Miyamoto could have made a Halo, but chose not to
It’s a big headliner in the news, and it probably baited the Shigeru Miyamoto-ites and Spartan fans to quarrel over semantics and context. But seeing as how a legend spent most of his life tackling designs of the most critically-acclaimed games of Nintendo’s time, it’s out of respect we decided to cover his side of the story.
In an interview conducted by entertainment media mogul Entertainment Weekly, Shigeru Miyamoto addressed a question about delivering Japanese-centric games to American gamers. The main issue involved that gamers bought more copies of Halo than of Metroid, so was Nintendo losing a grasp of Western tastes?
According to Shigeru Miyamoto, he could have made a Halo or a game like Halo – he certainly had the ability to – but he chose not to. “One thing about my game design is that I never try to look for what people want and then try to make that game design. I always try to create new experiences that are fun to play,” Miyamoto replied.
American game companies, for one, are less likely to take risks in introducing a game with a new concept than publishing a game that has had a strong franchise following behind it. It’s one thing to earn profit to keep a company in the black, but franchise spamming doesn’t seem to be in Miyamoto’s to-do list. Miyamoto also left something for us to ponder about:
With rising budgets, I understand why game companies have a great deal of concern if they don’t design games in this way. But you need to create what you want to create! In that sense, I would really like to see people develop games like I do. When I show a game to people I don’t ask their opinion or give them a survey. I just watch their eyes and their face while they play. Do they smile? Do they look frustrated? So I guess I do test my games — but it isn’t very scientific.
It’s a big headliner in the news, and it probably baited the Shigeru Miyamoto-ites and Spartan fans to quarrel over semantics and context. But seeing as how a legend spent most of his life tackling designs of the most critically-acclaimed games of Nintendo’s time, it’s out of respect we decided to cover his side of the story.
In an interview conducted by entertainment media mogul Entertainment Weekly, Shigeru Miyamoto addressed a question about delivering Japanese-centric games to American gamers. The main issue involved that gamers bought more copies of Halo than of Metroid, so was Nintendo losing a grasp of Western tastes?
According to Shigeru Miyamoto, he could have made a Halo or a game like Halo – he certainly had the ability to – but he chose not to. “One thing about my game design is that I never try to look for what people want and then try to make that game design. I always try to create new experiences that are fun to play,” Miyamoto replied.
American game companies, for one, are less likely to take risks in introducing a game with a new concept than publishing a game that has had a strong franchise following behind it. It’s one thing to earn profit to keep a company in the black, but franchise spamming doesn’t seem to be in Miyamoto’s to-do list. Miyamoto also left something for us to ponder about:
With rising budgets, I understand why game companies have a great deal of concern if they don’t design games in this way. But you need to create what you want to create! In that sense, I would really like to see people develop games like I do. When I show a game to people I don’t ask their opinion or give them a survey. I just watch their eyes and their face while they play. Do they smile? Do they look frustrated? So I guess I do test my games — but it isn’t very scientific.
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