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Miyamoto on understanding Wii U, low sales due to lack of games, SKU troubles, Pikmin 3 DLC and anime
A portion of a 4Gamer interview with Miyamoto...
4Gamer: At the very least, there was the freedom to not use it.
Miyamoto: Yeah. Even for the Wii U, it’s not that you must use the GamePad but that everything is in the GamePad and please use what you want freely. It can also be assumed that pretty much every device is connected to the internet nowadays so…
With other gaming devices, they may not sell if they don’t have enough extras but there is little concern given to if it is giving the consumer landscape something different and I think being able to make games is extremely important.
4Gamer: I understand what you are talking about. Still…
Miyamoto: I know. But that’s why Nintendo has to do our best and sell Wii Us. (laughs) The Wii U has a web browser and two screens so even if you just watch YouTube it is convenient but still, if you don’t use it to do so, it’s hard to understand. We have to keep picking up speed with the system.
4Gamer: At this point, the amount of Wii U sold continues to not really waver, right?
Miyamoto:
Right. The biggest thing more so than anything is that there aren’t enough games you can play out. That is something I’ve had to reflect on.
4Gamers: There were people who said they wanted a Shiro Premium Set from the time the Wii U first went on sale.
Miyamoto: The truth is we wanted to make Kuro and Shiro from the very beginning. However, when planning the amount of units we could produce in the beginning, we had to narrow it down. In the American marketplace, people wanted Kuro as well.
4Gamer: "Once you finish the Story Mode, there is nothing else to have fun with other than multiplayer" is not the case?
Miyamoto: It’s not. This is not only limited to this game but is an important position for Nintendo and maybe you can call it having over expectations but our goal is to continue selling our games even 3 years after their release. At the very least our basic goal is to make games that will continue to sell up to a year after release. We like to have our games regularly available like a back catalog so they can all be played an enjoyed.
To that end, the kinds of games that you buy, beat in three weeks, and then never play again are not good. There has been a clear customer response that Pikmin 3 is not one of those games.
Still, beyond that, we’d like to use our network service to consider how to get people to keep playing.
4Gamer: Ah, even though online multiplayer isn’t supported, there are plans to use the network service for something else?
Miyamoto: Right. At the very least, Miiverse allows the sharing of information and we are continuing to watch how the players are playing while preparing different things.
Also, when it comes to this game, I think it is the most interesting game yet to watch other people’s play videos of. Even if you can’t do the same things in the videos, it is fun to learn about techniques that didn’t even occur to you previously. I’ve received and am watching exceptional videos made by some of our debuggers and saw various techniques that never even occurred to us on the creation side.
To that end, I’d like to make some means to show off your play videos in some form.
4Gamer: One of the ways people can understand is by Pikmin 3 but still, since what is good about the Wii U cannot be understood until you get your hands on it, there is the impression that you are struggling with how to do that.
Miyamoto: That’s the truth… When it comes to things you have to get your hands on to understand the value of, I think how to get people to try it or how to get them interested in it is a very difficult question.
4Gamer: Yeah. Before getting their hands on it, you have to get them interested…
Miyamoto: To that end I am currently working on putting all the elements that can’t be conveyed only by a game together in one package and am experimenting with making a Pikmin anime. The truth is for the past two years, I’ve been spending more time on the Pikmin anime than the game. (laughs) We’d like people to develop a more fond connection with the Pikmin themselves. In fact, at last year’s E3 many of the Pikmin things we passed around were made from elements we used for the Pikmin anime.
Furthermore, since December of last year at Toho Cinema movie theaters there are Pikmin in the logo shown before movies. Even during the parts where they ask people to please put on their 3D glasses, there are Bulborbs running around. These are one piece of the things we’ve done in preparation for the anime.
Full interview here
4Gamer: At the very least, there was the freedom to not use it.
Miyamoto: Yeah. Even for the Wii U, it’s not that you must use the GamePad but that everything is in the GamePad and please use what you want freely. It can also be assumed that pretty much every device is connected to the internet nowadays so…
With other gaming devices, they may not sell if they don’t have enough extras but there is little concern given to if it is giving the consumer landscape something different and I think being able to make games is extremely important.
4Gamer: I understand what you are talking about. Still…
Miyamoto: I know. But that’s why Nintendo has to do our best and sell Wii Us. (laughs) The Wii U has a web browser and two screens so even if you just watch YouTube it is convenient but still, if you don’t use it to do so, it’s hard to understand. We have to keep picking up speed with the system.
4Gamer: At this point, the amount of Wii U sold continues to not really waver, right?
Miyamoto:
Right. The biggest thing more so than anything is that there aren’t enough games you can play out. That is something I’ve had to reflect on.
4Gamers: There were people who said they wanted a Shiro Premium Set from the time the Wii U first went on sale.
Miyamoto: The truth is we wanted to make Kuro and Shiro from the very beginning. However, when planning the amount of units we could produce in the beginning, we had to narrow it down. In the American marketplace, people wanted Kuro as well.
4Gamer: "Once you finish the Story Mode, there is nothing else to have fun with other than multiplayer" is not the case?
Miyamoto: It’s not. This is not only limited to this game but is an important position for Nintendo and maybe you can call it having over expectations but our goal is to continue selling our games even 3 years after their release. At the very least our basic goal is to make games that will continue to sell up to a year after release. We like to have our games regularly available like a back catalog so they can all be played an enjoyed.
To that end, the kinds of games that you buy, beat in three weeks, and then never play again are not good. There has been a clear customer response that Pikmin 3 is not one of those games.
Still, beyond that, we’d like to use our network service to consider how to get people to keep playing.
4Gamer: Ah, even though online multiplayer isn’t supported, there are plans to use the network service for something else?
Miyamoto: Right. At the very least, Miiverse allows the sharing of information and we are continuing to watch how the players are playing while preparing different things.
Also, when it comes to this game, I think it is the most interesting game yet to watch other people’s play videos of. Even if you can’t do the same things in the videos, it is fun to learn about techniques that didn’t even occur to you previously. I’ve received and am watching exceptional videos made by some of our debuggers and saw various techniques that never even occurred to us on the creation side.
To that end, I’d like to make some means to show off your play videos in some form.
4Gamer: One of the ways people can understand is by Pikmin 3 but still, since what is good about the Wii U cannot be understood until you get your hands on it, there is the impression that you are struggling with how to do that.
Miyamoto: That’s the truth… When it comes to things you have to get your hands on to understand the value of, I think how to get people to try it or how to get them interested in it is a very difficult question.
4Gamer: Yeah. Before getting their hands on it, you have to get them interested…
Miyamoto: To that end I am currently working on putting all the elements that can’t be conveyed only by a game together in one package and am experimenting with making a Pikmin anime. The truth is for the past two years, I’ve been spending more time on the Pikmin anime than the game. (laughs) We’d like people to develop a more fond connection with the Pikmin themselves. In fact, at last year’s E3 many of the Pikmin things we passed around were made from elements we used for the Pikmin anime.
Furthermore, since December of last year at Toho Cinema movie theaters there are Pikmin in the logo shown before movies. Even during the parts where they ask people to please put on their 3D glasses, there are Bulborbs running around. These are one piece of the things we’ve done in preparation for the anime.