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Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has said that the company has put a lot of effort into its image, in order to drop the “childish” association with its projects and products (via Siliconera).
This admission comes from an interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu, which has been translated by Siliconera (cheers!). The interview encompasses a number of topics like the longevity and legacy of Mario titles, streaming, transmedia, and Nintendo’s place in the video game industry. “There was a time when Nintendo was called childish, but after continuous work on our priorities the efforts began to show around the Wii that gave us the image of ‘peace of mind’,” said Miyamoto. “There’s peace of mind when looking at it as a parent and you can have it in your living room. We’ve put great effort into creating something that can be the center of family amusement.”
In recent times, similarities have been noticed between Nintendo and Disney, as two enormous companies that hold a significant stake in the entertainment industry across varying ventures. In this interview, Miyamoto said that this is the ideal time to release a Mario movie adaptation, and explained that “we’ve reached a point that makes it possible to experience movies and games on similar platforms.” He even added that Nintendo would benefit from making more movies, and the company has apparently been collaborating with “various companies” in “various scenes.” Cryptic.
Finally, Miyamoto iterated the not-so-secret ingredient to Nintendo’s success. “If you make something for the sake of selling then it’ll have all kinds of failures,” explained the director. “The most important thing is to make something you believe is fun, rather than something that would sell. “If you try making something that sells, it eventually ends up becoming like something that’s already out there. If what you make looks like something that might already be out there, then it won’t sell well. That’s why Nintendo makes things that have yet to be seen.”
