Posted May 07, 2007 at 08:37PM by Ceasar S. Listed in: Interviews Tags: Shigeru Miyamoto, Metroid
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Shigeru Miyamoto said he could have made Halo, but chose not to - Image 1It's a big headliner in the news, and it probably baited the Shigeru Miyamoto-ites and Spartan fans to quarrel over semantics and context. But seeing as how a legend spent most of his life tackling designs of the most critically-acclaimed games of Nintendo's time, it's out of respect we decided to cover his side of the story.

In an interview conducted by entertainment media mogul Entertainment Weekly, Shigeru Miyamoto addressed a question about delivering Japanese-centric games to American gamers. The main issue involved that gamers bought more copies of Halo than of Metroid, so was Nintendo losing a grasp of Western tastes?

According to Shigeru Miyamoto, he could have made a Halo or a game like Halo - he certainly had the ability to - but he chose not to. "One thing about my game design is that I never try to look for what people want and then try to make that game design. I always try to create new experiences that are fun to play," Miyamoto replied.

American game companies, for one, are less likely to take risks in introducing a game with a new concept than publishing a game that has had a strong franchise following behind it. It's one thing to earn profit to keep a company in the black, but franchise spamming doesn't seem to be in Miyamoto's to-do list. Miyamoto also left something for us to ponder about:

With rising budgets, I understand why game companies have a great deal of concern if they don't design games in this way. But you need to create what you want to create! In that sense, I would really like to see people develop games like I do. When I show a game to people I don't ask their opinion or give them a survey. I just watch their eyes and their face while they play. Do they smile? Do they look frustrated? So I guess I do test my games — but it isn't very scientific.




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27 Comments


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   by Master Samus (Unregistered) - 2007-05-07
 » Take that

Take that Halo fanboys. "oooo Halo is so cool, its like the best game ever....for the xbox"

   by Shini (Unregistered) - 2007-05-07
 » hm....

I love my Wii, I love my 360...but this statement is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life....

Halo is the BEST selling game EVER....If he could have made it, he should have and reeped all the sales benefits. I mean, its like someone at Bungie saying they could have made Zelda...its just completely random, disrespectful, and immature...

actions speak louder than words...if you can made the best selling game in the world, do it...and forget creativity, becuase you can be creative and still make the big bucks.


   Re: Someguy (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » ..

Yur Crazy , Halo best selling game ever? Psh you wish.

Halo: Combat Evolved (5 million)
Halo 2 (8 million)

Super Mario Bros. (40.23 million)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (18 million)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (10 million)
Tetris (30 million)[83]
Pokémon Red, Blue and Green (Game Boy - 20.08 million )
Nintendogs (13.6 million)
New Super Mario Bros. (9.5 million)
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (8.51 million)
Gran Turismo (10.5 million)
Final Fantasy VII (9.8 million, includes Final Fantasy VII International)
Gran Turismo 2 (8.5 million)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (13 million)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (12 million)
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (11 million)
Grand Theft Auto III (11 million)

   Re: Project D (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » OMGWTFBBQ???

By your logic, we should have nothing but Halo ripoffs then, right? Good lord almighty, this has to be the stupidest comment ever. I applaud Miyamoto for trying so hard to make something different. Halo is good, Halo is fine, Halo is pretty much the only reason I want to hunt down an older XBox, but it's not the be-all, end-all game ever, and as much as I'd like to see more GOOD FPS games on the Wii (Metroid Prime 3 will be a really great step in that direction for me), my gaming interests flow deeper than mowing down Covenant lackeys.

Completely random and disrespectful? He's right! ANY developer could have made a Halo of their own. The fact that he's willing to draw more from his own virtues than those of the competition is a mark of integrity and should be applauded, not condemned.

Forget creativity...I can't believe you said something that stupid. My god, I'm actually offended by that as a gamer. You've just implied that the gamer community are a bunch of mindless idiots that don't care about quality and originality. I, for one, am NOT a mindless automaton that wants to play the same blasted games over and over again, I want fresh, original concepts every now and then, not the same stale concepts repainted time and time again. Dammit, I'm going to stop writing now, the more I think about your last statement the angrier I'm getting and the less kind my words become.

   Re: JeimuzuWii - 2007-05-08
 » Err...

As already said, Halo is in fact NOT the best selling game ever, granted it sold well, but not as well as the ones listed by Someguy (Unregistered), and The Mario games listed all left Halo in the dust. Research is a good thing to do before posting what you THINK instead of what you KNOW.
   by Nobody (Unregistered) - 2007-05-07
 » Halo sucks!

Thanks god! I hate Halo!


   Re: Project D (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » Eh

To each their own, right?
   by yeah (Unregistered) - 2007-05-07
 » one things for sure

halo really does suck.
at first it was just your average pretty shooter, to me. But after hearing mindless fanboy puppets sing its praises, over and over again for years now. not only can I not stand halo. but im not really an x-box fan anymore either. I mean a console really does need more then one game to keep it alive doesn't it?
oh no wait.. it worked for the x-box. lol


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   Re: Project D (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » Nah

Nah, Halo is a great game. Has a great story, beautiful graphics, excellent gameplay...as an FPS goes, it's quite an experience.

Halo FANBOYS, now that's what truly sucks about Halo. But then again, most fanboys that run their mouths separately from their ears suck.
   by Don Quixote (Unregistered) - 2007-05-07
 » Gotta admire the guy

He's a true artist

   by Anonymous Coward (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » lol

Halo the greatest selling game ever? Do some research before you spout idiocy. I think the statement is valid.

   by gtauk - 2007-05-08
 » he's just

he's just a claimer! didn't he also claim that he could of made ps home but chose not to. Well guess what I could of made mario but i just decided not to


   Re: gtauk - 2007-05-08
 » oh and

I've never played halo and never had an xbox so im not a halo/xbox fanboy

   Re: Nameless (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » ..

You're an *****, you know that?

   Re: gtauk - 2007-05-08
 » no

no you are hang on you could be claiming that i am one im not sure sorry, i chose to write this comment by the way
   by AsciiSmoke - 2007-05-08
 » O-K?!

I could have made a Ferrari but I chose not to.

   by .................... (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » .........................

Halo sucks, i have played the first one and second one. They both seem like average FPS. Id rather own Metroid Prime 3 for the Wii over Halo.

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   by Carter (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » He's Right, You Know

I think Miyamoto would be perfectly capable of making a game similar to Halo. That is, so could just about every other game developer in the business. Its really not that difficult of a concept: A First-Person Shooter with a good storyline and great multiplayer. Obviously Miyamoto could make a Halo-type game, if he wanted to.

   by ktm911 (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » you know halo isnt bad but....

halo in my mind is just better graphics and more odd looking guns. It kinda reminds me of Gohst Recon (spelling yaya...) only with some new suit and a shield.

You know ive heard alot of things like MC cant die and he kiks ass....well i could make a game where the guy cant actualy grow old ans has a big ass sword club, that goes around high and all....or i could just say what that is. a pile of s**t. When you think of it, there are some games like halo that are good because of how they look and all but what is halo? a FPS. you go around with a gun and shoot the livin pixels outa whatever comes your way. There are 1000's of games that fit that description. There are some exceptions like Mercenaries l(you can call in support and stuff.) and Battlefield (best online ever ive played) and i wouldnt doubt there are others. but halo is not any better then them in my mind.

However there are some games i will admit i liked beter than others. I just dont see them as all in one group. There are tons of games. I just dont compare them to others, just on what i know they tried to accomplish. (unless there sequals)

I can say though, if they did make a halo game, it would just be like all the other rips. Id suck. and it works both ways , so dont think Microsoft can make Metroid. Hell no. theres a big difference there. Not bad but NOT GOOD.(for microsoft)

   by Gryff33 - 2007-05-08
 » Wrong focus

This isn't about whether Metroid or Halo is a better game, people. It's about how one decides on what to focus for a game. Miyamoto is saying that rather than simply doing what he knows people will like, he does what he believes people will like and then sees if it gets the positive reactions he wanted. He's not saying Halo is any worse than Metroid, just that he didn't think Bungie took as many chances as they could have.

I agree with Miyamoto, and given the success of his gambles, it seems he knows what he's talking about. I'm not sure how involved he personally was with making Wind Waker cel-shaded, but that was a risk that led to an extremely popular game. I do know that he was directly behind Pikmin, which was very successful; he could have easily stuck with his existing franchises, but he tried something new. I also know Miyamoto was a key player in designing Wii, which has been outselling its competitors since its launch. And whether you count bundled games or not, the best selling game of all time is one of his. Miyamoto's probably (though I can't say this with 100% certainty) been in the business longer than any other current game designer, and he's easily the most successful individual involved with game design (given that Mario is by far the #1 best selling franchise in gaming history), so if there's one person who knows how to design a game, it's probably him.

   by mohaas05 (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » christ

This guy has MAJOR ego issues. Next hes gonna say "we coulda made a GTA but we didnt". Well then thats too bad since GTA is one of the best-selling franchises out there. I mean this guys ok but unless you want to still be playing Super Mario for the rest of your life, maybe we should look elsewhere for better, more diverse games.

   by Ceasar S. (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » pie

halo aiiiiiiimbooooooooooooooooot!!!!!!!!!

   by Sightjacker jr (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » !ˇ!ˇ!

yes... think about the aimbot

   by Blade Hunter - 2007-05-08
 » Weird interview really

Halo was not the highest selling game, it was however, the quickest game to ever hit the 1 million mark.

I see what people mean though, I mean why would you say "I could have made that game that did really really well but I chose not to"? In this case, you could take it that we ALL have the potential to produce anything we want but don't want to.

I would pitch that its not that he didn't want to, its not that he is not capable because he most certainly is, it is that he didn't come up with it.

Its not a bad thing, not a good thing, its completely irrelevant and I don't see why he would even mention something like that.

   by Laz (Unregistered) - 2007-05-08
 » nevermind

well he made a good choice, Halo is sh*t anyway, give me a copy of half life 2 or counter strike anyday... oh wait...i already have them :P hell even Goldeneye still plays better than Halo. And yes, before you fanboys ask... i have played Halo and guess what... it was sh*t.

I'm not of a fan of Metroid either, but even that plays better than Halo, it's just a shame there was no multiplayer... hopefully on Metroid 3 there will be.

Anyway...get Counter Stike people, so much better

   by Sightjacker jr (Unregistered) - 2007-05-09
 » !ˇ!ˇ!

Metroid CE (CUSTOM EDITION)

   by thats because he can only create single player pla (Unregistered) - 2007-05-13
 » doesnt know how to creeate it

when a person says that , he means i dont know how to create a good multiplayer game so i'll stick to what i know best. a single platform that gets boring after 5 minutes as i do the same over and over against a scripted AI.



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