Miyamoto on 3DS tools for devs, Miis on 3DS, 3rd party ports, gyroscope+3D effect, power compared to Wii, user-created games, high hopes for Skyward Sword, 2D gaming, future console, 3DS redesigns and much more

A portion of an IGN interview with Shigeru Miyamoto…

IGN AU: The DS gave developers a set of tools to work with – dual screen, touch screen, microphone and so on, that forced them to come up with new ideas and give us new experiences. The 3DS adds in a three dimensional display, obviously, as well as gyroscopic control, infrared etc., do you think this will lead to even newer concepts?

Shigeru Miyamoto: Well yeah, of course the Nintendo DS interface was very fresh when we first introduced it, and it led to a lot of different ideas working their way into videogames, including something as diverse as basically taking book-like style control or viewpoints and implementing that into games. What’s interesting about Nintendo 3DS is it does have additional input features, but it’s also a system that’s particularly suited to taking past gameplay experiences, or the more standard gameplay experience, and bringing it this new, fresh feel with the 3D screen. So I think what’s interesting about it is we’ll see both sides of that. We’ll see the evolving of videogames as we’ve seen them up until now, and we’ll also see things that take advantage of the new input.

What’s interesting with – particularly the gyro – is that obviously because of the 3D screen you have a particular sweet spot for where you can see the 3D effect, so most people would think that putting a gyro that would encourage people to tilt the device would ultimately just result in the 3D effect being lost, because you’re tilting it away from you at a different angle, but what’s interesting is that with the gyro you can hold the device in front of you, and do these lateral movements in space like this [moves hands together left and right] and the gyro can detect that, and I think that’ll allow for some pretty interesting gameplay mechanics.

IGN AU: When the Wii was launched, the idea of Miis and avatars was very new, and we’re already seeing Mii games on the 3DS, is there going to be a way to transition your Mii from the Wii to the 3DS, and is it important to have that a persistent Mii identity across both systems?

Shigeru Miyamoto: We need to keep in mind how we evolve the Miis and how we think about compatibility with Miis between different systems, but that’s something that we’re definitely giving consideration to and want to continue to try to allow people to use their Miis on different Nintendo systems going forward.

IGN AU: Is there a concern, then, that many developers might take the lazy way out and simply port PS2, Wii games and just make them 3D to get them into the market quickly? And will that tarnish the 3DS’ library?

Shigeru Miyamoto: I think that, depending on the title, there are certain titles from the past that when accompanied with 3D visuals it really can change the feel of the gameplay, and so from that perspective I think that a lot of companies will be looking at what properties they have so that they may be able to take advantage of that, and even we’re looking at that as well, in terms of games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D or Star Fox 64.

IGN AU: The 3DS’ power seems to exceed that of the Wii in some ways graphically, and it also incorporates the gyroscopes and the motion control. In that way, it’s almost like having a Wii in your hand. From a business standpoint, do you see it as a threat, or do you see it causing a tapering off of Wii sales inadvertently, by introducing this new handheld?

Shigeru Miyamoto: We’re not really worried about it, and primarily it’s because the types of things, the types of play that you can do on a portable device is pretty different from the types of things you’re able to do on a home console, and so it doesn’t really concern us. I guess from a graphical standpoint it is true that the shaders that we’ve implemented into the Nintendo 3DS hardware, from a certain perspective, it can appear as if the graphics are stronger, but they’re really a little bit more in balance I think.

IGN AU: One of the biggest trends in modern gaming is putting tools in the hands of the users and letting them create things for themselves. Nintendo is obviously a part of this, with games like WarioWare D.I.Y., but how important will it be to the company moving forward?

Shigeru Miyamoto: Personally for me I think that the ability to create games is perhaps one of the greatest forms of play that there is. My teams obviously have been working on things that incorporate that as well – Flipnote Studio is a good example of that too – so I’m sure that as we see these devices continue more and more to be connected by networks to one another that that will continue to be more important and we’ll continue to look at implementing it where appropriate.

IGN AU: The new Zelda combines sophisticated motion control with a very striking look. How did these two elements come about?

Shigeru Miyamoto: One thing that the game itself really represents is that up until now people have had this kind of impression that games that use motion control are casual games, and games that use button controls are more core games, and I feel like with this particular game we’ve really managed to prove that you can create a very core experience using motion controls.

Personally I just think it’s a graphics style that we’ve finally found that’s particularly well-suited to this series. The other thing that’s really important to me is that the graphics style always be unique, and one that stays with you, and that you remember long after you play the game. And what I’m particularly excited about is that with the implementation of motion control and how connected that feels to the gameplay, and coupled with the visual look of the game, I’m hoping that it will be an experience that people will remember for a very long time.

IGN AU: We’ve seen a renaissance in 2D game design recently, with lots of side scrolling 2D and 2.5D. Why is 2D becoming so popular again? Is it nostalgia, or something more?

Shigeru Miyamoto: I think it’s really that the gameplay of side-scrolling games is very simple and straightforward, and easy to understand. The more complex that games get, obviously the more demanding they are on people’s gaming skills. I think that what’s so appealing about the side-scrolling games is just the fact that they’re so simple and so engaging, and you can play them very quickly, and pick up the controller and start playing.

IGN AU: It was once said by someone at Nintendo that the company would never leave the console market, but the 3DS is such an incorporating device, is this the first step towards redefining what a console is, or the first step towards a console-free Nintendo? A handheld-focused Nintendo.

Shigeru Miyamoto: I think there’s still a bit of a gap between what you can do on a portable device and a home console device, so I can’t say for certain that there wouldn’t be, say, a Nintendo 3DS XL at some point in the future, and I wonder how big that XL would need to be in order for it to replace something like a home console, and that’s a line that’s very difficult to judge at this point in time.