We'll be succinct. Shigeru Miyamoto's Game Developer's Conference keynote had no outrageous announcements. Nothing new was revealed, nor was anything really expected.
Instead, Miyamoto shared a few personal stories. He used the Wii Photo Channel to reveal pictures of his well-kept garden. He then jumped into a little reflection. Miyamoto notes that the top five games of 1998 were Goldeneye 007, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Gran Turismo, Banjo Kazooie, and Super Mario 64. In 2004 the top five included Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Madden 2005, Halo 2, Halo 2: Limited Edition, and NFL 2K5. Miyamoto said he began to ponder whether gamers were still interested in his style of games.
This commentary allowed Miyamoto to jump into his main discussion for the day - his and Nintendo's vision for the future of games. It's about reaching new audiences. To gauge a game's potential for attracting a new audience, Miyamoto developed the wife-o-meter. The meter is quite simple. His wife will display interest in a game or she won't. Super Mario Bros. didn't really excite her much and neither did Tetris. However, when their daughter began playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, his wife went from complete disinterest to somewhat of a background observer. His wife finally touched a controller when Animal Crossing pulled into town. However, it was Brain-Age that turned her into a true gamer and she has since come to accept videogames as part of daily life. She's now enamored with the Wii and especially fascinated by the Everybody Votes and Mii Channels.
"Corporations don't make games, people do," Miyamoto reminded the audience. Foremost, when creating a game, he tries to envision the core element of "fun". To do that, he imagines the face of the player while he or she is playing. "If we can convert my wife," he says. "We can convert anyone [psst, quick guys, show the video of Super Mario Galaxy]."
Instead, Miyamoto shared a few personal stories. He used the Wii Photo Channel to reveal pictures of his well-kept garden. He then jumped into a little reflection. Miyamoto notes that the top five games of 1998 were Goldeneye 007, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Gran Turismo, Banjo Kazooie, and Super Mario 64. In 2004 the top five included Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Madden 2005, Halo 2, Halo 2: Limited Edition, and NFL 2K5. Miyamoto said he began to ponder whether gamers were still interested in his style of games.
This commentary allowed Miyamoto to jump into his main discussion for the day - his and Nintendo's vision for the future of games. It's about reaching new audiences. To gauge a game's potential for attracting a new audience, Miyamoto developed the wife-o-meter. The meter is quite simple. His wife will display interest in a game or she won't. Super Mario Bros. didn't really excite her much and neither did Tetris. However, when their daughter began playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, his wife went from complete disinterest to somewhat of a background observer. His wife finally touched a controller when Animal Crossing pulled into town. However, it was Brain-Age that turned her into a true gamer and she has since come to accept videogames as part of daily life. She's now enamored with the Wii and especially fascinated by the Everybody Votes and Mii Channels.
"Corporations don't make games, people do," Miyamoto reminded the audience. Foremost, when creating a game, he tries to envision the core element of "fun". To do that, he imagines the face of the player while he or she is playing. "If we can convert my wife," he says. "We can convert anyone [psst, quick guys, show the video of Super Mario Galaxy]."