Miyamoto Talks Mario and Revolution

Creator confirms Mario 128 is headed to Nintendo's new console, drops more hints about mythical controller.

The long-awaited official sequel to 1996's Super Mario 64, dubbed Mario 128, will not be coming to GameCube. Instead, the game will appear on Revolution, Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed in an interview with Wired.

"The Mario team can't create too many games at the same time, so they're concentrating on the Revolution," said Miyamoto.

The reason the game is taking so long would seem to be related to Miyamoto's desire to see it bring something new to the Mario experience.

"We're searching for that fundamental idea that's going to drive the next 3-D Mario game," he said. "But we're not sure when that's going to jump out at us. We're doing lots of tests with small groups."

That doesn't mean that Mario fans will go wanting. Miyamoto is working together with lead designers for the Mario and Legend of Zelda series on a new Mario game for DS, currently titled simply New Super Mario Bros.

Miyamoto also spoke about the biggest secret in gaming right now - the Revolution controller. Speculators have imagined the controller to use anything from gyroscopes and a full-face touch-screen to a virtual reality-based helmet, and Nintendo is only fuelling this with its silence.

Nintendo has been a bellwether in controller design in the past, and the company is afraid that others will try to steal its ideas.

"Nintendo is always trying to be on the forefront of control innovations," said Miyamoto, "like the analogue stick, rumble or wireless. As soon as these are available, our competitors snatch them up."

What really matters for Nintendo, though, is software, and it's from here that the principles behind the Revolution controller stem:

"Because the user interface is going to drive the Revolution software design, that's what's going to make our software stand out. Nobody else is going to be able to do what we do with next-generation game software."

"I can't reveal anything," Miyamoto said. "It's under wraps because it's the big gun."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games