Shigeru Miyamoto Games Quotations

The obvious objective of video games is to entertain people by surprising them with new experiences.

There are big lines between those who play video games and those who do not. For those who don't, video games are irrelevant. They think all video games must be too difficult.

This is the entertainment industry, so game designers have to have a creative mind and also have to be able to stand up against the marketing people at their company - otherwise they cannot be creative. There are not that many people who fit that description.

A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.

Up until now, the biggest question in society about video games has been what to do about violent games. But it's almost like society in general considers video games to be something of a nuisance, that they want to toss into the garbage can.

When I'm making video games today, I want people to be entertained. I am always thinking, How are people going to enjoy playing the games we are making today? And as long as I can enjoy something other people can enjoy it, too.

Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll.

I made some games, but I'm pretending like I didn't because they all turned out weird.

Game music has a purpose and it does incorporate sound effects.

I try not so much to create new characters and worlds but to create new game-play experiences.

I don't want to criticize any other designers, but I have to say that many of the people involved in this industry - directors and producers - are trying to make their games more like movies. They are longing to make movies rather than making videogames.

When I create a game, I try to focus more on the emotions that the player experiences during the game play.

What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself.

I think I can make an entirely new game experience, and if I can't do it, some other game designer will.

Of course, I have my own limits as to how much game software I can take care of at any one time.

Games have grown and developed from this limited in-the-box experience to something that's everywhere now. Interactive content is all around us, networked, ready. This is something I've been hoping for throughout my career.

Of course, when it comes to Japanese role-playing games, in any role-playing game in Japan you're supposed to collect a huge number of items, and magic, and you've got to actually combine different items together to make something really different.

We had been making arcade games up until that point, ... Our objective with the Nintendo entertainment system was to create the ultimate family entertainment system for the home.

We had been making arcade games up until that point. Our objective with the Nintendo entertainment system was to create the ultimate family entertainment system for the home.

When I'm working on games I don't think necessarily about what the end benefit of the game is going to be. Typically I'm trying to think of: "What can I do that is going to find new ways to entertain and surprise people."

It isn't about games, for me, personally, and it never really was. It was about creating something- anything- far bigger than yourself.

Entertainment companies always have to stay on the edge of trying to catch that certain thing that will grab people's attention. And that thing is always changing. Nintendo has been doing this for a long, long time. Originally, we weren't even a video game company, but we were still an entertainment company. So I can't say what that next thing is, but I can say, at Nintendo we're trying to create new ways to play.

A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time

When we're doing an action game, we make the second level first. We begin making level 1 once everything else is completed.

We don't pay a whole lot of attention to the Internet until people have played the game - then we pay a lot of attention to whether people liked it. We read through it and see it, but we don't take it into consideration. ... [The Internet] is not going to dictate the direction of where the game goes.

For a long time at Nintendo we didn't focus as much on online play because for many years doing so would have limited the size of the audience that could enjoy those features. But certainly now we see that so many people are connected to the Internet. It opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities.

Their attitude is, 'okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me.' It's kind of a passive attitude they're taking, and to me it's kind of a pathetic thing. They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself [with more advanced games].

I am not Link, but I do know him! Even after 18 years, the Legend of Zelda never stops changing and this game is no different. We are now taking you to a world where Link has grown up--a world where he will act different and look different. In order to grow, Link must not stand still and neither will I.

If it turns out that Mario doesn't really fit into the type of game I want, I wouldn't mind using Zelda as the basis of the new game.

Fortunately, because of the spread of smart devices, people take games for granted now. It's a good thing for us, because we do not have to worry about making games something that are relevant to general people's daily lives.

I could make Halo. It's not that I couldn't design that game. It's just that I choose not to. One thing about my game design is that I never try to look for what people want and then try to make that game design. I always try to create new experiences that are fun to play.

I think everyone can enjoy games.

Of course, I would like to know what [Sony and Microsoft] do with their machines, but there is no game that I feel the need to go see. So far, from what I’ve seen on the show this year, there does not seem to be any games that I would like to have created myself.

... I don't let Mario appear in just any kind of game. Mario could not appear in Zelda games. They are two distinct game worlds.

Angry Birds is a very simple idea but its one of those games that I immediately appreciated when I first started playing, before wishing that I had been the one to come up with the idea first.

When I look back I can tell that after I started having a family, I certainly wanted to make games that could be played with all the family members.

When I look around and see how aged cartoonists continue to work on their manga and how movie directors create new movies all the time, I understand that they would never retire. And by the same token, I guess I will still be making games somehow. The only question is whether the younger people will be willing to work with me at that far point in the future.

I believe that any sort of changes to interface that allows people to get into games and enjoy games is a great trend.