Shigeru Miyamoto Talks Trash about Competition, Cinematic Games

As the Godfather of Gaming, when Shigeru Miyamoto speaks, we listen. And now that he’s gotten older and his patience for tact continues to dwindle, we pay even more attention because in recent years he’s been prone to throw in the occasional snide or sarcastic remark when discussing the hobby he helped develop. Or, to put things another way, despite his pedigree (he will always be respected, even if he’s not liked) he’s quickly becoming the godfather we all try to avoid at thanksgiving.

Well, in a recent interview with The Telegraph, he had some very choice things to say when discussing Nintendo’s competition in the gaming market: namely, that while they’re good at business, they’re very bad at actual “games”.

"What the other companies are doing makes business sense. But it's boring. The same games appear on every system. At Nintendo, we want an environment where game creators can collaborate and think of ideas for games that could have never happened before."

There’s probably some truth to that. Functionally the Xbox One and the PS4 are a lot more similar then they are different, and at least right now the exclusives on each one are sparse, especially compared to the games they have in common.

But in either case, he wasn’t satisfied just down-talking his competitors in gaming. He also had a few choice words in regards to the recent trend in making games “Cinematic”.

“I have never thought of games as a means of storytelling. so while many people have approached me in the past and said ‘why don’t you make a movie?’, I had never been interested… these younger game creators, they want to be recognized, they want to tell stories that will touch people’s hearts. And while I understand that desire, the trend worries me. It should be the experience, that is touching. What I strive for is to make the person playing the game the director.”

 
I love you, Miyamoto, and you make a valid point, but I would still contest that games can make for exceptional storytelling. Still, diversity is the spice of life—you can let those younger game creators make their stuff, you make yours, and everyone wins.