Miyamoto: Wii Essentially A Gamecube
Gamebrink brings us the second half of their big-arse interview with Nintendo game genius Shigeru Miyamoto, who is refreshingly frank for anybody connected to the gaming business these days. Maybe too frank. Miyamoto goes on about his passions (electronic dictionaries and the tennis game ...he’s really, really into the tennis game) and reminisces about the good old days. Then he says something really kinda clumsy about the Wii:
The hardware is basically a GC. We’ve upgraded our development tools to new versions but, you can still use GC programs as they are. With that in mind, I thought we could remake GC titles for the Wii and modify them to work with the Wii remote so that they’re more fun to play.
Yeah…I get that. The Wii is for everybody, that’s its deal. But this whole next-gen console thing is really not all that easily dismissed. And honestly, if the Wii really is just a funked-up Gamecube, I don’t really want to know. Let me enjoy the illusion of progress, please, at least until I slap down the yen and buy the console. Right? Miyamoto also tips his hand when he waxes weird about why the PS2 dominated the Gamecube, namely because the former had “the trivial feature of being able to view DVDs.” I could have sworn all those great games had something to do with it…maybe Miyamoto’s not being so much “frank” as “living in a fantasy world.” In which case, he’s a lot closer to Sony than I thought.
Read the whole crazy thing at Gamebrink, whom we thank for the picture and the inside scoop.
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 4 October 2006
· Comments (6)
Other stuff like this: miyamoto, wii
“Let me enjoy the illusion of progress, please, at least until I slap down the yen and buy the console. Right?”
No.
I don’t want to hear the Peter Moore’s of the world telling me just exactly how awesome his latest turd is via tattoo. Instead, I want Miyamoto to tell me that I’m buying something a little bit better than something I already have, but the new one is going to do plenty of things that couldn’t be done before. I don’t want “HD-era” jargon or claims about how my video will age like fine wine. I want honesty. Especially when coming from a real game designer (‘sup Kojima? Where are you eating tonight?)
Sorry for sounding/being a complete fanboi, but each turn on the “console wars” ride gets more and more the same. The same claims ending with the same broken promises. If Miyamoto wants to tell it like it is, I’m not going to be the person to tell him not to.
Is it all that crazy to want a Nintendo bigwig to tell me – honestly – that his new $250 console is qualitatively different from his old console? Honesty is appreciated, it would just be nice if the truth looked like less of a scam.
I’m with Game-Boi. I’ve read a couple other articles where Miyamoto compares it to a “Gamecube2” and I don’t have a problem with that. It is graphically improved but what really attracts me is the new gameplay via the motion sensors and controller. Doesn’t sound like a scam to me.
I’ve been looking forward to the Wii over any other next-gen system. It’s the “weakest” but the innovative potential has me giddy. The 360 had me saying “meh.” I want a PS3 but not over a Wii. It’s like the DS vs. PSP all over again.
Oh, one more thing. Peter Moore and Jack Thompson need to have a fighting match that ends in a double K.O.
Samurai,
Add Uwe Boll to that mix and I’m there!
Uwe Boll, haha. Ok, he’s been added.
I’d say how the hell does he keep making movies but this is Hollywood we’re talking about.