Kohler finally decided to say something about the attention his earlier Wired article made. In classy fashion, he posted the entire transcript. And, sure enough, it says: “Malstrom was right.” Let’s take a look.
Wired.com: I can’t get over the fact that you said [earlier], I’m getting older. And I’m thinking, jeez. Are you going to retire anytime soon, or is that off the table?
Miyamoto: The fact of the matter is that, inside our office, I’ve been recently declaring, I’m going to retire, I’m going to retire. I’m repeating that message. But the reason why I’m stressing that is that unless I say that I’m retiring, I cannot nurture the young developers. After all, if I’m there in my position as it is, then there’s always kind of a relationship. And the young guys are always in kind of a situation where they have to listen to my ideas. But I need some [people] who are growing up much more than today.
And then, when I say I’m retiring I’m not saying that I’m going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position and then what I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself. Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small.
what I really want to do
what I really want to do
what I really want to do
I only heard one word in that interview: me. And by that, I mean Miyamoto referring to himself.
Me.
Me.
Me.
Me.
Me.
Apparently, there is no Nintendo. There is only The Miyamoto Company. You get the impression as if Nintendo employees wouldn’t even be potty trained if it were not for the Great Miyamoto.
This is what bothers me. Nintendo has a problem where ‘Miyamoto’ being perceived as stepping down is hurting the stock. The solution to this problem is to say that “Nintendo’s success does not revolve around Shigeru Miyamoto” because, honestly, it doesn’t. Miyamoto did not single-handedly create Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, or Legend of Zelda. And I am referring to character and design… even things like the Tanooki Suit did not come from Miyamoto. Does this person have any humility? I know astronauts who are more down to Earth than this guy is.
Readers may wonder why it seems like I’m angry. I’m not really angry so much that arrogance pushes a button with me. Furthermore, this stretches beyond Nintendo. It gives young developers the illusion that video games is about ‘their own creativity and genius’ where video games is actually a team sport. This guy, Miyamoto, is doing serious harm to gaming by declaring himself the fountain of all gaming. Instead of focusing on making a product that sells, we are increasingly seeing developers focus on ‘self-satisfaction’ like a bunch of wide-eyed poetry writing students.