Miyamoto's future: unique, simple, nonviolent games
Shigeru Miyamoto has spent a lifetime developing hit games for Nintendo -- Mario, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, etc. Speaking to CNN's Talk Asia, the industry legend disclosed that he hopes to continue working on games for everyone to enjoy that tackle themes atypical for gaming.
"There is an abundance of themes that people are interested in," he said, "and video games have only touched on few of them." No examples are cited, but would he consider working with serious, mature themes such as heartache, loss, redemption, suffering, et cetera? Miyamoto, alluding to Nintendo's new mantra, also explained that his future projects will be simple enough for all ages to enjoy, which is something he has always seemed to be adept at, though our previously-mentioned themes will probably not feature into universally-appealing projects.
The interview touched briefly on violence in video games, a theme Miyamoto does not wish to tackle. "Looking at the overall picture, it is important to understand and feel the pain that people might have ... we also have to take a careful approach, even in the circumstances when we are not portraying direct violence." Though the game legend might have aversion to violence, his words imply that there are cases when non-excessive presentation of aggression is understandable. Then again, if his goal is to appeal to people aged five to 95, then violence is probably something he's better off avoiding.
The Talk Asia interview also serves as a primer for those interested in Miyamoto's background; much of the history discussion reads like a Wikipedia entry.
[Pictured: Link nonviolently driving a sword into Ganon's head. Don't worry, he doesn't die.]
