Miyamoto: Game Development is Still About "Starting From The Idea"

I really like Miyamoto's games, but I wish he would sort of get past the "games don't need storylines" way of thinking. A good storyline gives a sense of reason to what you're doing and, for me, makes it more fun. It draws you along because you want to know what happens next.

Ah-ha! He said something about the Pikmin release! We know for sure it's coming out this year then!

@Raiko Yeah, I agree that the gameplay is more important, and that a storyline can get in the way. That's why I think there needs to be a balance between the two. I was mainly thinking of Sticker Star which, while I love the gamplay, I think it would have been better if Miyamoto had not convinced the team to drop the story line. I thought the second and third Paper Marios had great storylines which really made them more enjoyable for me.

@Five-seveN I'm pretty sure he wanted them to try something different in that case. As a game developer, it's important to remain flexible. If you can't make a game without a storyline, that focuses more on gameplay your games could end up being stale in the future since you'll be stuck in a certain mindset. This especially holds true if he's trying to train his successors.

Personally, I like games with a balance of story and gameplay. Gameplay is more important in that every game needs good gameplay but not every game needs a story however the games that stick with me most tend to have a memorable story in the background. A subtle story, but an interesting one. Games like Braid, Portal and Mario Galaxy 1.

I have a lot of respect for Miyamoto. He makes games right. I don't agree with his decisions on Mario Galaxy 2 (make a smaller hub world, add a completely uninteresting story that doesn't involve death or ancient protectors of the universe) or Paper Mario: The Sticker Star (add a completely uninteresting story that doesn't have any interesting or amusing characters or any really memorably moments, take focus away from the RPG battles), but those are two games.

This was a great interview from RollingStone

@Dodger Galaxy 2 kind of weirded me out a little because I thought it would have some kind of connection to the first, but it apparently didn't, and I couldn't figure out why all the characters were re-introducing themselves like Mario had never met them before. It was almost as if the first one never even happened. A little strange, but still fun to play in my opinion.

@Ernest_The_Crab Yeah it's good to be flexible, but I feel that Paper Mario is one franchise that would be best left the same (open world structure, RPG stat system, good story line). A place where they really should try experimentation is with the mainstream Mario titles since those have gotten a little repetitive as of late. I'm glad at least that Sticker Star was still fun though (Enigmansion was my favorite part).

Not a bad idea using FlipNote as a planning application!

This man has always had a way with his motives and ideals. It's so pure and genuine that it's very welcomed in a money-grabbing industry.

You definitely don't want to concentrate on the story of a game, you would basically end up watching a movie, gameplay is the most important part of a game in my opinion, with a story that just makes sense, that's the ideal game for me.

@ivanmata He is not saying that. All Miyamoto says is that one should start with an idea and that one person, maybe another, should oversee the entire project. Read the article and focus on his quotes. This is the greatest game designer in video game history. He knows gameplay is important.

@Prof_Elvin_Gadd Too bad he peaked at the end of the Gamecube cycle. It starts with an idea yes, but Shigeru hasn't had a thought that he hasn't already come up with since he originally came up with the idea of "new" super mario bros.

I certainly am inclined to agree with Shigeru Miyamoto after all of the amazing games he has helped create recently. Nintendo certainly hasn't lost their touch at making video games. That is for sure.

For anybody else impatiently waiting for Pikmin 3 like I am page 16 does mention the Spring release date and actually uses the past tense "oversaw" when describing Miyamoto's work on the game, so maybe it's done?

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/pictures/shigeru-miyamoto-shares-nintendo-secrets-20130408/pikmin-3-0487578

Here's the text for anybody who doesn't feel like clicking:

Pikmin 3
Nintendo's 3-D strategy game Pikmin debuted on GameCube in 2001: Protagonist Captain Olimar crashes on an unknown planet and needs to put his ship together with the help of a mass of pikmin creatures. Miyamoto also oversaw Wii U's Pikmin 3, which will be released this spring. "With Pikmin 3, you'll have the ability to have three different captains or leaders of Pikmin groups and you can switch between them," he says. "So it sort of allows you to approach the game from a much more strategic position. The volume of work that you can get done within the timeframe has increased dramatically. And so that in and of itself really enhances the depth of strategy that's available to you in that game."

@rjejr Thanks for pointing that out. I can't wait! I hope it releases soon.

@rjejr You've done it again, detective!

@rjejr But I'm curious if they got that from Miyamoto during the interview. It's pretty much common knowledge the Pikmin 3 has a set release date in Q2, so they could have put that in there just so the audience knows the plans for Pikmin 3. If Miyamoto actually said something like "...Pikmin 3, which will be released this spring..." then we know this for sure. Not saying I think it won't be released this spring, but I really want some official word on it's release date, because Nintendo has been silent about Pikmin 3 for quite some time.

Your second point, however, I totally agree with.

I thought that you could control four captains in Pikmin 3, when it was shown at last year's E3. Now this article says there will be three. It makes more sense, but still kind of odd.

I've always prefered games where the story isn't completely spelled out for you, you have to read between the lines and look at the context of the game to get the full story. A lot of Nintendo games are actually pretty good at making you connect the dots yourself.

Too much emphasis on the story and the game becomes boring once you know what happens, the gameplay needs to be fun enough to stand on its own.

It was cool to seem Shiggy in a Rolling Stones article, but it seemed like a crappy interview. It maybe had 13 quotes from him pasted across 18 pictures and googlable facts about the games slapped in for filler. How about a real Q&A interview? Proving once again that Rolling Stone is style over substance.