Miyamoto Talks Up Revolution

Nintendo's top man talks candidly about his visions for the future - immediate and fanciful.

Nintendo is staking out new ground with its next-gen Revolution console, which builds on the ideas introduced with the DS and strives to makes games as inclusive as possible. Company president Satoru Iwata has been vocal over the past two years about how games need to bring in new blood if they are to grow. And the Revolution is how the company plans to do it.

The most obvious departure for the console is the so-called nunchuck controller, which does away with a lot of the complexity that has crept in over the past two decades. Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto recently told Business Week that the its similarity to a TV remote was no mistake:

"I redesigned the Revolution's controller to look more like a regular TV remote, so anyone who saw it would know instantly how to use it, and so they wouldn't think they had to always stash it away."

This idea of objects having an immediately obvious use is one that Miyamoto has championed for most of his life in game creation and has parallels with other toys, such as the Rubik's Cube.

"The moment you see a Rubik's Cube, you know you're supposed to twist the pieces," said Miyamoto. "And it's beautifully designed. Even if you've never handled one, you want to pick it up and try it. And once you do that, it's hard to walk away until you've solved it."

It's exactly this philosophy that Nintendo is hoping will make the Revolution a success. Miyamoto hopes that be designing an interesting controller and games that appeal to the whole family, games as a whole will get out of the rut of games-for-gamers.

"Most people think video games are all about a child staring at a TV with a joystick in his hands. I don't. They should belong to the entire family. I want families to play video games together. That was the concept behind the Revolution."

There's still no word on when Nintendo will release the Revolution, though rumours have recently hinted at a simultaneous release after the winter.

Nintendo's Jim Merrick said in a recent interview that the console would be released worldwide within a four-month period. It's not clear which region will get it first, though history suggests it will debut in Japan followed by North America, with Europe bringing up the rear.

And what about the future of games? Miyamoto's ideas are suitably bold:

"It's convenient to make games that are played on TVs. But I always wanted to have a custom-sized screen that wasn't the typical four-cornered cathode-ray-tube TV."

"I've always thought that games would eventually break free of the confines of a TV screen to fill an entire room. But I would rather not say anything more about that."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games