Miyamoto Clarifies A Few Things
The Associated Press recently conducted an interview session with Shigeru Miyamoto, a man who needs no introduction if you’re the type who looks for websites with names like “PopGeeks.” It’s one of the better interviews with Miyamoto, or any video game high-up, because it dispenses with the “how great are you” suck-ups and gets right to real consumer questions. That usually doesn’t happen.
First thing: the dilemma of the disappearing Amiibos. Nintendo suggested earlier this month that three Amiibos from the original lineup might only go through one manufacturing run and then disappear. Miyamoto’s response is that some Amiibos are intended for just one game; for example the likelihood of Wii Fit Trainer having a second Amiibo use outside of Smash is slim. So in their eyes, it doesn’t make sense to make a figure for just one title for an extended period of time.
But won’t people be buying Smash for years? Nintendo has a planned solution: they’ll be sending out Amiibo cards for late arrivals that perform the same task as the figures. That’ll solve the problem, but of course, it’ll never be as cool as the figures themselves.
Shiggy was asked about his strategy behind the new Zelda game. He again emphasized the open world concept, expressing a desire to recreate the exploration aspect of the original NES game. He hinted that seemingly insignificant things you do in the field may affect events in a larger sense down the line. As someone who plays Zelda games to explore, and felt Skyward Sword’s total of 3 areas was claustrophobic, everything I’ve heard so far sounds like a dream.
Finally, the Sony leak was brought up in the interview, specifically the message from Avi Arad that a Mario movie was on the way. Shiggy said people have come to him with proposed Mario movies constantly for the past twenty years, and that Arad is currently no more than a man among that number. Some get rejected at the gate, while others have proposals that are seriously considered for a while. In other words, what we heard is typical business and doesn’t mean a Mario movie will happen for certain.
Read the full interview here.