and hope to inspire generations of
developers to come."
In other words, it's you - the nonbeliever, the onetime fan, the
working professional who has since come up short on free time for
leisure activities - who Miyamoto believes is the future of
interactive entertainment. The revolution, to paraphrase, will not
come via the Sci-Fi Channel. It will instead be sparked by a gaming
renaissance featuring support from all members of the family -
self-styled technophobes such as Mom, Dad, and even Grandma and
Grandpa included.
At odds with competitors (such as
Microsoft, who partnered with MTV
to reveal the Xbox 360), Miyamoto's got no stomach for flashy
product launches, fancy ad spots, and corporate synergy. But as
senior management director and general manager of entertainment
analysis and development division - read: head creative honcho -
for Nintendo's
Japan division, he understands the value of
cutting-edge hardware and glossy marketing campaigns. He just
believes that best-selling set-top system launches are driven by
creative inspiration and quality game play, not catchy
buzzwords and rampant hyperbole.
A throwback to gaming's kinder, gentler era, the aging great
refuses to churn out cookie-cutter sequels, publishing blockbuster
follow-ups only when technological and storytelling advancements
warrant them. "We want Wii to be a system that will appeal to
everyone," he says. "The way to make this happen isn't just to
rehash the same old titles, but rather to exceed hope and take
games to a whole new level, beyond the boundaries of peoples'
expectations."
Looking at the starry-eyed man before me - slighter and shier in
person than pictorials convey - it's easy to see that if anyone's
capable of pulling off such a coup, it's Miyamoto. And, of course,
the man is the same nimble-minded young boy, hungry for excitement
and adventure, who saw gateways to parallel dimensions around every
tree and stoplight.
Pausing to take my leave, I thank Miyamoto for his time before
extending a hand and a few gentle words of gratitude for the untold
opportunities he's opened not only for me but also for countless
other video-game fans. And, of course, I wish him the best of luck
in bucking industry trends.
At which point, he unexpectedly stands up straight and tall, and,
true to form, chuckles heartily. "Others talk of gaming's next
generation," he grins. "We're offering an entirely new one. Luck's
got nothing to do with it."
And just like that, I walk away a convert - knowing that, come what
may, in one sense, it's already game over for the competition.
Hall of Game
An inside guide to Miyamoto's greatest hits
-1981
Donkey Kong is released, marking the initial appearance of Jumpman
(a.k.a. Mario). The arcade game is an overnight success and
Nintendo's first hit outside Japan.
-1983
Coin-operated debut of Mario Bros. introduces star sibling Luigi.
Headliner trades carpentry for plumbing.
-1985
Super Mario Bros. ships, catapulting Nintendo Entertainment System
(NES) and Miyamoto to instant stardom. It also sets a benchmark for
side-scrolling adventures and sells more than 40 million copies
worldwide, a Guinness World Record.
-1987
Enter fantasy dungeon crawl The Legend of Zelda, inspired by
Miyamoto's childhood spelunking adventures. It single-handedly
defines action-based role-playing outings.
-1991
Super Mario World ships with the Super NES (SNES), ensuring the
console's immediate success.
-1993
Futuristic space-flight game Star Fox for SNES launches. It proves
that Miyamoto's vision readily extends into the third
dimension.
-1996
Super Mario 64 catapults Nintendo 64 to chart-topping performance,
selling more than 11 million units. The title is hailed as a
watershed moment for 3-D gaming.
-1997
Mario Kart 64 is an instant classic, bringing white-knuckle racing
to the masses.
-2001
While playing in his garden, Miyamoto creates the concept for the
quirky GameCube real-time strategy title Pikmin.
-2002
Animal Crossing (GameCube and Game Boy Advance) challenges players
to interact with living worlds filled with minigames and memorable
personalities.
-2005
Miyamoto acts as general producer on virtual pet sensation
Nintendogs for Nintendo DS.
-2007
Super Mario Galaxy for Wii will debut. It's set to reaffirm the
designer's legendary status.
The Wii Revolution
Nintendo's latest cutting-edge, interactive gaming
system lets players really get in the game.
The new Wii console has a lot going for it: top-tier titles
(Elebits, Excite Truck), a sleek all-white look, and a low sticker
price. Plus, playing the system burns - not builds - calories. No
joke: Unlike contemporary set-top diversions, a two-piece,
motion-sensitive TV-remote-style controller gives couch potatoes
the chance to channel their inner athlete or gunman, tracking and
translating physical prompts into on-screen movement. For the first
time, you can truly experience how it feels to swing a sword in The
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess or to wield an arm-mounted
laser, courtesy of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
Hands-on tests with the ultraresponsive unit's control scheme -
divided into a nunchuk-like thumb-stick attachment and a stereo
speaker/vibration sensor-equipped pad - reveal the action isn't
all blood and guts either. Players can swing the handheld device to
send balls soaring during a round of Wii Sports tennis or conduct
entire orchestras with a wave of a virtual wand. Rather than
high-definition graphics (a key selling point for Microsoft's Xbox
360 and
Sony's PlayStation 3), the emphasis here is squarely on
novel play mechanics.
Bonus features are also plentiful. Because Wii is fully compatible with GameCube games, nostalgic fare like Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16 titles may be downloaded and enjoyed on demand too. Perpetual
broadband connectivity is another highlight, with systems capable of automatically retrieving extras such as additional characters and stages while you sleep. Positional audio capabilities only add further atmospheric depth, letting you track an arrow’s progress from the draw of a bowstring until it thuds resoundingly into an enemy’s chest.
A few sample titles worth drooling over: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. So start practicing your
golf swing or
karate chop now (and start socking away cash to replace that soon-to-be-shattered coffee table). Wii, $250,
Best Buy, (888) 237-8289,
www.bestbuy.com