I found this part interesting: “That said, I try to insure [sic] that nothing I make wastes the players’ time by having them do things that aren’t productive or creative.”
I wonder where the desire to show all those god darned placards everywhere comes from. I guess they’ve reduced that compulsion but that has struck me as a Very Nintendo thing, maybe it’s not a Very Miyamoto thing though. What he says certainly goes against the “did you know you can press A to read signs” kind of thing.
As for the grief thing, I agree that passive media is better suited to it, and games that try to make me feel sad are often presumptuous or come off as pretentious and other unsavory pre-words, and feel manipulative in a way that movies don’t always. I think you can create much more complex emotions in games and throw grief or sadness into the mix though, and come out pretty well. It’s not something I’m particularly interested in putting forward in my games but I am interested in that kind of “staring into the middle distance for a while” emotion.
Ultimately this interview made me want to read an interview/discussion between miyamoto and other game designers. Get him and yasuhara in a room, or yoot saito, or even swery. Or me heh heh (sunglasses face). that would be an interview for a different audience of course, but I’d love for someone to have the opportunity to really dig in there with this guy.
Sidenote: I asked simon parkin and he said the new yorker’s house style is to change “ensure” to “insure” for some wild reason. what the heck!! the “focussed” thing is them too. I find this upsetting!!