Forget The Console Wars, Miyamoto Says Nintendo Has Always Followed Its Own Path
And the Nintendo Museum is here to prove it
by Jim Norman 6:45pm
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo LifeAhead of the grand opening of the Nintendo Museum next month, Shigeru Miyamoto has reaffirmed what the company always has been (and always will be) about: staying unique and not rushing to meet industry trends.
That’s according to a recent interview with Famitsu, where the legendary game designer outlined his hopes for the Nintendo Museum. By putting the company’s history on display, Miyamoto hopes visitors will see just how much Nintendo marches to the beat of its own drum — and how that can be a really great thing to do.
Rather than always trying to better others in the industry or succumb to demands, Miyamoto told the Japanese publication, Nintendo has always stuck to its guns and released the product it wholeheartedly believes in. It might mean the company isn’t all that invested in the console wars narrative, but it’s a sign that you can always trust the Big N to cook up something special.
Miyamoto’s full answer can be found below. Do bear in mind that the following comes from Famitsu via Google Translate, so it’s possible that the meaning is slightly different to what might be found in an official translation (which we’ll be sure to update this with, should one become available).
It would be a waste to let it sleep in a warehouse, so the main purpose is to put it out in a place where everyone, including employees, can see it, and it has nothing to do with mid- to long-term strategies. However, I think the most important thing is to have people from three generations come to this museum and think, “Nintendo is a company that is not related to the rival game manufacturers that are usually said, or to new cutting-edge technology.” Of course, we also do technology research. Until now, analysts and other places have said various things such as “Why don’t you do networks?”, “What about mobile?”, and “Why don’t you use cutting-edge chips?”, but if you look at the exhibits calmly, you will see that we are doing it properly. However, I think that people can see that now is not the time to sell, and that Nintendo’s history is that it commercializes its products when the most appropriate time to sell comes. By seeing that, people can trust Nintendo. I think it is a mid- to long-term outlook in a sense that shareholders and IR can trust Nintendo and leave it to us.
Those who played a Wii, DS, Switch or just about any other Nintendo console (which we assume is most of you reading) will surely have seen this approach in action. Nintendo is prone to following its own path and that regularly results in something brilliant — weird and unexpected, but still brilliant.
It will be interesting to see just how well the Nintendo Museum conveys this approach to development. The new attraction is set to open on 2nd October, providing an in-depth tour of the company’s history and a bunch of interactive exhibits to keep things interesting along the way. Naturally, the exclusive merch looks pretty sweet too.
What do you make of this approach from Nintendo? Do you reckon it’ll ever change? Let us know in the comments.
[source famitsu.com]
Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since.
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