Shigeru Miyamoto, father of Nintendo creations such as Donkey Kong, Zelda and Mario, gave his reactions to Sony,s PS3 controller by saying "It’s kind of what always seems to happen. But the fact that they looked at what we were doing and decided it was a good path is kind of flattering, it kind of reinforces in our minds that we’re doing the right thing. What they’ve done is just take your standard controller and add in this motion-sensing device that’s similar to what we did back on the Game Boy Color many years ago. Maybe if they were to completely copy and go with a remote and a nunchuk and two motion sensors, I might be a little more concerned. But I don’t think they’re anywhere close to that."
Miyamoto was also asked about how the Japanese public reacted to the new name of “Wii” for their next gen game console. He explained, "In Japan, a lot of gamers thought it was a strange name, and the comment we got the most was that it doesn’t sound like the name of a game system. What we did find with the casual gamers or the non-gamers – because it does sound so different and unique – it doesn’t sound like a game system. And that’s a plus for them."
Much of the criticism for the name “Wii” has been primarily from the gaming community, but as Miyamoto has stated, the new demographic that Nintendo is targeting is outside the sphere of the gaming community. Nintendo is trying to reach out to the non-gamer and casual gamer, in the hopes that they will open a vast new market for itself as they did with the release of their handheld DS game console.
Miyamoto was asked about his opinion of Sony and Microsoft,s emphasis on higher tech and hi def graphics in their machines, as opposed to Nintendo,s, which is to enhance the video gamer,s experience by unique gameplay. Miyamoto responded by saying, "They’re talking about the next generation of the same old video games, it’s the same old experiences with new graphics. And while there are people who enjoy that, we’re really talking about the next leap in interactive entertainment, and really bringing interactive entertainment not just to video game fans but to everyone."
Will Nintendo,s unique game system and “next leap in interactive entertainment” overcome the PS3 and 360,s pumped-up graphics and blazing CPU speeds? If you listen to Mario and friends, this is exactly what they are proposing.
