These are strange times for Shigeru Miyamoto. For the past 20 years, both gamers and media have hung on his every word and greeted his creations with rapturous acclaim. However, in the past six months something has changed. Many of the Nintendo faithful have met his latest project with hostility, shown discontent
at his courting of the casual market and even dared to whisper that he might have taken leave of his mojo. This is new, chilly, territory for the company's legendary talisman, so what better time to sit down with him and set the record straight?
The man who greets ONM at his smart central London hotel certainly shows no obvious signs of feeling any strain. In the flesh, Shigeru Miyamoto is everything you'd imagine he'd be: animated, cheerful, chatty and friendly. Despite being visibly jet-lagged, he wears a huge grin, talks freely and, oddly, strums away on an invisible guitar for the duration of the interview. As you do. Other than reinforcing his eccentric reputation, this strange tic is indicative of his huge passion for music - a passion that, like his other hobbies (gardening, keeping fit, dog breeding), has now manifested itself in a game -Wii Music.
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Playing To The Crowd If you read our review last month you'll know we rather enjoyed it, awarding it a very respectable 80%, stating it achieves everything it sets out to do. However, not everyone has been so kind. It's fair to say it has probably been the least enthusiastically received title of his career. Was he happy with the finished product though? "The original objective was to create a tool with which you can play music in your living room, regardless of whether you know how to play an instrument or not," he explains confidently. "In that respect, I think we were able to make something that is satisfactory."
Indeed, it's hard to disagree that Miyamoto and his team haven't achieved their goal, and with some style. Tune in to its wavelength and it's inclusive, original and a lot of fun. However, one of our main reservations was that the selection of songs (nursery rhymes, traditional folk tunes, '80s pop and a few classic Nintendo themes) is a little limited. A fair criticism? "Koji Kondo is responsible for the music in many Nintendo games and he selected the songs," he says. "The criteria he went by was that they must be well known to everyone and they must be simple. When the chord progression is simple, the song is better suited to the ad-libbing you do in the game's jam sessions. Of course, if we only included simple, traditional songs, that might be boring for some people, so that's why we included some contemporary tunes as well."
The Core Of The Matter Of course, much of the controversy surrounding Wii Music stems from the perception that there is not much here that will really appeal to the hardcore gamer reared on a strict diet of Zelda, Mario and Star Fox. So, Miyamoto-san, what about that old 'hardcore vs casual' debate? There's room for both, right? "I understand that sometimes people want to make these distinctions," he says sympathetically. "I understand that there are certain games that have hardcore appeal and I understand that there are some casual games that hardcore gamers would never want to play."
"However, when I hear that kind of discussion, I wonder whether there really is such a clear distinction. There are many hardcore gamers playing with casual gamers and I believe casual gamers do get into hardcore games too. I think one of Nintendo's missions is to destroy the barrier between the two and I believe Wii Music contributes to that."
"If casual gamers are defined as people who spend less time playing a game, as opposed to those who play a lot and like to spend a lot of time exploring every detail of a game, I think Wii Music means something to both groups."
"I think it's a natural transition," he explains when we share anecdotes about non-gaming friends and family picking up Brain Training and then moving on to New Super Mario Bros and Phantom Hourglass. "Everyone starts off as a light user but at some point many of them become hardcore gamers. My wife bought Brain Training about three years ago. In More Brain Training, you know there is the Dr Mario mini-game? She became absolutely hooked and today she's actually much better at Dr Mario than I am!
"And she hasn't just stopped with Brain Training. She loves Professor Layton and has played through the first two games. The other day she couldn't find the cartridge and was crying out 'Where is my Layton!' Later we found that our cat had hidden it somewhere. She was really happy when she found it!"
Too Cool For School While its light-hearted take on the rhythm action genre mightn't be to everyone's tastes, it can't be denied that Wii Music has impeccable intentions. Miyamoto has stated that he hopes it will be used in schools to inspire children to take more of an interest in music.
"Do you have an interest in history?" he asks when we quiz him on this. Sure, we reply. "I guess you are also interested in events occurring around the world too?" he continues. "When I was a child I had no interest in any of these things, and it was the same with music. However, in high school I started playing instruments and joined a band.
"It was playing together with other people that stimulated my interest in music. Wii Music teaches the basics in a fun way and after that we hope you'll become eager to learn more. Maybe you'll even want to practice some of the instruments included in the game."
So, we'll be seeing Wii History and Wii Geography soon as well then? "Ha! Well, maybe Wii Stockmarket would be a good idea?" he replies. Zing!
A Link To The Future Of course, we couldn't have an audience with Miyamoto-san and not ask him about his future projects. He's a tough customer today though. First up, we enquire about what we might expect from the new Pikmin game. He just chuckles and replies "I'm here to talk about Wii Music!" Damn it. Okay, what about a message for everyone waiting for those new Mario and Zelda games?
"I'm really not sure when we'll be able to make a public announcement on that. I can't even say if the next E3 will be the right opportunity to do so. But rest assured, our teams are working on new projects right now."
Sorry readers, we tried. For our last roll of the dice we ask him what new opportunities the forthcoming DSi handheld might open up for gaming. "The only thing I can tell you is that with the DSi we want everyone to be able to make it their own. We've incorporated various functions to encourage people to customise and personalise their DS."
Returning to the music theme, he continues, "We have also included the DSi player function. You can cut out certain parts of songs and play them back at a slower speed so that it's easy for you to copy on a musical instrument. It's so convenient for guitar players! They really must buy this!"
And with that interesting nugget, we wrap things up. The venom thrown his way from some of the nastier corners of the internet for daring to make something a little different is put into depressing perspective when you witness the passion with which he talks about his work. Hasn't the greatest game developer ever earned a little respect, trust and good will? We reckon so. And what about the Miyamojo? The glint in his eye when we bring up his plans for 2009 suggests it's firing just fine. Whatever he pulls out of his magic hat next year, you can be certain it'll be every bit as delightful, confounding and innovative as ever.
