Interview: Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, on 3DS, Retro, Zelda and Pikmin 3
Nintendo recently unveiled its 3DS handheld, and Super Mario Bros. creator Shigeru Miyamoto is hard at work on the next evolution of virtual pets, Nintendogs + Cats, for the system. While the core mechanics remain the same, players will interact with their pets in full 3-D. We had a chance to sit with Miyamoto to see what he thinks of 3-D gaming, the iPhone and the possibility of bringing a track editor to the Mario Kart franchise.
We knew the 3DS was coming. It was announced a while ago, but we didn't expect so many games to be available. How long have you been working on the technology?
Nintendo's been researching 3-D games for over 20 years. The first time we started looking at 3D with an LCD screen was during the GameCube days. We've continued to experiment with it since then, particularly implementing it into the 3DS. That's something we've been working on for the past three years.
With games, what's the ratio of Nintendo first party to third party? It seems like some of them are remakes, such as Star Fox. How many are new and updated experiences? When we first launched Nintendo DS, the touch screen became a new innovative face for gaming, and we spent a lot of time creating things that were probably different from the standard games that you've seen, games that are more like books or Brain Training type games. But with Nintendo 3DS, and specifically with the ability to create 3-D visuals, we're finding that, in addition to creating new game ideas, the 3-D visuals really do a lot for past experiences. It'll be a blend. We'll see remakes that take advantage of the 3-D, but we'll also work on new ideas as well.
We knew the 3DS was coming. It was announced a while ago, but we didn't expect so many games to be available. How long have you been working on the technology?
Nintendo's been researching 3-D games for over 20 years. The first time we started looking at 3D with an LCD screen was during the GameCube days. We've continued to experiment with it since then, particularly implementing it into the 3DS. That's something we've been working on for the past three years.
With games, what's the ratio of Nintendo first party to third party? It seems like some of them are remakes, such as Star Fox. How many are new and updated experiences? When we first launched Nintendo DS, the touch screen became a new innovative face for gaming, and we spent a lot of time creating things that were probably different from the standard games that you've seen, games that are more like books or Brain Training type games. But with Nintendo 3DS, and specifically with the ability to create 3-D visuals, we're finding that, in addition to creating new game ideas, the 3-D visuals really do a lot for past experiences. It'll be a blend. We'll see remakes that take advantage of the 3-D, but we'll also work on new ideas as well.
