Mummelmann said:
According to him, prior to 2013, online play was bunk because it "would have limited the size of the audience that could enjoy those features", which is clearly hogwash. He never understood the importance of online and it had already been huge for a good 5-6 years at that point. https://www.destructoid.com/miyamoto-on-why-super-mario-3d-world-doesn-t-have-online-264340.phtml In late 2013, he claims that online Mario could be something to consider "in ten years time", those are the words of someone without a clue, doubly so seeing Nintendo recent mobile efforts. They're still clinging to the notion that local multiplayer is the shizzle though, the Switch has inherited this philosophy, and I think that it's a not-so great idea, all in all. http://www.gamespot.com/articles/no-online-support-planned-for-star-fox-zero-miyamo/1100-6428286/ No online for Starfox in 2015, focusing instead on single player. https://gamerant.com/miyamoto-interview-personal-poole-24104/ "To be honest, I think it’s rather unfair whenever I hear such comments — that Nintendo isn’t proactive when it comes to its online strategy. The fact of the matter is that we always want all Wii consoles to be connected online, all the time, so Nintendo has never been less than proactive in that kind of endeavor" That was during the Wii days, they made practically zero effort on online, besides some VC titles and they were lagging years behind the competition. http://gametyrant.com/news/watch-a-cool-video-about-shigeru-miyamotos-philosophy-to-gaming It seems that he still consider online gaming a "trend", his hat has gotten tight over the years, it seems, and he still hasn't learned his lesson. "For example, there are opportunities to take advantage of online to expand a local, same-room multiplayer experience by connecting that to the internet and making new types of play that way. Also by having the smaller screen, being able to go online and perhaps see what game your friend is playing or see what TV they're watching, I think there's a lot of possibilities for how you could use that. Certainly internet functionality is something that will be important for the system" Using online component to improve local multiplayer and same room gaming experiences... Going online to see what your friend is playing or what they'r watching on TV, and this was in 2011, way after online had exploded completely globally. The above is a person talking nonsense, in case that's hard to identify. http://money.cnn.com/2002/03/06/technology/column_gaming/ In online gaming's infancy, while Sony, MS and the majority of the PC community already claimed that it was the future of gaming, Miyamoto simply frowned upon online gaming, likening it to "using violence in video games". Such foresight.
Look; it's well known that Miyamoto has been holding Nintendo back in certain areas and that he's a die-hard traditionalist who is not overly fond of change. His stance on online gaming and user generated content is very well known in the industry, and rather well documented at that. This is no secret and has been a huge topic for discussion online for at least a decade, his constant insistence on 3D is much along the same line of reasoning and anyone who has spent any time in here or elsewhere online discussing games would know as much. |
I appreciate you took the time to bring all of this up with sources. I stand corrected. Though it doesn't necessarily change my stance or perception of Miyamoto despite that. I mean I get that he's not perfect, but who else is? Or maybe he suits my needs in gaming because
In regards to the Mario and online source, he probably didn't see online platforming with Mario at the time. And with mobile, he seemed to embrace Mario Run and what it could provide. I mean sure you can share levels in Little Big Planet, but what else? Maybe it's just me, but besides Mario Maker and Run, what else could Mario do for online play that can enhance 2D and 3D platforming? Maybe Odyssey will solve that but who knows.
And with online in general, it's not like he's completely resisted. He encouraged devs to make games like Splatoon and ARMS, games that have or will have online components. Heck, he thought Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon would benefit with online multiplayer. So he's come around a bit.
And what's wrong with keeping local multiplayer for the Switch? Fans of Halo were critical of 5 not having couch co-op story campaign like the past games and having to instead have online co-op only. While online multiplayer is something important, you don't have to lose local multiplayer. Even in an online world, there's still value in playing Smash or Mario Kart with friends together in the living room or something. In fact, believe it or not, as long as I have being playing games, Mass Effect 3 was the first game where I attempted to invest in online multiplayer. Granted, probably not the best first game to try online (hearing players make bad comments about me and not even have a chance to catch up with them as a player). The only games I enjoyed investing in online play are Splatoon and Overwatch, accessible and fun. I'm sure there are those who are like that but don't show their presence often in forums like these.
