Miyamoto’s advice to the dreaming-of-devving: don’t forget to get a life

The recently-published interview between Shigeru Miyamoto and GamePro focused on the Nintendo guru’s thoughts on the US Wii launch (short version: he was surprised at the reception), but what really interested those who put it up on Digg was Miyamoto’s advice for those who want to become successful game developers. And his advice is:

• Take a chance: make games, show it around (obviously).
• Learn to take criticism (you’ll get truckloads of that at work).
• And while you’re at it: don’t forget to get a life.

Actually, these are all well-known, well-worn truths, but it’s too easy to forget the truth sometimes, especially when you’re so dead-set on your goal that you lose sight of the bigger picture.

While young people are still students, I think it is important for them to not just focus on something like programming or just focus on video games. Instead they should do things that you can only do while you are in college. Get out, meet people, and talk to people. At universities there are people working in a wide variety of fields and a wide variety of genres and I think the more that you can expose yourself to as many of those different genres and fields as possible the better that will end up being for you in the long run.

And truth be told, the secret behind Miyamoto’s creative genius might lie in his joie de vivre. Remember the story behind how he came up with the idea for Zelda in the first place: his love of exploring the Japanese countryside.

You know what Naomi said, right? Live. So take the chance to put the Wiimote down and go on a date.

The recently-published interview between Shigeru Miyamoto and GamePro focused on the Nintendo guru’s thoughts on the US Wii launch (short version: he was surprised at the reception), but what really interested those who put it up on Digg was Miyamoto’s advice for those who want to become successful game developers. And his advice is:

• Take a chance: make games, show it around (obviously).
• Learn to take criticism (you’ll get truckloads of that at work).
• And while you’re at it: don’t forget to get a life.

Actually, these are all well-known, well-worn truths, but it’s too easy to forget the truth sometimes, especially when you’re so dead-set on your goal that you lose sight of the bigger picture.

While young people are still students, I think it is important for them to not just focus on something like programming or just focus on video games. Instead they should do things that you can only do while you are in college. Get out, meet people, and talk to people. At universities there are people working in a wide variety of fields and a wide variety of genres and I think the more that you can expose yourself to as many of those different genres and fields as possible the better that will end up being for you in the long run.

And truth be told, the secret behind Miyamoto’s creative genius might lie in his joie de vivre. Remember the story behind how he came up with the idea for Zelda in the first place: his love of exploring the Japanese countryside.

You know what Naomi said, right? Live. So take the chance to put the Wiimote down and go on a date.