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Miyamoto: Core Games Still Important

Joe Keiser's picture

By Joe Keiser

July 25, 2008

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"They are all working on more Mario, Zelda and Pikmin projects. And they all work in close proximity to me, so I can keep a good eye on them."

In an interview with The Telegraph, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that the company still has a focus on the core gamer, and is always at work on new Mario and Zelda titles.

"Making these 'traditional' games is what I am best at,” Miyamoto told the publication. “Because games of that nature take upwards of two or three years to make, we always have to keep the teams working on those projects going. At any given time, the team could be five to ten people, or it could be fifty-plus. People are always switching in and out of those teams. They are all working on more Mario, Zelda and Pikmin projects. And they all work in close proximity to me, so I can keep a good eye on them."

Miyamoto also said that while he believes the Wii Remote opens up new gameplay opportunities that the traditional controller still has a place, saying, “of course there are also things that are accomplished better with buttons."

Following the company’s press conference at E3 2008, complaints arose that Nintendo has started to ignore the core gamer. According to Miyamoto in an earlier interview, that press conference was directed specifically away from the core to focus on a more mainstream audience.

Miyamoto also told The Telegraph that while the core is still a focus, that in recent times, “the games industry was really narrowing to a very core set of gamers.” With that trend now reversed, Miyamoto said he felt that Nintendo was “fortunate” to get such a large part of the newer game playing demographics.

Alex_V's picture
On July 28th Alex_V said:

It seems to me that there is a deep suspicion of Nintendo simply because they don't work on shit-brown post-apocalyptic particle-effect FPS games. Which amounts to heresy in the current climate of 'hardcore' gamers, or 'bigots' as I like to call them...

Ozzman_79's picture
On July 27th Ozzman_79 said:

It's not like Nintendo franchises are the only ones that churn out a tireless stream of titles. What have been the exciting "core" games this year? Metal Gear Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto 4, Gran Turismo 5? What other big games are on the horizon? Resident Evil 5, Final Fantasy 13, for just a few examples. Every publisher milks a franchise for as much as they can by putting out as many sequels as they can. It's just easier to keep re-hashing the same idea then develop new ones...not to mention, much safer and more profitable. Nintendo is just safely working off their safe core market franchises, while putting the "gamble" of new development into casual games, where the risk is less. Sounds like a good strategy for Nintendo. For core gamers however, guess we'll have to wait and see.

cronotrigger913's picture
On July 26th cronotrigger913 said:

Ya know, it's not that I think Nintendo has given up on (hard)core gamers entirely, it's just the emphasis is not on us anymore. Miyamoto says there will be more Mario, Zelda, and Pikmin, but of course we'll get those games again. We know Nintendo makes mad loot from their franchises, and that they'd be stupid to give up on them all at once. My problem is that there aren't any NEW core games being developed anymore. When Pikmin was first unveiled, everyone was so amazed. It was an RTS, but with the cute Nintendo style to it. A gamer's game with Nintendo appeal. That was Pikmin's charm, one that we took for granted I suppose. Now, every new game unveiled by Nintendo is either a casual-esue game (WiiFit, Wii Sports Resort), or the same games we've been getting for years (Mario, Zelda, Pikmin). Where's my spiritual successor to Pikmin? I understand that casual games take way less time to make, but once those team members are done with WiiFit 2, they go on Mario 99, or Zelda 246. Again, nothing new.

I have been a Nintendo fan since the NES, but I don't like where they've been heading the last few years. And this isn't to say they're doing anything bad, it's just not appealing to me anymore. People are going to say 3rd parties are the ones to pick up the slack, but Nintendo sets the precedence on their systems, and the standard has been set to casual, with core games taking a back seat. I'm still looking forward to Fatal Frame 4, MadWorld, and the Conduit, but that number is counted using only my one hand. I can't even remember all the core games coming out on the PS3 and 360 that I want.

As Miyamoto says, E3 was for a different crowd (which is news to me, btw), so maybe they will introduce something new further down the line, but this interview definitely isn't making me hold my breath.