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Miyamoto: Talking Points

Sitting down to breakfast with Shigeru Miyamoto is a unique experience.

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Yet that's exactly what happened this weekend as Gamereactor Spain, along with a dozen other local media, sat down for a roundtable interview with the game creator as he was in town to receive the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.

Amidst croissants and lattes, the "father of modern video games" spent an hour discussing the Wii U, Nintendo today, his development experience and the industry in general.

We'll have the full transcript on the site in the near future. But for now, here are ten snippets from that talk - ten talking points that cover the Wii U, Retro Studios and his plans for the future.

ON THE WII U GAMEPAD

This is an ad:

"We start from the premise that virtually all users have at least one Wii U Wii Remote and Nunchuk - even at least one Wii MotionPlus.

"We think that developers can use the interfaces they want without any trouble. Now we are developing Pikmin 3, and you can play that in different ways. At E3 we showed virtually nothing with the Wii U GamePad because is much more satisfying to play with Wiimote."

ON USING DUAL SCREENS

"I could definitely see a game that uses both screens [TV and GamePad] to play or shoot each other with the Wii Remote.

This is an ad:

"Everything depends on the ideas ... Hmmm ... [laughs]. Now I was thinking 'how to make a program to distinguish between the two screens?' But it's a technical issue."

ON A RETRO STUDIOS ZELDA

"The option for a Retro Studios Zelda game is not far-fetched. It is entirely possible.

"So far the design and script have been created within Nintendo and this must continue. Though Retro is qualified, they'd would have to be very much in touch - and outside communication is more complicated. Retro works best if it doesn't have so much dependence: probably not be the most appropriate situation [for Zelda]".

Miyamoto: Talking Points
Breakfast - with mushrooms. Miyamoto sits down for the roundtable interview.

ON THE LEGACY OF PAC-MAN VS

"From Nintendo Land, many developers will think of techniques and things they can do with Wii U, and so many interesting projects and ideas will arise.

"We created the Pac-Man Vs [title with asymmetric gameplay between Gamecube and Game Boy Advance - designed by Miyamoto nine years ago] with Namco Bandai Games. We presented it at E3 and it was fun, although it wasn't successful. Though Nintendo Land's concept is similar, things are quite different with the Wii U."

ON THE GAMEPAD SCREEN SIZE

"The 6.2" is an ideal size. That the newly announced iPad Mini is similar [to the screen of Wii U GamePad] indicates that we are on the right track.

"To create the Wii U controller we did our best, with every aspect considered and studied ad nauseam. "

ON THE MIIVERSE

"With Miiverse we wanted to promote chat with handwriting, to give it more personality.

"As we do not know what could be written to people, we also watch these messages. They can leave messages for many games, between groups of friends who haven't beaten the game yet or reached the game's end. It can be great fun."

ON NINTENDO'S ONLINE DIRECTION

"I do not think Nintendo is late in coming to online. We've been studying online systems from the NES. We've had in mind the number of homes that could offer a good online connection.

"We tried it with the Wii and DS. Now with Wii U, you have to be connected. We've always wanted to create a console with online functionality, but based on our users' enjoyment - our data indicates this is the time."

Miyamoto: Talking Points
His proudest creation? "Pikmin".

ON THIRD PARTY GAMEPAD SUPPORT

"We'll see in three to five years how many developers devote their efforts to games designed exclusively for the dual screens.

"Nintendo games are designed with two screens in mind. Currently, Ubisoft and other companies are engaged in projects aimed for dual screen use."

ON STICKING TO A GENRE

"From my point of view, there are 3 ways to do it [to decide which game we should develop]: make a game that nobody has made before, make a game that it's supposed to sell a lot in that moment or make a game that has been a complete failure in the past and try to redeem it.

"I do not chase any specific genre, but I don't think about specific games either. Suddenly inspiration comes and with it the need to create."

ON HIS FUTURE GOALS

"Right now I have two goals: to create what I want and create groups that can create without me.

""If something happened to me, I wouldn't like that everything stopped. I see so many possibilities in this console, I'd love to do many more things in the future. Right now, many teams are working on it. Even if I'm here in Spain, Nintendo keeps on working!"

Miyamoto: Talking Points
Most difficult moment in his career? "Every console launch".

This text originally appeared on Gamereactor Spain, which you can find here.



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