Miyamoto a martinet making Metroid Prime
Allen Varney has written a fascinating look at the making of Nintendo's 2002 masterpiece -- and series reinvention -- Metroid Prime. By complimenting the community's fear of updating the venerable franchise with the story of a production environment that warranted such fears, you get a tangible understanding of the pressure and passion that is bound up in a title of Prime's quality.
His characterization of Miyamoto as a brilliant, dedicated, and -- most interestingly -- demanding taskmaster stands contrary to many gamers impression of the designer as "a Gepetto whose genius and imagination turned a heap of technology into a living world of delight" (to quote the writers of Smartbomb). Take, for example, this description: "In 2000, Miyamoto himself visited Retro, an event compared to the Emperor visiting the Death Star." Ouch!
It's tough love though. Reading about the storied excesses of Retro's founder and the studios subsequent mismanagement, then reflecting on the end result being the excellent Metroid Prime series is a welcome reminder: you have to squeeze coal really hard to make a diamond.
