Miyamoto Speaks on Revolution, Games

Esteemed Nintendo game creator Shigeru Miyamoto has given an interview to magazine BusinessWeek, as part of a series on innovators in various industries, in which he discusses his own games, the design and purpose of the Revolution, and where he sees games going from here. Miyamoto talks about his early days as a game designer, saying he initially expected to be a toy maker after becoming entranced with the Rubik's Cube at a 1980s toy convention in Japan. "The moment you see a Rubik's Cube," he enthused, "you know you're supposed to twist the pieces. And it's beautifully designed. Even if you've never handled one, you want to pick it up and try it." After his successful debut, Miyamoto was still surprised at how quickly games took off, and at the pace of the technology's improvement. He cited the mid-90s as the point where the balance of power between home systems and arcades shifted, when the home systems began to be capable of 3D graphics and more developers concentrated their efforts on developing for consoles first. However, in his opinion, the 3D revolution has taken realism and complication in games too far, which he'd like to swing the other way with the Revolution. His comments on the system's controversial controller indicate that he had a considerable amount of input in its design: "I also redesigned the Revolution's controller to look more like a regular TV remote, so anyone who saw it would know instantly how to use it, and so they wouldn't think they had to always stash it away."