Shigeru Miyamoto, the developer who came up with some of video games' most popular characters, has sat down with the New York Times in a question and answer session about Nintendo and the future of the industry. When asked about the somewhat slow start the Wii U has had, Miyamoto defended the console as being the best at bringing people together.
"I think that the Wii U still has a long future. We really view it as being the ideal device that families are going to want to have connected to that screen in the living room that everyone is going to gather around and watch," Miyamoto stated.
Next, Miyamoto discussed the rise of the smartphone market for gaming, saying that consoles will always have a place in the video game industry.
"We look at it in terms of what kinds of experiences do families want in the living room in front of the TV? Because we don't think that families are going to go away, and we don't think that TVs are going to go away," he said.
Furthermore, while he acknowledges that the smartphone industry has grown in Japan, Nintendo has still found out ways to be successful at the same time.
Miyamoto explained that "...in Japan people are saying, 'Maybe I don't need a console, or I don't need a portable gaming device.' But this past holiday in Japan we released a game called Animal Crossing: New Leaf...And in Japan it has really been a big hit. And what we're seeing is that the people playing it primarily are adult women. And adult women also happens to be the same group of people that has been rapidly adopting cellphones over the last couple of years."
Miyamoto is possibly one of the most respected video game designers in the industry, as he is the creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, and the Legend of Zelda, just to name a few of his creations. This interview shows that even after 35 years in the industry, Miyamoto still has relevant and articulate points of views to be shared.
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