For Miyamoto, games are more about systems than stories

- Shigeru Miyamoto succintly reflects on his approach to development. Late last week, Nintendo frontman Shigeru Miyamoto sat down for a brief, consumer-focused interview with the Associated Press that shed some light on how the company approaches game development. There are some interesting bits of trivia sprinkled throughout -- Miyamoto notes that Nintendo regularly fields pitches for a Mario movie from the film industry, for example -- but the most interesting takeaway for developers is the Mario maker's perception of himself as a developer and refiner of systems, rather than as a storyteller. "I like to create gameplay mechanics more than I do stories," says Miyamoto, in response to a question about a new Star Fox game. "The story might not be too different...but the gameplay mechanics are going to feel very different." That philosophy is reinforced by his statement (when asked about the company's plans for future Mario titles) that Nintendo's star player is more of a totem around which Nintendo can develop new systems and games than a dynamic character. "Since we first created Mario, people have compared him to Mickey Mouse. I've always said Mickey Mouse evolved with each evolution in animation," says Miyamoto. "From early on, I wanted Mario to be that character in the digital world, so that with each digital evolution, he was there to usher in the next era." For more of Miyamoto's comments, check out the full interview on the Associated Press website.