Email: Why does Miyamoto like Angry Birds?

Because Creativity and Fun Development reign supreme!

From an interview with Edge Magazine, Miyamoto says:

“What I like about Angry Birds is that it has a traditional videogame [feel] to it, but also a very creative side. And you can really feel that they’re having fun developing the game. That’s what I like about it.”

And somewhere in the world, God killed a kitten, and also someone decided not to buy a Wii U.

Why do you ask why he likes Angry Birds? He says so in the quote you cited. He says what he liked was the ‘very creative side’ because he thinks they ‘had fun developing the game. That is what I like about it.’

Apparently, Miyamoto did NOT cite he liked the game because it pleased so many customers. Customers did not enter his equation. He examined only the developer to game relationship, not the customer to game relationship. Miyamoto wants to hold Angry Birds up to the Board of Nintendo as an example that video games should only be made by what the developers think are fun… as opposed to what customers think is fun.

Shigeru Miyamoto is one of the most selfish game makers in the world. We already know he just keeps churning out more and more 3d Mario even though the market doesn’t get excited over it. So it is no surprise to me he would say, “I like this game because I can use it as an example to say best selling games are due to the developers having fun.”

Miyamoto does not live in the same world as you or I do. In his world, he is in a constant war between what he and his developers wish to do versus what the Board of Nintendo wishes to do.

What’s funny is that the games you love from Miyamoto are the games he was forced to make by the board or by Yamauchi. Donkey Kong came out because Yamauchi assigned Miyamoto to make a video game. Super Mario Brothers came about because Yamauchi insisted on making a big hit game. Legend of Zelda, same story. Games like the Zelda sequels such as Link to the Past or Super Mario Brothers 3 or Super Mario World were games Miyamoto HATED to make. Yet, they are the games we all love.

Do you think Miyamoto really wanted to make Wii Sports? Haha, yeah right.

Yet, the games Miyamoto WANTS to make are the games the market doesn’t like. The Infinite 3d Mario games, Pikmin, Wii Music, his Pac-man clone game, and various games you haven’t heard of… all of these didn’t have much impact on the market.

Should video game development be torture? No, but it should feel like work because it is work. It should not feel like ‘playtime’.