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[Eolz]

I don't really disagree.
And when you read completely his interviews about this subject, you understand he's not against this. But not with a local multiplayer centric console, nor as long as this isn't appealing visually or ready in terms of mainstream price.

 

[Oersted]

Nobody at Nintendo has the heart to tell him about online play. That's the only possibility at this point.

He pushed for online in Luigis Mansion.

 

[LiamR]

He's right.

Burned by past experiences.

 

[Neuromancer]

This is exactly why I'm so excited about it.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I have to be honest, VR is a weird experience. When you're in it, you're really in it. When you watch someone do it, you have this, like, intense anxiety/excitement about that they're doing it and you want to try it too. But it's also conceivable to build a VR experience with multiple players; imagine two helmets in the same room, using external cameras to build an AR interactive experience where you can see the other player in the same room with you? Or bring that player into your virtual world. I think it could be cool. This is early days yet.

 

[Canis lupus]

I'm playing my games with 2 other people, it's gonna be shitty to have 1 person experience all the "wow holy shiyot" moments intended for the game in VR while the other 2 watch it on the telly.

 

[OverturePT]

I don't know. I'm eager to try VR but I'm not sure everyone needs to jump into this train this early. It's obvious their philosophy is a bit different than what we get from VR and I don't blame them for not wanting anything with it right now.


I also don't enjoy the idea of asking a friend to bring another beer and force him and me to take off his almighty helmet to see what the fuck we're doing. Seeing their faces of disappointment when I Smash them (cmon SSBU, come out already) is also incredibly fun so I understand what he means when he says that VR is something that people will use to play by themselves (physically, obviously online is another story).

 

[Sammy Samusu]

That's how I always play console games, by myself in a corner. So yeah, that doesn't bother me.

 

[Fantasy Final]

It really feels like Nintendo is being run by a one and single person's opinion. Remember on the Smash Tournament? Because Miyamoto was watching it, it might return. Why decisions always have him involved?

 

[eznark]

Pretty much. Only problem is that he is kind of painting it as inherently negative. I don't think it's necessarily negative, it just isn't something for me.

 

[Damaniel]

Shit is about to hit the wall. But Miyamoto seems to value games you can experience with others.

But he's under the impression that the only way to do that is with a person sitting next to you on the couch. We've had this thing called 'online multiplayer' for years now. It works great, even. Sadly, it's as if Miyamoto is completely unaware that online play exists.

 

[BIONIC-ARRRMMM!!]

Maybe you should have told them that before making the Virtual Boy.

It's a well known fact that people can't change their philosophies in the span of 20 years.

 

[_Ryo_]

Is he salty that Virtual Boy failed Nintendo or what? After all these years, woah.

 

[JoeInky]

I will say, it is weird that the indie scene has seen a resurgence of couch-games like Towerfall and Niddhogg, only for the next big thing to be games where you basically isolate yourself from the outside world completely.

I think it's great that there seems to be more indie games bringing back local multiplayer lately, I had a blast the last couple of weeks playing gangbeasts with friends.


Hopefully when VR gets released they won't all drop what they're doing and go back to trying to make shitty art game experiences for it.

 

[Waaghals]

I was not aware that online multiplayer/LAN was so hard to get your head around.

 

[DVCY201]

Wow, tough crowd in here. This will not go over well at all.

I understand his viewpoint, and I can empathize with it. It is isolating, moreso than I think people are imagining. Miyamoto is probably waiting until VR can be a focus on the living room and has a greater audience of people, rather than just the hardcore.

 

[DigitalRicket]

I understand what he's trying to say but it kind of sounds like sour grapes. Wii U isn't targeting the same demographic as occulus.

Exactly. Remember how hard it was for them to market the 3D capabilities of the 3DS before and after its launch? Imagine them trying to show off what VR could do. VR is nowhere near where it needs to be even for mainstream that why even Sony's Morpheus project has still only been shown at trade shows and is for sure at least a year to 2 years away before they even start letting consumers get their hands on something close to a final product.

And look at the Wii U. Which games are selling the console? At the moment it's Mario Kart which is a party game for families and friends (as well as online). Smash Bros. is their next game, Splatoon coming later, and so on. Nintendo's games have never been about the super hardcore, not even their most traditional titles like Metroid and Zelda. The only game I could see benefiting from this would be a Metroid Prime type game since Samus' journey is such a solitary journey but then again that's just one game.

One more final point, Nintendo is already having trouble making hardware at an affordable price point that make the system accessible and also profitable. VR r&d and then hardware costs would make the selling price pretty high which would not get people flocking to Nintendo.

 

[atomsk]

Reminds me of that Yamauchi quote about RPGs

[People who play RPGs are] "depressed gamers who like to sit alone in their dark rooms and play slow games."

 

[Syril]

Once again, a Japanese developer decides that your friends on the internet don't count as actual people.

That's nothing compared to all the games that decided that my friends in the same room don't count as actual people.

 

[warthog]

There's a warmer side of me. I think it's called a battery.

 

[FrostuTheNinja]

I have to be honest, VR is a weird experience. When you're in it, you're really in it. When you watch someone do it, you have this, like, intense anxiety/excitement about that they're doing it and you want to try it too. But it's also conceivable to build a VR experience with multiple players; imagine two helmets in the same room, using external cameras to build an AR interactive experience where you can see the other player in the same room with you? Or bring that player into your virtual world. I think it could be cool. This is early days yet.

Hand over a spongebat and let me have a sword duel with my friend.

Someone make this happen now.

 

[Azric]

Someone shop him into a corner.

NO, Someone photoshop that pic into THIS, would be incredible

 

[Aaronrules380]

It's funny how people are reacting to a cherry picked quote that is taken out of context as well, so here's the actual full response

We’ve been doing our own experiments with virtual reality dating back to the Virtual Boy. And even to some degree, the 3DS was designed with a little bit of this in mind with its stereoscopic 3D. So we’re always looking at hardware and assessing what’s possible.

And of course we understand that the hardware and technology have begun to drop in price. It’s still not at a cost basis that makes it easy for everyone to purchase as a mass-market product. But certainly it’s dropped somewhat.

As game designers, we at Nintendo are interested in VR technology and what it can do, but at the same time what we’re trying to do with Wii U is to create games for everyone in the living room. We want the Wii U to be a game system that brings video gamers into the living room. As as I explained last night [Sunday, June 8], it’s intended to be fun not only for the person who’s playing, but also for the people who are watching.

When you think about what virtual reality is, which is one person putting on some goggles and playing by themselves kind of over in a corner, or maybe they go into a separate room and they spend all their time alone playing in that virtual reality, that’s in direct contrast with what it is we’re trying to achieve with Wii U. And so I have a little bit of uneasiness with whether or not that’s the best way for people to play.

So from Nintendo’s perspective, there’s interest in the technology, but we think it might be better suited to some sort of attraction style of entertainment, say something at a video game arcade or things like that, rather than something that one person plays alone.

 

[CO_Andy]

Watching SAO must of turned him off to VR.

 

[ratcliffja]

I have to be honest, VR is a weird experience. When you're in it, you're really in it. When you watch someone do it, you have this, like, intense anxiety/excitement about that they're doing it and you want to try it too. But it's also conceivable to build a VR experience with multiple players; imagine two helmets in the same room, using external cameras to build an AR interactive experience where you can see the other player in the same room with you? Or bring that player into your virtual world. I think it could be cool. This is early days yet.

Yeah I think that's the eventual goal. My main hesitation with VR right now is that I like to play games with my wife where she can watch or join with me. That just isn't possible with VR right now without having two computers and two expensive headsets. I would be willing to buy two headsets, but having two computers capable of running VR well would be pretty pricy.

 

[Wynnebeck]

Not even remotely the same level of isolation. Try again.

Obviously, but it's pretty funny to have been apart of Virtual Boy and to make the Wii U pad a solitary unit and then go on to talk about Oculus and Morpheus. Feel free to get upset about it though.

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

Miyamoto didn't make the Virtual Boy, Gunpei Yokoi did. And it flopped massively, so they are no doubt still hurting from that lesson.

I know, I thought a man of his caliber, his opinion would have some weight.

 

[Timeaisis]

Notice that he's not saying "VR is dumb", just that it's opposite of Nintendo's strategy. Let's not jump through all the obvious logical hoops to arrive at said conclusion.

That being said, I'm excited for the possibilities of VR for first person experiences. But he's 100% right in saying it completely loses the whole "playing together" aspect that has been so key to Nintendo strategy in the past. Different strokes, everyone.

Also, I forsee this thread going south real soon.

 

[googleplex]

Way to miss the point Miyamoto. This is some serious old man yells at cloud shit.

 

[kitsuneyo]

It really feels like Nintendo is being run by a one and single person's opinion. Remember on the Smash Tournament? Because Miyamoto was watching it, it might return. Why decisions always have him involved?

He's a creative director... But I agree, it often feels like he's holding them back.

 

[Natureboy99]

Isn't Wii U one person playing on the system's only tablet?

No kidding. VR is great for couch multiplayer for exactly the same reasons as the WiiU game pad. To me his comment was just a scared admission that Nintendo hasn't set foot in the VR world (since Virtual Boy) and needs to downplay it or else look way out of touch.

That said, isolation really is a VR challenge. I appreciate that some vendors are putting in the TV feed to see what the VR person sees.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I mean, he's right. But that's also a totally legitimate way to play a game. No-one's going to play Zelda U in a communal fashion, for example.

 

[Mr-Joker]

Maybe you should have told them that before making the Virtual Boy.

Miyamoto wasn't involved with the Virtual boy and beside that system was rushed out of the door.

He's right with that statement. VR is certainly not a good thing for every game, especially a lot of the Nintendo games. I understand what he wants to say with it.

I mean, a game like Zelda and Metroid could benefit from it, most of their platformers and partygames not so much imo.

This pretty much, Virtual reality doesn't really fit with Nintendo games and that's where Miyamoto is coming from.

Personally think that Virtual reality will be a fad.

 

[SmokeMaxX]

Yeah Mario Party where one person plays as Bowser while four friends sit on the couch and try not to lose lives = one person playing a game with a tv strapped to his head. Seriously? That's the argument some of you guys are going with?

VR will be cool with some games, but obviously NIntendo is about fostering the living room environment, not about playing with randoms online. It's pretty sad to see so many people shitting on Nintendo for that since local coop is the essence of gaming. I do a lot of online gaming myself, but I'd never want to replace local coop.

 

[Eolz]

It really feels like Nintendo is being run by a one and single person's opinion. Remember on the Smash Tournament? Because Miyamoto was watching it, it might return. Why decisions always have him involved?

Because he had more than a hand in shaping what is modern Nintendo and he is at position where his opinion is more important than others (even if they would follow Iwata). He'll probably still be advisor when he retires from his current position, and future Nintendo would follow his advices/mindset after his death, like with Yamuachi (and with good reason).

 

[akidnamededdy]

Is he salty that Virtual Boy failed Nintendo or what? After all these years, woah.

Pretty sure that was Yokoi's baby and not Miyamoto's.

Anyway, can't really say I disagree with him...maybe my opinion will change whenever I happen to try Oculus/Morpheus, but I'm not exactly super excited about VR.

 

[ShinMaruku]

Nobody at Nintendo has the heart to tell him about online play. That's the only possibility at this point.

When you see how online play really works with people all ramboing or staying in their corner and a few people actually using it as it would be most beneficial he has a point. Online behavior is rarely cooperative and when you force it with negative feedback loops you get toxic shitholes called mobas .

Just adding online won't fix the need for human interaction unless the people know how to use it, most people online don't have those skills.

 

[Mononoke]

Maybe right now it is, but there is so many possibilities that VR can offer us. I imagine how cool it will be playing this immersed in a game with other friends using VR. I feel like this mentality is the same kind of outdated mentality that believed playing online with people vs. playing with them on your couch, is less connected.

It's true that an element of human connection is lost when you play online vs. physically being in the same room. But the reality is, not all family and friends live close together. And the internet IS a way we can virtually play together in the same room or on the same couch. I don't agree that it's less connected. So I respect Miyamato, but I think he's behind the curve again. Not all progress is a bad thing.

 

[dream]

Not even remotely the same level of isolation. Try again.

No? If we're talking about communal gaming, whether it's VR or Wii U only one person gets the full experience while the other people in the room are on the sidelines.

 

[Neuromancer]

It's funny how people are reacting to a cherry picked quote that is taken out of context as well, so here's the actual full response

While interesting, I don't think that really changes the spirit of what he was saying.

 

[OverturePT]

Some people are missing his point, he wants to make games where people can play together in the same house. He's obviously not saying gaming shouldn't be played alone, in a corner, like 100% of people do one time or another, he's just saying that's not what he wants for their games. Is bashing Miyamoto suddenly cool for every reason imaginable? lol

 

[linko9]

I mean, he's not wrong. I've worried for a while that VR won't ever really catch on outside of the very hardcore for this reason; on the surface, it's the definition of someone shutting themselves out from the rest of the world, and I think it will always have that stigma attached to it. I usually play games alone, so it doesn't really affect me, but I think it's going to be really hard to get mass market appeal, or anything close to it.

 

[Davey Cakes]

What's with all the bitter responses to this? He's not really attacking VR. He just seems concerned.

People hear the opinion and then go straight to attacking the Gamepad. Really?

 

[Kouichi]

Through out E3, Miyamoto said that his design philosophy behind the Wii U is to make a living room system where multiple people can join and interact with each other as they play the game, so I'm not surprised by his feelings toward VR. It simply goes against the way he wants to make games and there's nothing wrong with that.

Watch the Project Guard demo to get a good idea of this.

 

[OnPoint]

I understand what he's trying to say but it kind of sounds like sour grapes. Wii U isn't targeting the same demographic as occulus.

There's a market Nintendo is clearly missing out on by avoiding VR, but sour grapes implies they're mad they didn't get to it first or something. I don't think that's what's going on here.

 

[daxgame]

Nintendo really loves that cave they're living in.

Miyamoto = Nintendo in a blink ? It's his opinion, and I can even share part of it.

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

Miyamoto wasn't involved with the Virtual boy and beside that system was rushed out of the door.

I refer you to my previous post.

 

[backflip10019]

I'm not sure when every game started needing to become a community experience. There are some games that would obviously excel by being placed in a virtual setting and others that work far better in a community setting. Not sure why Miyamoto thinks everything needs to be black and white.

Come to think of it, an intensely personal game that's filled with introspection on the part of the player in a virtual setting could certainly be defining. "Personal experience" is in no way negative. It's just different.

 

[MDSLKTR]

Cool, me I'd hide in a corner away from this:

 

[Rollo Lawson]

I have to be honest, VR is a weird experience. When you're in it, you're really in it. When you watch someone do it, you have this, like, intense anxiety/excitement about that they're doing it and you want to try it too. But it's also conceivable to build a VR experience with multiple players; imagine two helmets in the same room, using external cameras to build an AR interactive experience where you can see the other player in the same room with you? Or bring that player into your virtual world. I think it could be cool. This is early days yet.

My thoughts exactly. He has a point in that...unless you have a number of them plugged into the same experience it's pretty exclusionary. And really specific a choice.