The Gamer's Quarter

[Ketch]

Is Shigeru Miyamoto overrated?

[simplicio]

Yes.

So are commas.

[dark steve]

[player 2]

Haha, Miyamoto overrated. That's nice.
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Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Dracko]

Yes.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[ApM]

Shigeru Miyamoto may not be the all-knowing rockstar God that the games media paints him as, but if you don't admire the hell out of SMB1's design, you are wrong.

Somebody talk about HAL and EAD and Gunpei Yokoi because I know there's a story there and I don't know exactly what it is.

[elvis.shrugged]

I actually admire Gunpei Yokoi and Shigeru Miyamoto on about the same level. Both were really amazing designers.

[DonMarco]

Name one thing he's done that's so great.

Since the year 1996. Name one thing he's done that's so great since the year 1996.
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Collector of over 1,538 strategy guides. That's weird, right?

[simplicio]

I really think he's more overrated on the Zelda front. What he's done historically is amazing; his concepts have always been first rate, especially for the first game or two of a series/genre. And that's huge. The man is a creator of genres. The problem lies in when those series continue and things just remain the same, while people people just give him more and more praise. But people go the whole nostalgia route with his stuff, so Wind Waker, which is Ocarina with Cell Shading and sailing (or Link to the Past with Cell Shading and sailing and 3D, if you want to get into it), gets ten times the attention of Pikmin, which, whatever the execution, is a fantastic new idea, but without the strong protagonist of Link or Mario or Samus it will never be deemed "classic".

So I guess my answer should be: Only be people wrapped up in nostalgia.

Which is, unfortunately, most gamers.

[SuperWes]

[Lackey]

I'd definately put Pikmin in the classic column, but I'm certain simplico hit the nail on the head here. It's almost like he had a span of time to establish all his brands and past that there's just been no space to push in new ones.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[Ryan - SuperWes' Bane]

If anybody is over-rated, it's the Final Fantasy series creator, Hinobu Sakaguchi (did I spell his name right?)

[Swimmy]

Hironobu.

Praise / disdain and actual worth are pretty much impossible to balance, especially in media so large as "journalism" or "the internet." There probably aren't as many Miyamoto critics as there should be. There are probably more Uwe Boll critics than there should be. Etc.

A lot of people think I'm overly hateful. I think everyone else is overly loving.
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"Ayn Rand fans are the old school version of Xenogears fanboys."
-seryogin

[ApM]

[elvis.shrugged]

[DonMarco]

[Lackey]

Comparing Star Trek and Star Wars is sort of a futile project, aside from being set largely in space they are totally different creatures with totally different goals. Pikmin is very decisively a console game as Lemmings is so decisively a PC game.

And you only toy around with one lesser being's life in A Boy and his Blob.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[DonMarco]

Maybe I was thinking of the Game Boy one?

Nope. The different powers to solve puzzles and get around thing is in both. Just like using different Pikmin to solve puzzles and get around.thing.
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Collector of over 1,538 strategy guides. That's weird, right?

[Persona-sama]

Well, the guy did bring us the Revolution controller and whatever other secret the Revolution will have. Though I didn't really like anything he did between the SNES - Gamecube period though.

Let's talk about the guy who made The Legend of the Zelda: The Link to the Past! He made Animal Crossing, didn't he?
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[elvis.shrugged]

Well, a lot of my childhood revolves around Super Mario 64 and Wave Race 64, both of which he supervised. I like a lot of other stuff, too, from the Zeldas to the older Marios and all that.

I still haven't gotten around to Pikmin, though. Should've picked that up at the Gamecube launch...

[SuperWes]

I wouldn't say overrated as much as overcredited. He's credited as Producer on a ton of games from Super Mario Bros. 3 to Geist, but how much work he actually put into these games probably fluctuates greatly. Regardless, if you look at the body of work he's been involved in (did you know he was the Producer on Earthbound? I had no idea) he's certainly been a part of everything important that Nintendo has ever done, which in turn makes him a part of most non-technical innovations that the industry has seen.

So yeah, I actually think he's underrated.

-Wes
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[purplechair]

Miyamoto seems (to me) to be some kind of natural genius when it comes to gameplay. Nintendo just seem to be over-relying on him, or at least his reputation. It's pretty impossible to know exactly what goes on inside Nintendo, but I get the impression that they bring him in on a lot of their projects just so he can rub his hands on the design docs and hope that some Miyamoto magic will rub off on it.

And he's getting older. Pikmin's all about gardening. Nintendogs is all about looking after your pet. I can't imagine him coming out with an exciting new title as energetic as Mario or Zelda. He's a bit like Hayao Miyazaki in that sense - his work seems to be very personal, so you can't really expect him to be making the same kind of things now that he was 10 or 20 years ago.

[dessgeega]

see, i'm not convinced he's all that much more "magical" than any other, lower-profile developer.
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[ApM]

[Mr. Mechanical]

Gunpei Lives!

[elvis.shrugged]

I can see where Dessgeega's coming from. I mean, look at some of the amazing games released, past and present. What makes Miyamoto that much greater than other designers? I'm not really convinced either.

[Ketch]

[SuperWes]

[dessgeega]

[DonMarco]

[purplechair]

[dessgeega]

[ApM]

[dessgeega]

between the livejournal and whispered apologies, it's a double qwantz attack.
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[kuzdu]

Does anyone know if there's any truth to the rumor that Miyamoto gets paid about as much as a secretary by Nintendo?

[purplechair]

[Ketch]

[SFC]

[SuperWes]

[player 2]

Miyamoto chose the name for the main character in Pikmin because he's not very creative in that way. His creativity is focused squarely on the tactile player interface. Which is why it's good he's in this industry.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[Szczepaniak]

Sounds logical. Isn't his degree in drawing construction schematics or something?

[player 2]

He's just really a big kid, and he's also very honest. Him naming the hero in Pikmin Olimar, while simple, is about the most "artistic" thing he's ever done. I mean, turning Mario around? He's trying to be serious business, but... hmmm... God I love drinking.
_________________
Wii #: 8749 9109 9732 3653

"It is a peaceful way of understanding life, to play"
_Marcel Duchamp

[disneyland]

Shigs is the one who insisted the plug be pulled on Twilight Princess' '05 release.
He wants full Revo compatibility. Not a bad idea.

I think he's a very intelligent, passionate and gifted man that has improved the quality of video games. Considering my role right now, I owe a lot to Mr. Miyamoto--both creatively and emotionally.

Picking him apart in this thread is nasty business.

[BrokenFiction]

The clearest praise you can get is from your peers, and Miyamoto is universally admired in his industry. Admittedly, that can be an insulated group, but it speaks volumes with regards to how many developers he's influenced over the years.

[Shapermc]