Miyamoto not happy with LoZ:tp sales says less want long rpg games anymore

[Stealthttd]

I couldnt believe it but i guess LoZ:tp didnt sell all to well..Prob well but not up to zeldas standards...will this mean more mini games fest from nintendo o god no we have enough...anyways what dose everyone think of that do we not wanna play long games and rather simple but fun ones?

 

 

 

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=16582

[Noku]

Maybe from Nintendo themselves, but not from second/third parties. Think that's one of the reasons they acquired Monolith Soft recently.

[Cube]

Yes, that has definitely happened. In the past we've worked with some outside development houses on titles like F-Zero and Starfox — and let me just say that we were disappointed with the results. Consumers got very excited about the idea of those games, but the games themselves did not deliver.

 

He was clearly on drugs during that interview.

 

 

Full interview.

 

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You obviously know a lot about videogames. But do you watch any other forms of entertainment? How about movies?

 

SHIGERU MIYAMOTO: I just saw both Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of our Fathers. They were very good and thought-provoking films. Although I wanted them to superimpose a little picture-in-picture on the screen so you could see what was happening in the other movie at the same time!

 

Those films deal with some serious themes: war, sacrifice, and the notion of heroism. Your games are mostly upbeat and sunny. Do you ever think about challenging yourself to design a game that addresses a real-world topic or carries a deeper social message?

 

Maybe if I were to come across a problem in my life that affected me I would think about that. A game like that would be very interesting to make. At the Independent Games Festival at the last GDC [the Game Developer's Conference] I saw a game, Defcon, which is about thermonuclear war — the whole world is destroyed. That's a very powerful message to put in a game.

 

What are some real-world issues that would you consider putting into a game?

 

I have some ideas. One is that in Japan, there are a lot of trains that have sections reserved for the elderly or pregnant women. Young people in Japan sometimes sit in them, but if people come up and need them, you are supposed to get up. But most of the kids don't! It really upsets me. If I could build a game that somehow made the young people respect their elders... And there is another issue bugging me. In Japan there are a lot of people who freelance or work under the table — people who don't pay any taxes. I look at places in the world where people understand that paying taxes to the government helps society. In Japan there's not that understanding. So [social responsibility] is yet another issue I might address in a game. But I probably sound like an old man when I bring these things up.

 

Do you feel like an old man?

 

Well, I'm getting older and I have to pay more attention to my weight now. [Rubs his tummy] So that's sort of a hobby of mine. I try to swim at least twice a week. People say I should play the Wii to work out, but whenever I do that it feels like I'm at work!

 

You mentioned social issues in Japan. But games are a global business — and the youth of America have a host of unique issues in front of them. The reason I mention this is that one criticism of Nintendo's games is that they are very Japanese-centric. American gamers have bought more copies of Halo than they did of Metroid, for instance. Do you ever worry that you're losing touch with what young American players might want to play?

 

I could make Halo. It's not that I couldn't design that game. It's just that I choose 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.

 

Some game companies in America don't think like that. They are mostly risk- averse, producing sequels and franchise extensions, rather than exploring new ideas. There is a lot of emphasis on market research and focus groups. Does that hurt the games business?

 

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.

 

You've had great success in your ability to predict what players will find fun to play. Have there been games that you thought would be fun but didn't turn out that way?

 

Yes, that has definitely happened. In the past we've worked with some outside development houses on titles like F-Zero and Starfox — and let me just say that we were disappointed with the results. Consumers got very excited about the idea of those games, but the games themselves did not deliver. And, well, to be honest with you, Zelda: Twilight Princess is not doing very well at all in Japan. It is very disappointing. But it is doing okay here in America.

 

Why do you think Zelda isn't doing well in Japan?

 

Well, I think a lot of people who bought the Wii are not necessarily the types of people who are interested in playing that kind of game. And a lot of the people who would want to play it [due to chronic shortages of the console] can't find a Wii! But mostly, I think it's that there are fewer and fewer people who are interested in playing a big role-playing game like Zelda.

 

I know your son is graduating from college this summer. Has he expressed any interest in following in your footsteps and designing a game?

 

He wants to get into event planning. It makes me kind of happy because it's somewhat similar to the task I do, which is coordinating things between members of a team and coming up with a vision. But no, he hasn't expressed any interest in doing a videogame. He is quite creative though. The other day, for instance, he had to put together a promotional video for one of his college clubs about skiing. So over the weekend we drove around town and captured footage of a bunch of skiing advertisements. Then we went back home to edit the footage. It was fun to work on a creative project with him.

[McMad]

Zelda still sold a hell of a lot better than any other Wii titles, I bet Wii Sports would have done worse if they didn't fucking bundle it with the console outside of Japan.

 

And is he saying F-Zero GX was bad? Idiot.

 

As for Starfox, Command wasn't so bad...

[Gaijin von Snikbah]

Well it could be that its not innovative enough, because if it was then I think more people would be interested in buying. Also alot of the people owning a Wii are not interested in a "complicated" game like Zelda is.

[Tellyn]

That's the bloody Japanese, Miyamoto! Not the rest of the world! Zelda has been the system seller in England, and despite the fact that it sells awesomely over here, you insist on bringing it to Japan first. Well don't give it to the ungrateful Japanese, give it to people who truly appreciate your work.

 

As for Starfox, Command wasn't so bad...

 

Very true, I really enjoyed that game, I just hated the time limits.

[Guest Jordan]

I don't think he's saying the game (F-Zero GX in this case) is bad, more the sales. F-Zero hasn't ever sold great though.

[david.dakota]

Twilight Princess hit Wii as a launch game, with a limited user base. However, it sold to over 25% of the 4 million Wii players, which is great. If a larger userbase had been installed, say to Xbox 360's 9 million, you'd be looking at very, VERY respectable figures.

 

But what is more worrying is that Miyamoto seems to be flying against the constant 'reminders' from Nintendo that hardcore gamers are just as important as your Nan.

[flameboy]

He is obviously talking about Japan, where the best selling Wii games have been the likes of Wii Play and Wii Sports, which is the same here though, just guess TP didn't sell as much in JAP as it has in EU and US.

[Atomic Boo]

Shigeru needs to stop believing that he is always right and that others are taking the wrong path. He said he could create a game like Halo but chooses not to. Why not? He could make it more unique and it'd sell amazingly, but he's being stubborn and sticking to his way of making games - which isnt bad, mostly good - but he should try more than one method.

[Hellfire]

I don't think he's speaking about F-Zero GX. Aren't the latest GBA ones outsourced? He could also be speaking about the sales. And they way I see it, TP didn't sell that well in Japan, because most people bought Wii for simpler games. It sold pretty well outside of Japan.

Could he make Halo? Of course he could, it's just not the type of game he does. He's also hardly involved in Metroid Prime for example. Miyamoto was, is and always will be stubborn, he won't do things he doesn't like.

[Stocka]

Wow, i've lost a lot of respect for him now. Fuck 3 hour partygames, we do want epic games

[Sarka]

Twilight Princess hit Wii as a launch game, with a limited user base. However, it sold to over 25% of the 4 million Wii players, which is great. If a larger userbase had been installed, say to Xbox 360's 9 million, you'd be looking at very, VERY respectable figures.

 

As of April 29th, Wii's userbase is 6.66m, and TP has sold 3.22, so it has sold to almost half the Wii population! That's damn graet sales. Also, 1.77 GC copies have been sold.

 

Put those together and TP has sold more than WW, Zelda 2 and almost as much as Brain Training. And TP sold 18k last week in the USA, and is doing even better in the EU. It's sold great.

 

Edit: all figures from http://www.vgchartz.com

[Aimless]

That piece of 'news' from MaxConsole is horribly misleading. In the interview Miyamoto specifically states that, "Zelda: Twilight Princess is not doing very well at all in Japan." Worldwide the game has sold several million copies, so it's hardly a flop.

 

The Zelda series sells to its fans, it doesn't tend to make new ones. Bar an RE4-style reimagining — which is probably on the cards for Link's next Wii adventure, and to an extent can be seen with the stylus control of Phantom Hourglass — I can't see the series appealing far beyond its core audience. I don't have a problem with this approach as whilst Zelda games are fantastic, they are also very much based on series conventions which makes them quite similar to one another. I wouldn't complain about getting more of the same, but there are a lot of gamers out there that aren't that interested in the series that might be drawn in by a change in course.

 

(And now I have to go, so I'll leave it at that.)

[Eenuh]

Wow, i've lost a lot of respect for him now. Fuck 3 hour partygames, we do want epic games

 

It's not like he's saying they won't make long games anymore. He's just saying that TP didn't sell all that much in Japan and that that probably means people over there prefer a different kind of game. Which also has a lot to do with the audience Nintendo is aiming for right now.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Wow, i've lost a lot of respect for him now. Fuck 3 hour partygames, we do want epic games

 

I think that's going a bit far. As Aimless said, he was mainly aiming this at Japan.

 

He states he likes to create games which mean something to him, but then he also states that these types of games are sorta on the decline. Technically he could create something along the lines of Halo, but that doesn't appeal to him.

 

It's mainly a conflict of interests. Japan and America/Europe are really differing right now in terms of what's "cool." In Japan, it's the minigames and non-games era, whilst the rest of the world strives for realism. It is important for Nintendo to do well in their own country, and I think that is always going to be their main priority. It just seems to be a very strange time for them. Could you really blame them for creating more minigames if these sell better than Zelda in Japan? It would make more business sense, so it's a no-brainer for them.

 

What can we do? Simple. Keep buying the epics they create. If it sells, they'll make more.

[Mr. Bananagrabber]

and feels there are less and less people wanting to play big role-playing games

Oh no. Please no.

[Teppo Holmqvist]

And is he saying F-Zero GX was bad? Idiot.

 

Umm... all three GBA F-Zero's were outsourced to various teams...

[McMad]

Umm... all three GBA F-Zero's were outsourced to various teams...

 

Did Climax ever even get released? And I'm sure Maximum Velocity, a GBA launch title had some success.

 

I just drew from the idea of consumers getting excited he was talking about GX, I mean, did anyone ever show any enthusiasm for the handheld games?

[Teppo Holmqvist]

Wow, i've lost a lot of respect for him now. Fuck 3 hour partygames, we do want epic games

 

Ah, once again jumping on the gun. Miyamoto didn't say that they weren't doing more epic games, he just stated what was true. JRPGs have sold less and less during last five years, and many gamers (especially older) do prefer shorter games these days. You just don't have that much time for games when you have both full-time job, family and other hobbies. If there is long pause (say week long) with your gaming sessions, you are easily going to lost track of the controls, where you were in the game, etc.

 

Did Climax ever even get released? And I'm sure Maximum Velocity, a GBA launch title had some success.

 

Yeah, Climax was released, but only in Japan, and it crashed and burned pretty badly. GP Legends didn't fare well either.

 

EDIT: Maximum Velocity was developed by NDCube, GP Legends and Climax were developed by Suzak.

[pedrocasilva]

It's no doubt the RPG market is shrinking apart from Final Fantasy and dragon quest.

 

"Tales of" series sales decreased, even in japan, and even Square-Enix endeavors apart from KH, DQ and FF flopped, like Star Ocean 3, Radiata Stories, Valkyrie Profile, Secret of Mana 4... And new RPG franchise is unable to do a big splash most of the time (examples baten kaitos, Xenosaga, even Shenmue).

 

The market is shrinking, and has been shrinking for a while now. I believe RPG plots being largely the same thing are one of the reasons for that too. The gamers grew up, but the age target from RPG's didn't.

 

I'd rather fight against that than giving up as I love RPG's of course, but there's a clear struggle in there. Square-Enix isn't helping either as instead of doing sequels from their other properties and create new ones they're clearly leaning on FF games and spin-offs.

[Teppo Holmqvist]

As of April 29th, Wii's userbase is 6.66m, and TP has sold 3.22, so it has sold to almost half the Wii population! That's damn graet sales. Also, 1.77 GC copies have been sold.

 

Yeah, sales numbers do put TP already over Wind Wanker.

[Shino]

I'll give Nintendo a fucking clue. How about starting thinking OUTSIDE of that radioactive island of yours?! How about I haven't seen a fucking Wii ad in Portugal!! I know we're not a big market, but that doesn't stop Sony or Microsoft and they sell millions of consoles here! MILLIONS I TELL J00!! It's not the markets fault its YOUR damn fault you don't put all that cash too good work! I know what's coming next, "People don't want complicated games! They want simple stuff like Tamagochi and books!"

 

FUCK OFF NINTENDO! SUAS PUTAS!

[Teppo Holmqvist]

I'll give Nintendo a fucking clue. How about starting thinking OUTSIDE of that radioactive island of yours?! How about I haven't seen a fucking Wii ad in Portugal!!

 

Blame Concentera, not Nintendo. Furthermore, most people probably didn't know this, but Nintendo has pretty much started dominate continential Europe. During last week, there was 10 Nintendo console titles in Germany's TOP-10, 7 in France, 8 in Spain, and even UK had 4. Times are indeed changing.

[DCK]

Jesus Christ is this thread overreacting or what?