Nintendo is weird, and that's just the way Shigeru Miyamoto likes it.
The “weirdness,” for lack of a better term, was evident on the E3 2014 floor. While other games focused on the cinematic, showcasing troubled archeologists and terrifying asylums, Nintendo gave show-goers magic princesses wiping out fields of enemies, iconic characters fighting each other on airborne biplanes, dinosaurs made out of wool, and paint-balling squids. Though some may criticize Nintendo for not taking itself seriously, the general manager of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development points to that perceived lack of seriousness as the basis for Nintendo's flavor.
“Nintendo isn't one simple element of an overall gaming industry,” said Miyamoto via translator in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “I really think there needs to be a Nintendo genre, that's almost its own entity.”
Miyamoto, whose work has put him at the heart of some of the world's most recognizable franchises, such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong, revels in the weird playfulness, even giving reporters a taste of his own cat impression while discussing Super Mario 3D World. “It's not that I don't like serious stories or that I couldn't make one,” he told the LA Times, “but currently in the video game industry you see a lot of game designers who are working really hard to make their games seem really cool. For a lot of us at Nintendo, it's difficult to decide what cool is. In fact, it's a lot easier for us to laugh at ourselves. It's almost as if we're performers. Our way of performing is by creating these fun, odd, and goofy things.”
Does gaming take itself too seriously? And should Nintendo be considered in a class of its own? Let us know in the comments below.
