As you remember, back in December of 2011, Miyamoto stated, through his interpreter, in an interview with Wired, “Inside our office, I’ve been recently declaring, ‘I’m going to retire, I’m going to retire." He went on to explain, "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.”
He also stated that he wanted to work in the forefront of game developing again with a smaller project that he could do on his own:
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.
This is absolutely not true. There seems to have been a misunderstanding. He has said all along that he wants to train the younger generation.
He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned.
I repeatedly say to them (his team) that today might be my last day at Nintendo and work with them today at the forefront of development.
The statement, in its entirety was (source: Zelda Informer):
Even now, I am making things and interested in the creative side just as I was before. However, with regard to the big picture of, say, a new “Mario Kart” or the “Super Mario” series, younger people are already taking the main roles and I am just thinking as one of their co-workers. One big thing I recently handled is the Audioguide Louvre - Nintendo 3DS, referred to earlier in this meeting. This has not made money yet, but it has the potential to be one of our core businesses in the future. We are making a game called “Nintendo Land,” but apart from making such games, I often think of other things, such as what the future of the Japanese movie industry will be like. I do not have any concrete visions yet, but I am trying to keep my eyes on a variety of fields and to find any small possibilities for Nintendo to be involved in one way or the other. I should be careful about telling you about these things and I would like to add that we are not announcing any concrete business plans here. I would also be glad if you carefully tell someone else about my remarks. Among these big things in our future prospects, it is so important to carefully choose the next project, and I myself have decided on a specific project like the network issue mentioned before. As I would like people working on each project to be able to do that kind of thing by themselves in the future, I repeatedly say to them that today might be my last day at Nintendo and work with them today at the forefront of development. However, I enjoy creating things and will be in active service at Nintendo for the time being. I hope you will look forward to our future products
What can we take away from these types of statements? Well, Miyamoto has expressed his interest to bring in the younger generation to work on the up and coming major projects, while he starts to blend in as a fellow co-worker. He, himself has stated that he wants to prepare the company for a future without him.
As I am getting older, I have already started thinking of Nintendo without me in the future and I strongly feel that the company has steadily been preparing for doing business after I leave here. However, last year when I said at an interview overseas that I was doing various things in prospect of Nintendo without me, it led to a direct report on my retirement. So I am aware I have to be careful in talking about this sort of thing.
He wants to show the development team that they can do a great job without him there to assist. While he has not announced any retirement plans, he wants to gradually remove himself from the picture. It seems like those are plans for retirement or even a possibility of other underlying issues. Could it be possible that he may even see some undisclosed issues with Nintendo's future and wants to make a departure beforehand? There is so much speculation that could be made and I could see why this topic is one that he needs to be careful when discussing.
However, one can only ask themself, wouldn't it make sense for Miyamoto to leave on a high note? The Wii sold extremely well and the Nintendo 3DS now seems healthy and on its feet. Has he ran out of ideas? Does he see a market that he feels he cannot compete with? The market is changing and he expressed his concern of games now being centered around guns nowadays, in a post a couple of weeks ago from nintendofansonline:
Sometimes I get worried about the continued reliance on making games that are so centered around guns, and that there are so many of these games. I have a hard time imagining – particularly for young generations of gamers – how they sit down and play and interact with that.
Previous forms of media, like books, made it easy for parents to know and understand what they’re buying for their children. With the transition into digital mediums it becomes more difficult for parents to have a full grasp of what’s going on. From a game developer’s standpoint it’s important to take that into account.
Previous forms of media, like books, made it easy for parents to know and understand what they’re buying for their children. With the transition into digital mediums it becomes more difficult for parents to have a full grasp of what’s going on. From a game developer’s standpoint it’s important to take that into account.
Later, the announcement came that Nintendo was not going to develop the new Super Smash Bros., but rather Namco Bandai Games will be in charge of developing the game. Fans love to see their special character there to brawl with and it was just recently discussed that there will not be the large quantity of characters to choose from, as we were once used to. "In terms of quantity, we've probably already reached the limit of what's feasible. I think a change of direction may be what's needed," Masahiro Sakurai stated, "It isn't a matter of ‘If the next game has 50 characters, that'll be enough, there is a certain charm to games that have huge casts of playable characters, but they tend to have issues with game balance and it becomes very difficult to fine-tune each character and have them all feel distinctive."
I don't know about you, but it would have been great to see even more characters thrown in the mix of already loved ones! We can only hope that it doesn't turn out like Metroid: Other M did when they worked with Team Ninja to develop a Nintendo title.
To ensure we are staying on-topic here, it just seems to me that what Miyamoto is trying to sell us on, doesn't sound convincing. It is disappointing when, what should have been their year to dominate with major announcements, Nintendo didn't shine. It is not reassuring when Nintendo titles are being handed off to another company and it is already seeming to not include what the fans were looking forward to.
Don't get me wrong, if there's one company that I would like to succeed, it would be Nintendo. They hold a special place in my heart.
What are your thoughts on Nintendo's future without Shigeru Miyamoto?
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