Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo is a unique figure in the video game industry. He played a key role in the formative years of the industry, helping to imagine what video game could become, and he’s still doing so decades later. However, there’s one thing about Miyamoto that stands out beyond his legacy, that being how much he cares not just about what he creates, but about the people that play games. Thus, it’s no surprise then that Miyamoto has strong feelings about violence in video games.
In an interview with Miyamoto, the New Yorker asked about the Nintendo icon’s feelings regarding video game violence. To start, Miyamoto is asked about a story that’s been shared for some time regarding the Nintendo 64 game GoldenEye 007. In the story, Miyamoto purportedly said he disliked how many people Bond kills, recommending Bond visit his victims in the hospital during the end credits. However, Miyamoto didn’t verify the truth of this story.
What Miyamoto does say is he acknowledges that humans are “wired to experience joy when we throw a ball and hit a target.” While he admits this is human nature, he also believes that it would be great if game developers found other, new ways to “elicit joy in their players.” That’s how Miyamoto approaches the idea of shooters and shooting gameplay in general.
The violence of shooting gameplay is a different matter, though of course Miyamoto focuses on the art and design elements of the topic. “I resist the idea that it’s O.K. to simply kill all monsters,” he said, in reference to how shooters allow players to kill all of their enemies, effectively treating them like monsters. Miyamoto describes how a filmmaker or writer should be able to allow “the viewer to see, close up, the human impact of the action.”
“It would be great if video-game makers took more steps to shift the perspective,” Miyamoto said, “instead of always viewing a scene from the most obvious angle.” Miyamoto is perhaps directly referencing the GoldenEye 007 story, though this is unclear. While that would be an obviously exaggerated example, his statement does go to show how Miyamoto approaches the concept of violence in video games.
Another question asked by the New Yorker provides an excellent idea of just who Miyamoto is and what he believes, even outside of video games and Nintendo. Asked if he could change the design of the real world, what he would do, Miyamoto said, “I wish I could make it so that people were more thoughtful and kind toward each other.”
Source: The New Yorker
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