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Happy birthday, Miyamoto-san!
He created Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda. He has been indirectly responsible for using up thousands of hours of our lives. We sort of want him to be our Dad. Yes, Nintendo design guru and general gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto turned 55 years young today (hasn't he aged well?), so it felt only right that we took the time to wish Shiggy many happy returns.Here's to a long and prosperous future, sir! One with lots of cake.
Miyamoto wins award in London
Shigeru Miyamoto, one of the biggest names in the industry, recently received an award. The Economist's Innovation Award for Consumer Goods, to be exact, which was awarded to the gaming legend at the Science Museum in London.Using an independent judging panel of industry experts, the choice to award Miyamoto was an easy one as Tom Standage, business editor at The Economist, comments "No one is more identified with modern video games than Shigeru Miyamoto." He further added "His pioneering vision and creativity truly created a new category of entertainment."We agree, Tom.
Kohler speaks with Miyamoto in a very revealing interview
Being the Nintendo maniacs we are, often the thought of finding and capturing Shigeru Miyamoto so that we may have him all to ourself crosses the darkest recesses of our mind. Of course, we realize these are just crazy thoughts and don't have them written down anywhere in the same book where we keep all of our homemade sketches of the iconic gaming legend. We would never do that.But, given how much we read about Shiggy, his latest interview with Chris Kohler is one of his best. Shiggy manages to touch on an icnredible variety of subjects, including price point talk for Wii Fit, the upcoming Wii Ware channel and even took time to offer his opinions on the violent video game debate. If you're going to read one interview from E3, this should be it.
Update: Shiggy is doing great in the Time 100
Behind Rain, who is a Korean pop star and Stephen Colbert, who is one of the funniest folks on television, Shigeru Miyamoto is currently holding down third place in the race for most influential people of the year, according to Time. We just felt a little reminder was in order, in case you missed our last post informing you of his presence in the race. So, if you haven't gone over there to help Shiggy out, we suggest you do so now.Do it now, or else we'll cry.[Thanks, Ben!]
Help Miyamoto get a nod from Time Magazine
Time magazine's website is running a feature right now where candidates are up for being included in the Time 100. What is the Time 100? Well, it's a who's-who list of influential and powerful people, a list that certainly demands to have one of, if not the most, influential game designers in the industry, Shigeru Miyamoto. Lucky for him, you can have a say in who makes the list. All you have to do is follow the read link and give Mr. Miyamoto a rating. As of right now, he's got an average rating of 79, but we're sure that will come up. So, head on over and let your voice be heard.
New Wii games revealed in Greek interview
The name George Katrinakis probably doesn't mean much to you unless you happen to live in Greece, as he's the CEO of Nortec Multimedia, the distributor of Nintendo products in the region. And it turns out this George knows a thing or two about the future of Wii gaming, dropping some clues on us ignorant folk about a pair of new titles. Wait, new games? Rock!First up is a game, which is being dubbed Health Pack at the moment, that is certainly the most interesting in our eyes. After performing some exercises in the game, supposedly your personal data will be sent out to hospitals that have been contracted out by Nintendo via a new Channel and later returned as some kind of evaluation. Information on how the data will be collected and presented is sketchy as of right now, but we're pumped for a new Channel, let alone the doors this could open for future Channels and/or games.The second title, Wii Music, sounds a lot like the orchestra demo that Shiggy demoed during the E3 keynote. In it, players will not only be able to control specific musicians in the orchestra, but also save their compositions and send them to other Wii users. While this doesn't tickle our fancy as much as Health Pack, we're certainly not in any position to complain about more games.According to the interview, both of these games are to be released before the end of 2007.[Via Joystiq]
Who needs Wii? Play dress up with Shigeru Miyamoto
When we read that Cartoon Doll Emporium was the "#1 online destination for girls ages 6 - 16" we knew it lined up perfectly with our target demographic ... we keed, we keed. But seriously, folks, how many of our testosterone-addled readers aren't going to jump at the opportunity to dress up a never nude Shigeru Miyamoto in everything from a Link outfit (pictured) to a Donkey Kong suit to a t-shirt featuring his most famous quote (which is only slightly more famous than the time he said he sucked young people's life force.)Yeah, we thought so.[Thanks, Dan]
BusinessWeek interviews Miyamoto and Ashida about the Wii
BusinessWeek recently interviewed Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Ken'ichiro Ashida about the Wii. They inquired about all things Wii related, such as initial ideas behind the controller and creating a cost-effective console. They found out that the current goal of the company to turn people from all walks of life into gamers originally came from a desire to get gamers' moms playing. So moms were a key target audience for this console? Miyamoto: Our goal was to come up with a machine that moms would want-easy to use, quick to start up, not a huge energy drain, and quiet while it was running. Rather than just picking new technology, we thought seriously about what a game console should be. [CEO Satoru] Iwata wanted a console that would play every Nintendo game ever made. Moms would hate it if they had to have several consoles lying around. Ashida: We didn't want wires all over the place, which might anger moms because of the mess. If that was Nintendo's goal all along, they should've just asked us. We have the most brilliant idea for a simulation game where you play a soccer mom and must drop the kids off at practice, making sure you take turns with care so that the children do not spill their juice boxes all over their uniforms (patent pending). There's still time Nintendo, all you need do is shoot us an email. [Via NeoGAF]
Miis on the go
From some leaked developer documents some time ago, it was revealed that each Wiimote would have around 6 kb of memory built right in. Some believed it to be purely for the internal speaker, while others had crazier ideas: personalized settings, content, and once the Mii system was unveiled, perhaps even the storing of one's own digital avatar. Is it true? You bet your gold coins it is. Straight from the mouth of George Harrison, each Wiimote will be able to store up to 10 Mii creations for those on-the-go fixes of Wii Tennis.Nintendo seems to be fostering the concept of a personalized Wiimote for each player, something never before attempted. If one can indeed store some settings (and a saved game or two? Maybe the internal memory was increased since then), the feeling would only increase. Get ready to show off your creations![Thanks, Jrathert!]
Wii Orchestra demonstration videos
When Miyamoto took the stage in a tuxedo at Nintendo's E3 keynote and began conducting an orchestra, many attendees were floored by what they saw. Whether it was something totally unexpected that managed to pleasantly surprise or something that caused the attendee to lower their head into their lap in disgust, the unveiling of Wii Orchestra was unexpected. Since its showing at E3, nothing much else has been said about it.Well, during Leipzig the game was made available and IGN got their hands on it. In uploading two videos of the game in action, they have given us a very good feel for how speed on the player's part affects the music in the game.
LoZ controls get updated and Shiggy talks GC titles updated for Wii
Some have said that using the Wiimote as if it were a sword, swinging it around to perform actions in-game, will undoubtedly cause us all to collapse from exhaustion. Some have noted that no actual force is required when using the Wiimote as if it were a sword or in any other kind of fashion, causing the previous point to be irrelevant. Well, now the argument may heat up yet again as Shigeru Miyamoto recently confirmed with Nintendo Dream magazine that the previous controls established for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess are no more. Instead of using the B button to cause Link to slash, as the E3 build demonstrated, now players will need to physically swing the Wiimote around should they wish Link to vanquish his foes. Only thing is, the combat in previous Legend of Zelda titles has been intense, causing some to wonder if this new change is for the best. Also, now that the B button has been freed up, it will now be used when Link is utilizing the bow. Upon aiming at a target, hitting the B button will let loose the arrow from the bow. Miyamoto also tested out using the d-pad for aiming duties, but decided to scrap that idea.In the same article, Miyamoto stated that given the hardware set of the Wii, it would be easy to update GameCube titles to allow full use of the Wii's control scheme. Of course, we have to assume that if this were even going to happen it would only be restricted to first-party titles from Nintendo. Miyamoto said:"We'll be upgrading the development tools, but GameCube code can be used for the most part as is. In that sense, I believe that it would be good to remake GameCube games for Wii, and that some titles would become better with the change to the Wii remote controller."So, you can have one GameCube game updated with the Wii control scheme: what would the game be and how would the Wiimote be used?[Via Joystiq; Thanks vidGuy and Marc!]
Nintendo DS: Fastest-selling system of all time! (In Japan.)
And the good times just keep on rolling for Nintendo. Stocks are up, confidence is high, and Mario hasn't starred in a sports game for close to a year. (A streak that will soon end with Mario Hoops: 3 on 3, alas.) Here's another reason to toss a few down, Shiggy: Japanese newspaper Kyoto Simbun reports that sales for the Nintendo DS in Japan have hit ten million, making it the fastest-selling system (console or otherwise) in the country's history.Worldwide estimates of Nintendo DS and DS Lite sales are currently hovering around 22 million, which means that almost half of systems sold worldwide were done so in the Land of the Rising Sun. Another impressive statistic: around 8% of all Japanese citizens own the system. What does that mean? A cute girl on the street has a one in twelve chance of owning a DS. We like those odds.[Thanks, Romath!][via Joystiq]
IGN interrogates Miyamoto-san
Shigeru Miyamoto recently sat down with IGN to speak vaguely on upcoming projects and various Wii-related topics. The origins of the Wiimote and nunchuck attachment are discussed, as well as left-handed gamers, the classic controller, and the controller's internal speaker. He speaks of an upcoming game in which all four players will use the same Wiimote, and the speaker will call out player names to indicate whose turn it is.Finally, the article seems to confirm that the nunchuck will come packaged with the console. We really didn't think Nintendo would stiff us like that...after all, their first three huge games (Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, and Super Mario Galaxy) all require its use...but it's nice to know. Head on over for the details.[Thanks, Alex!]
We couldn't resist
Though people like J. Allard and Peter Moore manage to attain a psuedo-celebrity status, Nintendo's executive figures seem to have a following second to none. Shiggy, Iwata, and "The Regginator" are bonafide stars in the gaming industry. Luckily for us, they decided to cash in and take it to the next level. Bling bling.
Wiimote could still see some changes before launch?
In speaking with Japan's Famitsu, Nintendo's own Shigeru Miyamoto dropped a hint that the Wiimote's current design could not be the finalized version. Shiggy stated that "we're still debating on the area of how many buttons to use." This response came when the question was asked about Nintendo's difficulties when designing the new controller. We could be reading too much into this, but Shiggy has been known to let a bit of truth slip now and again, so take it as you will.[Thanks Hobbes!]
Halo 3 has a happy ending, or how I learned to love YTMND
The animated .gif addicts over at YTMND have been very busy lately revealing the truthiness behind recent video game rumors. Here are some of those OMIGOD NEWS FLASH! announcements from YTMND's gaming posse: The PS3's 100% official start-up screen REVEALED! Nintendo's bunker busted REVEALED! Halo 3 ending REVEALED! World of Warcraft in space REVEALED! Shiggy's secret N64 formula REVEALED! Half-Life 2's plotline REVEALED! (take that, suckas) YTMND's formula is never going to get old, simply because there will never be a shortage of fanboy ideas and rumors to make fun of. [Via Xbox360Fanboy] More: The Wii zeitgeist, via YTMND, Wiill Ferrell tests Wii accelerometer technology and Dick Hunt!
Rumor: New Starfox-like title to be presented at E3
Quite possibly one of those "purple monkey dishwasher" instances, supposedly Sir Miyamoto commented to a journalist of the French variety that a new title would be debuted for the DS at the company's E3 press conference. This mystery title, if the post linked is to be believed, will be very similar to once-hot, now-not franchise Starfox. Everyone is already going wild on the internet speculating that it is none other than the infamous Starfox 2, a game that was supposedly in finished beta form, yet never released due to the age of the hardware. Sir Shig's comment, which is supposedly this, when translated mentions nothing about this, so believe what you will. [Via Go Nintendo]
