Shigeru Miyamoto - "3D is the future of gaming"

[NecroMorrius]

I thought we should have a dedicated thread to discussing 3D, rather than endlessly going over it in the 3DS thread.

There's an interview on BBC with Shigsy today:

Nintendo has grown to lead the video games industry - predicted to be worth $68bn in annual sales by 2012 - by creating colourful worlds, full of visual stimulation.

But the company's offices in Kyoto are quite the opposite.

Even by the standards of Japanese corporations it is, to say the least, understated.

The lobby is large and anonymous, with white tiled floors and white walls, the monotony is broken only by a single receptionist sitting behind a small desk, and a row of framed ceramic plates painted with traditional scenes - carp fish and bamboo groves.

But it is in these austere surroundings that Shigeru Miyamoto has come up with his latest innovation that he thinks will help Nintendo maintain its dominance of the games console business.

'Constantly thinking'

The sparsely decorated lobby at the Nintendo Kyoto office is a stark contrast to the colourful worlds created in its games

Few video games designers get on the Time 100 most influential people of the year list, but then Miyamoto-san virtually invented the genre with Donkey Kong.

The name was his idea too, found by looking up the words "stubborn" and "gorilla" in an English dictionary.

Mario, a character in that game, spun off into numerous different titles.

Mr Miyamoto has been the genius behind Nintendo ever since, working not just on games, but hardware like the Wii too.

For a man who will be 60 next year he comes across as almost childlike, with a face quick to smile.

And that he says, in a rare interview, is the secret of his success.

"One thing I can say is I am constantly thinking," he says.

"Most of the fun things I find cannot necessarily be turned into video games right away. But it grows, and one day, it all comes together.

"So it's not like one day I get a strong inspiration for an idea. Most of the time, what I experience in life turns into a game eventually," said Mr Miyamoto.

He says the hit Nintendogs is an example. It was inspired by the Miyamoto family's pet.

The 3DS game console allows users to see in 3D without the use of special glasses

Now, like many other electronics companies, Nintendo is staking the future on 3D.

A new hand-held console, the 3DS, was launched in Japan over the weekend. Unlike 3D televisions and films, it can be used without special glasses.

"3D is nothing new in our world," says Mr Miyamoto, brandishing one of the machines.

"When we were young we used to experience 3D with the type of glasses with red and blue lenses.

"And today, in order for many people to view 3D films, they definitely need some special glasses."

"But the beauty of our Nintendo 3DS is because we use a portable device it allows everyone to enjoy 3D anywhere they go."

The console is in a clamshell shape, and has two screens.

The top one is 3D and the technology works by vertical lines blocking half the pixels from the view of each eye when its held at the usual distance in front of the face.

The user can set the depth of the 3D effect by using a slider control on the side, something of which Mr Miyamoto is particularly proud.

While 3D televisions have been around for a while, and 3D camcorders are starting to be released, sales have been weak.

Nintendo could be the first to take 3D mainstream. It will ship 4 million units over the next month.

But some have speculated that even though the 3DS will help consumers to get used to the new technology, in the short term it might not be much of a boost for the wider electronics industry.

People may be tempted to put off buying a 3D television in anticipation that manufacturers may develop versions that can be used without glasses too.

Net profits slumped by 74% to 49.5bn yen ($598m; £372m) in the nine months to December on the back of falling sales and the strong yen.

The company faces tough competition from Sony and Microsoft, and new entrants to the games market like Apple's iPod and iPhone and other smartphones.

Games like the hugely successful Angry Birds are a fraction of the price of Nintendo's titles.

"Nintendo makes software for our own hardware," says Mr Miyamoto.

"Of course I try to make software that is valuable enough for customers to pay for it. So the fact that different types of games are available to customers, and what happens to Nintendo's games seems a separate issue to me.

"So my goal is to continue creating the software to high standards. As long as we keep doing that, I believe our business will follow."

An innovator he may be, but Mr Miyamoto is in some ways a typical Japanese salaryman.

He has worked for Nintendo since 1977, never creating a company in his own name, nor the vast fortune to go with it.

When asked why, he laughs.

"Maybe I am richer than you think," he says.

"But seriously, it is not me, myself, creating any software at all. I am working comfortably with a bunch of other colleagues and that is how I like my job."

So let's get the ball rolling about 3D as the 'future of games' then. What do you guys think?

[Mr Cochese]

When someone says 3D I still think of primitive vector graphics games such as Elite or Mercenary.

[moosegrinder]

Like cinema I think it's fucking bollocks and it can fuck off to a corner and die a death.

It won't, though. Too much money has been invested in it.

[womblingfree]

Once they've they sorted out the fact that it looks like a diorama, gives you eye-strain after a while, sometimes a headache, usually requires daft glasses and doesn't look as good as 2d it'll be the future.

[NecroMorrius]

The jump to stereoscopic 3D is infinitely smaller and less significant than the jump from 2D to polygonal 3D. Remember the first time you saw Mario 64 (or whichever 'fully 3D' game you care to mention) and were amazed at how he ran in and out of the screen?

[Mr Cochese]

I remember playing Interphase on Amiga and thinking it was the future of futuristic stuff.

[suzzopher]

With the only means of playing games in 3D at a mass market price being optional, 3D is not the next big thing.

[El Spatula]

He would say that wouldn't he to be fair.

If he was all like "3D is fucking shite for gaming and the worst idea ever plus it makes people have brain haemhorrages and peoples eyes have exploded" then I'd be a bit more surprised.

[RubberJohnny]

As someone who doesn't understand why people give a fuck about graphics quality, I dislike yet another graphics technology that comes at the expense of performance. Yawn.

Also fuck all the TV manufacturers who got greedy and decided 3DTV was going to be a several thousand pound "lifestyle upgrade", if they wanted to make everyone have 3DTVs they could just have cheaply produced 120Hz HDTVs.

[Tetchy]

I love the quote "Maybe I am richer than you think" and really think someone needs to gif this

into the new IT PRINTS MONEY!!!

[Massive Invisible Dog]

Why would anyone want it to die? There might be big limitations in the way it works across all mediums at the moment, but why wouldn't you want it once all of those problems have been ironed out? Particularly for games.

[Vorgot]

Same as with the cinema, it's a gimmick and will hopefully be left to rot in it's own good time.

At the cinema, it's already ruining films. I've sat through a lot of kids movies (my boys are 5 and 7), but we only watch them in 2D. The way some of the scenes are set up, it's obviously just meant to get the audience go 'woooo' if they are watching in 3D. It's fucking annoying. Avatar, the 3D breakthrough film, had one of the most hackneyed, obvious, preachy, wanky plots ever, yet it got numerous awards, including a Best Film Oscar nomination, because it looked great in 3D. Give it special effects, or cinematography awards yes, but it made a wanky film.

What 3D does is force film makers and game makers to compromise. I bet with the power in the 3DS the Ridge Racer game would look a hell of a lot more impressive. But because it has to generate 2 images, corners have to be cut, sacrifices have to be made. ANd the fact that you head has to be in a specific sweet spot to get the effect properly? Good luck with that on the train, you'll be jolted out of the immersion every 30 seconds.

If developers feel they have to put 3D in a game as standard, it'll just lead to more gimmicky crap, and less of the games that are great for their own sake. I hope it dies a death.

Of course, I am naturally bitter and twisted against it, because like 12% of the population, I can't see the 3D effect. So movies and games get fucked over for me. I can see where I should say 'woooo' but all I see is something jolting me out of the immersion I have in the film.

[Stanley]

I think he has a point because now more than ever 3D is getting pushed and pushed. It's baby steps though. I'm a complete layman when it comes to this technology but it seems apparent that it's going to take a good few years longer before we start seeing games that really make good use of it.

I'm more interested in the AR side of things and how that mixes 3D graphics with real world suroundings.

I'm more than a little excited about the 3DS.

[user removed]

Won't somebody think of the porn!

[Alex W.]

All this amazing technology, it just makes me more eager for the BBC to discover paragraphs.

Nintendo has grown to lead the video games industry - predicted to be worth $68bn in annual sales by 2012 - by creating colourful worlds, full of visual stimulation. But the company's offices in Kyoto are quite the opposite. Even by the standards of Japanese corporations it is, to say the least, understated. The lobby is large and anonymous, with white tiled floors and white walls, the monotony is broken only by a single receptionist sitting behind a small desk, and a row of framed ceramic plates painted with traditional scenes - carp fish and bamboo groves.

But it is in these austere surroundings that Shigeru Miyamoto has come up with his latest innovation that he thinks will help Nintendo maintain its dominance of the games console business. The sparsely decorated lobby at the Nintendo Kyoto office is a stark contrast to the colourful worlds created in its games. Few video games designers get on the Time 100 most influential people of the year list, but then Miyamoto-san virtually invented the genre with Donkey Kong. The name was his idea too, found by looking up the words "stubborn" and "gorilla" in an English dictionary. Mario, a character in that game, spun off into numerous different titles.

Mr Miyamoto has been the genius behind Nintendo ever since, working not just on games, but hardware like the Wii too. For a man who will be 60 next year he comes across as almost childlike, with a face quick to smile. And that he says, in a rare interview, is the secret of his success. "One thing I can say is I am constantly thinking," he says. "Most of the fun things I find cannot necessarily be turned into video games right away. But it grows, and one day, it all comes together. "So it's not like one day I get a strong inspiration for an idea. Most of the time, what I experience in life turns into a game eventually," said Mr Miyamoto. He says the hit Nintendogs is an example. It was inspired by the Miyamoto family's pet.

A new hand-held console, the 3DS, was launched in Japan over the weekend. Unlike 3D televisions and films, it can be used without special glasses. "3D is nothing new in our world," says Mr Miyamoto, brandishing one of the machines. "When we were young we used to experience 3D with the type of glasses with red and blue lenses. And today, in order for many people to view 3D films, they definitely need some special glasses. But the beauty of our Nintendo 3DS is because we use a portable device it allows everyone to enjoy 3D anywhere they go." The console is in a clamshell shape, and has two screens. The top one is 3D and the technology works by vertical lines blocking half the pixels from the view of each eye when its held at the usual distance in front of the face. The user can set the depth of the 3D effect by using a slider control on the side, something of which Mr Miyamoto is particularly proud.

While 3D televisions have been around for a while, and 3D camcorders are starting to be released, sales have been weak. Nintendo could be the first to take 3D mainstream. It will ship 4 million units over the next month. But some have speculated that even though the 3DS will help consumers to get used to the new technology, in the short term it might not be much of a boost for the wider electronics industry. People may be tempted to put off buying a 3D television in anticipation that manufacturers may develop versions that can be used without glasses too.

Net profits slumped by 74% to 49.5bn yen ($598m; £372m) in the nine months to December on the back of falling sales and the strong yen. The company faces tough competition from Sony and Microsoft, and new entrants to the games market like Apple's iPod and iPhone and other smartphones. Games like the hugely successful Angry Birds are a fraction of the price of Nintendo's titles. "Nintendo makes software for our own hardware," says Mr Miyamoto. "Of course I try to make software that is valuable enough for customers to pay for it. So the fact that different types of games are available to customers, and what happens to Nintendo's games seems a separate issue to me. "So my goal is to continue creating the software to high standards. As long as we keep doing that, I believe our business will follow."

An innovator he may be, but Mr Miyamoto is in some ways a typical Japanese salaryman. He has worked for Nintendo since 1977, never creating a company in his own name, nor the vast fortune to go with it. When asked why, he laughs. "Maybe I am richer than you think," he says, "but seriously, it is not me, myself, creating any software at all. I am working comfortably with a bunch of other colleagues and that is how I like my job."

Look at that, no change in content at all and it's gone from looking like a scattered pile of unrelated gibberish to a coherent, narrative-led news article.

[Alex W.]

The jump to stereoscopic 3D is infinitely smaller and less significant than the jump from 2D to polygonal 3D. Remember the first time you saw Mario 64 (or whichever 'fully 3D' game you care to mention) and were amazed at how he ran in and out of the screen?

Mode 7 was enough for me. Watching F-Zero in a shop window was mind-boggling.

[Stanley]

Why would anyone want it to die? There might be big limitations in the way it works across all mediums at the moment, but why wouldn't you want it once all of those problems have been ironed out? Particularly for games.

They're like the flat earth society, unable to comprehend change.

Do people really believe we're gonna be staring at flat 2D panels for the rest of human existence?

[moosegrinder]

Won't somebody think of the porn!

Porn's bad enough in HD, but in 3D HD?! No fucking thanks.

[Matteo]

I think 3D could be good, depending on the games. I havent played or seen a 3D games yet, so Im curious.

But I still play games on a SD tv, and Im quite happy about it. I think HD gaming is a fad and I am equally happy to play a Wii game as I am playing a PS2 or a 360.

If 3D becomes more of a revolution that HD was, all the better.

[Massive Invisible Dog]

Even if it's not going to make a significant change to how games play, it's like looking at an ancient HDTV with some lag and saying "WELL THIS IS RUBBISH HDTV CAN FUCK OFF I'LL STICK WITH MY CRT FOREVER".

I think HD gaming is a fad

Yeah, we'll probably all be going back to CRTs next gen. Idiot.

[Sprite Machine]

Same as with the cinema, it's a gimmick and will hopefully be left to rot in it's own good time.

Of course, I am naturally bitter and twisted against it, because like 12% of the population, I can't see the 3D effect.

Then how can you possibly say it's a gimmick?

[Kinketsu]

Like cinema I think it's fucking bollocks and it can fuck off to a corner and die a death.

It won't, though. Too much money has been invested in it.

Indeed. Though I'm a bit biased as well, if all movies and games become 3D I won't be able to see them and I'll have lost two of my hobbies. Generally though, it just seems a bit odd. They had about ten years of 3D fad in the 50s and it wasn't the end of 2D media to say the least. I can't imagine how some of my best loved movies would be better if they were floating in front of my face, and likewise I don't think Civ Revolution or GTA or Shogun Total War or whatever would be better with the same effect.

They're like the flat earth society, unable to comprehend change.

Do people really believe we're gonna be staring at flat 2D panels for the rest of human existence?

Well it's sort of like audio books coming out and saying "That's it, it's perfect, why would anyone read a book anymore?" or something.

[NecroMorrius]

Mode 7 was enough for me. Watching F-Zero in a shop window was mind-boggling.

Hehe, yeah. Still, there was always something about these games (Doom is a good example too) which didn't look quite right.

When you first saw a true 3D environment, it was mindblowing.

[Alex W.]

I think HD gaming is a fad and I am equally happy to play a Wii game as I am playing a PS2 or a 360.

Like it or not, you're never going to be able to buy an SD telly again*, so I think it's safe to assume that games consoles will be in some high definition format for the rest of time.

*This is the cheapest telly Curry's will sell to you now. While I'm sure you could scrounge up an SD-resolution LCD somewhere, they're not a technology which has a future.

[Matteo]

sorry, I meant overrated, or over-hyped, or does not really add anything to my enjoyment of the game.

TBH I rather skip the HD generation and go straight to the 3D one, if that was feasible.

[Alex W.]

Hehe, yeah. Still, there was always something about these games (Doom is a good example too) which didn't look quite right.

When you first saw a true 3D environment, it was mindblowing.

In my case that was Star Wing, come to think of it. Perhaps I wouldn't be as rabidly interested in games now if the SNES hadn't come out when it did.

[Alex W.]

sorry, I meant overrated, or over-hyped, or does not really add anything to my enjoyment of the game.

Well, I'd say that it's at least a quantitative improvement in enjoyment, but I understand what you mean. It's not like when analogue joysticks came out or anything like that. Perhaps more like going from composite to RGB.

[Sprite Machine]

Indeed. Though I'm a bit biased as well, if all movies and games become 3D I won't be able to see them and I'll have lost two of my hobbies.

[Massive Invisible Dog]

Then how can you possibly say it's a gimmick?

I wonder if everyone who was colour blind around the time colour cinema started came out against it and called it a gimmick.

[NecroMorrius]

I love the 'they said that about colour!' argument. Also include sound, widescreen, HD etc.