We are ready for you. Please, go ahead.
That concludes the explanation. Now, a few words from Miyamoto-san.
Hello. Thank you all for coming all the way to Kyoto today. Can you hear me? Yes. Well, this has all come about, and I feel incredibly embarrassed, but I am truly honored to have been chosen for such a prestigious award. As I always say, I don't create these things alone as an artist. It is the result of working with many people, so I will accept this award as their representative. Lately, I haven't been limited to just games; I've been working with people from many other fields, such as on the Universal park and making movies. I want to share the joy of this award with everyone. Once I start talking, I never stop, so I'd like to take your questions as we go along. Shall we get started then? Oh, yes.
We have the 40th and 45th anniversaries for Zelda and Mario, and I often introduce myself as having made games for 45 years, but when I think about it, I joined Nintendo in 1977. Games started becoming popular right after that, and I got involved in that work, so actually, that makes it 50 years, and next year will be 51, so since it's easier to count, I think I'll say "it's been 50 years" today.
Fifty years ago, I got involved in a medium that wasn't even sure to have a future, and I've been able to work in it ever since, so I truly believe I've been treated this way because I was there from the start, and I feel I've had a very lucky life. I will now take your questions. Yes.
We will now begin the Q&A session. Next, the person in the front row of the far-right block, on the south side.
Hello, my name is Ta, from Nico Gamer at Mare Den Co., Ltd. Congratulations on your award. My question is, I feel this award symbolizes how the position of games in society has truly changed. As you mentioned earlier, Mr. Miyamoto, I believe the standing of games in society has changed significantly over the last 50 years. How do you view the relationship between games and society today, and what would you like to see games become in society moving forward? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Yes, thank you very much. There are many different media members here today, so I'll be speaking while considering how much I should delve into this. As you just mentioned, rather than society as a whole, for Nintendo, back when I was a child, there were products like Nintendo's board games—home versions—like Diamond Game or Rocket Game. We would take them out and play together during the New Year's holidays. The same goes for card games. We'd stack them on top of the chest for the year, then bring them out again to play when the New Year came around. I've always thought that kind of relationship between Nintendo and daily life was a good one. So, when I started making video games, I felt it was very "Nintendo" to create something where a game console is at the center of the living room, with everyone relaxing and spending time together there; that's how I've been making them, and in doing so, I've aimed not just to create for those who already play, but to always make things that might interest those who don't. That's why I've proceeded with the mindset of continuing to create things that wouldn't look out of place in a living room. And I felt that was really, um, very good, it helped differentiate us from others, and I came to feel that it really suited me.
But that wasn't really about connections to society or anything like that; I started making games around age 26 or 27, and I'm a player myself. Back then, people my age weren't really playing games, but gradually, fathers became a generation that grew up playing games, and before you know it, we're at the grandfather stage, where grandfathers also grew up playing games. I think it's huge that these three generations of a family know about games; that means the connection has deepened, and I am very grateful that people are suggesting we see it as a culture. So, I think I will probably keep doing that, creating things that can be used even by people who aren't interested in games—or rather, not just games, but this kind of new media—things that can always be at the center of the living room, and I'll continue to do my best. Yes. Yes. Thank you very much. Next question, please.
My name is Abe from the newspaper. It is a pleasure to meet you. Looking back on your activities so far, how do you perceive the reasons that led to this award? Also, I would appreciate it if you could tell me about any particular difficulties or turning points that left an impression on you during that process. Thank you.
That's a very difficult question. Let me see. Well, anyway, as I mentioned earlier, my goal was to make things that as many people as possible could enjoy. In any case, the era of moving from the GameCube to the Wii was a time of quite a lot of soul-searching for me. Games kept evolving along with the people who played them, game consoles became higher-performance, and the players' skills kept rising; that was the era we were in for a long time. When I stopped to take a look, there was this talk in middle schools and the like about "otaku" or "people who play games," and it felt like the world was creating a divide between those who play and those who don't. I went through a period where I really felt that people were being pushed into those categories. So I thought, "No, that's not right. Wouldn't it be ideal if gaming just blended into everyday life, something you're always in contact with?" And I realized that the controllers we were making to try and improve our games were becoming so complex that they were intimidating to newcomers, so with the Wii and the DS, we tried to strip everything back to a very simple form for the first time. And you know, as we repeated that kind of process, gradually the generation I mentioned earlier... it spanned three generations, and playing games became a relatively normal part of everyday life. I think the rapid advancement of smartphones and mobile technology contributed significantly to this, but it really did become part of daily life.
And besides, you know... well, we call them "games," but I haven't just been focused on making games; I've come to find the medium of "interactivity" to be what's really interesting. Games are the most easily understood form of interactive media, where you do something and the other party responds. And then, before you know it, time has passed while you've been repeating that process of trial and error. I thought it would be ideal if that time spent was enjoyable, so back in the day—since I come from an industrial design background—there was design CAD software. Industrial design CAD or 3D CAD, I think those are the ultimate toys. I can't master them myself, but using a computer to interact, going through all that trial and error, you realize a huge amount of time has passed. And to me, that is essentially a game. I've always aimed to create more things like that, but of course, it always leads to the debate of, "Is that really a game?" So, even if it's not a game, there are devices that use interactive media to help people forget about their daily lives. That kind of apparatus exists.
Another thing is that when using such things, games place a huge importance on whether or not they can be used comfortably. I've always thought that among all the people in the world designing computer interfaces, no one takes interface design as seriously as game developers do. So, while making games, we consider if it's easy for the customer to understand, if it moves as intended, how the response is, what the reaction speed is, and how to prevent mistakes—how to build it ergonomically so that people don't make errors. Well, when you use the web in your daily life, the response might be poor, or even if there's a "yes/no" question, the default button is set to the opposite of what most people would actually want. People end up making mistakes by accident, but game developers are the type of people who can design with meticulous attention to those details, so they take that very seriously. That's why we even have an interface design department within our company; we are that serious about it.
If the people who were doing that work on things other than games, as long as they are working on computers, that know-how would surely be incredibly useful, and I have always believed that games are the most advanced in this area. Now, we have various mobile services, right? I can't mention specific names, but among those various services, some are very easy to use. The ones that are well-made are from companies that are carefully aiming for the customer to be able to use them properly, rather than just focusing solely on profit. Meanwhile, things created through top-down instructions—where you're told "this is what it should be" and "build this"—are usually difficult for everyone to use. In that sense, if other computer-based designs can be created with the same level of serious dedication to the customer that games have shown, I believe this interactive world, not limited to games, still has great potential for evolution. There are plenty of chances for what Japan creates to be called the best. Some people leave our industry, but I tell them the work we've done here is valuable anywhere, so please keep at it. If we can achieve that, I'd be happy if, years from now, we are evaluated not just for "games," but as a genre of computer interaction.
Congratulations on this honor. Including myself, there are people all around the world who have walked through life together with Nintendo's works. Could you share a message for those Nintendo fans around the world, perhaps including your future outlook? Thank you in advance.
Yes, thank you. Well, we started making movies a few years ago, and I've explained this a little bit at times. I used to stubbornly say I wouldn't make movies, because to make a movie, you have to create a story. When you create a story, you have to establish various settings, like this character has this personality, or these are their family members. But since we created our characters to make games, and we never knew what kind of game we would make next, I thought that pinning them down with too many settings would be restrictive. So, because these characters were made for games, I used to say they could only be used in games. But over many years, I've realized that the people who call themselves Nintendo fans today really do love our characters. Moreover, we've created so many characters—Mario, Zelda, Kirby—and I've come to realize that just by loving these characters, people can become Nintendo fans, even if they don't play the games. So, well, we decided that if we were going to make a movie, we should make it ourselves, and that's how we started film production.
And, well, besides that, we've started working with Universal on theme parks, and in doing so, we are trying to create places where Nintendo characters born from games can be seen by more people, not just limited to games, so we hope you'll continue to support us in various ways. We've been working hard on Pikmin recently, and while Nintendo is co-developing and offering these games, they are provided by a company other than Nintendo—well, the name changed from Niantic to something else, wait, it's Niantic, we've been working on five titles together, and through those mobile experiences, there is potential for Nintendo characters to reach a wider audience, so we are working together. So, please look forward to it. Thank you very much.
I have two points, and I would like to ask about them one by one. First, and this relates to the very first question, there was a time when games were viewed as a social issue, but recently, I think they have reached a point where the government, along with anime and other media, positions them as a core industry within the content sector. As a recipient of the Order of Cultural Merit, I would like to ask what kind of activities or messages you intend to share for the development of the Japanese game industry in the future.
I'm sorry. I don't have a very concrete image, but I just intend to continue doing what I can, step by step. And, yes.
As I mentioned earlier, I believe the contribution games can make lies in the fact that they are perhaps the medium that most sincerely responds to the user, to the person using the interface. Instead of us just providing something to the customer, it's more about the customer interacting with it, and something being born from that usage—that's what makes it fun. It's like everyday items, isn't it? You find yourself enjoying them more the longer you use them. I believe that the way we've carefully engaged with customers is one of the true strengths of the Japanese game industry. And that attitude isn't just about one industry; it's that we've nurtured individual designers, system engineers, and interface designers who are capable of working with that kind of care. I suppose my goal is just to try and help increase the number of people like that, even if it's only a little. Even among those around me, I try to foster that. Another thing is, I always tell people that if you do the same thing as everyone else, it just leads to competition, so you should do what others aren't doing. I hope that even one more person will grow to have that unique mindset, focusing on the user and making things with sincerity. I intend to continue doing that myself as well.
Could you share your thoughts on your hometown, or perhaps Kyoto, where you work now?
Yes. Well, I was born in a town near Nantan City, which is about 40 kilometers away from here. I'm a country boy, and it's truly the countryside of Kyoto—we'd even say we were "going into" Kyoto to visit the city. I went to university in Kanazawa, and since I work in design, people would tell me, "If you're doing industrial design, you have to go to Italy," or "The cutting edge is in New York." Despite all that, I took a job in Kyoto and have been steadily making things here ever since. And so, that... Around the time I turned 30, people said that designers eventually burn out and that if you weren't in a cutting-edge city, you'd wither away, but I didn't pay much mind to that and just kept on making games.
As I approached 40, I noticed that my work was being strangely well-regarded globally; in fact, I realized that from the time I started at 30, sales overseas had always been far greater than in Japan. By the time I was around 40, people started asking me how I was able to create such things, and I began to think about it myself. That was when I felt a sense of relief and thought it was a good thing I was in Kyoto. In many ways, instead of competing with something, we could just take our own tools and patiently create things right there in that place. Ultimately, the audience for my work is just people—regardless of their country or whether they live in a city—so I kept working steadily, creating something for them and letting it spread naturally from there. Being local—and the most "super-local" place is within yourself—allowed me to sit in that core space and steadily work on various projects, and as a result, this place called Kyoto... I don't feel any inferiority about it; I can just say, "Well, it's Kyoto." I think I was really lucky in that regard.
It's the same with my surroundings; growing up in that natural environment reflects in every judgment I make in my work, so that free-spirited childhood in nature naturally reproduces itself, and I think that's why it resonates with people all over the world. After all, even if countries differ, the way children are physically stimulated by things and the way they think should be the same. When I felt that connection was getting through, I started thinking, "I'm glad I grew up in the countryside," and "I'm glad I stayed in Kyoto all this time." So, while I often say, "I based this game on this or that aspect of nature," it's not really about that. Rather, growing up within that environment... The things etched into my body—climbing mountains and sliding down, jumping into rivers to catch fish by hand, almost drowning—those experiences are the origin of my creativity, so in that sense, I say that nature raised me. Yes.
You mentioned you've been making games for 50 years, Mr. Miyamoto. Many creators are growing within Nintendo now. How do you pass on the spirit of Nintendo's originality, as seen behind you, and your own way of thinking, and how do you plan to entrust that to the future?
Yes. That only happens through our daily interactions, so I'm just plugging away at it, one step at a time. However, Nintendo has grown so... There are thousands—actually, I think I got the number wrong. Just among developers, there are 3,000 or 4,000, and with everyone included, it's a global operation of about 10,000 people, so it's becoming difficult to spread that spirit of originality from our roots to everyone. So, whenever we create something new, we try to discuss what "originality" means in the process, and since even the people I thought were "new" are getting quite senior now, I've started gathering middle-management to create a space to discuss these things. Yes. I'll keep trying.
I would like to talk about the joy of playing games versus the joy of creating them. Mr. Miyamoto, you mentioned earlier that play, or a game, is something where time passes without you even noticing. Today, as technology continues to advance, the barriers to creating things are constantly lowering. On the other hand, it feels like we are being challenged on what exactly game design is, and how far an individual can truly express their talent. Given that, how do you view the relationship between this technological progress and games as a culture, Mr. Miyamoto?
That is a very big question. Well, let's see. In my generation, computers began to emerge, but before that, we used typewriters to type letters. Then, word processors were created, and the tools just kept on evolving. And, for example, a designer—well, "designing" used to mean lettering, which is writing characters beautifully. You would learn how to write beautiful text for posters at school, and if you could do that, you could call yourself a designer. Or, you could take a style of design that was popular overseas, adapt it slightly to a Japanese style, lay it out, and you'd be called a designer. However, as computers and software have evolved, you can now easily copy text from somewhere. And you can grab images from anywhere, too. As the technical side—the ability to write characters beautifully—evolves, it is only then that a person's true sense of layout and individual design ability finally comes to the forefront.
So, for instance, you might have a husband who's a designer and a wife who's doing housework, but the wife actually has better design skills than the husband. I sometimes worry about things like that, but such things keep happening whenever tools change. And right now, that's exactly what AI is doing. We always distinguish between "creating" something and "doing the work." When you want to create something, you start with a big structure, right? You lay things out toward a certain goal, and from that point on, it becomes the work. Filling in empty gaps or polishing things up—that's troublesome, but the work itself is actually fun. When you're doing the work. Because you feel a great sense of satisfaction from creating, don't you all? Writers and everyone else. Yeah. But what scares me is when people get satisfied with just the work and start to mistakenly believe they've created something quite good. That scares me. So, in that sense, as AI does more and more of the work for us, it becomes a great opportunity for everyone to sincerely think about what it really means to create, which I think is a very good thing.
Even in past designs, I'm sure there were things made just by copying, but those don't really last, do they? Because what really matters there is that an individual has the intention to design something. The structure is that we're having the computer help us with the work, so no matter how much it evolves—even if AI eventually does everything—I still think there's plenty left for us to do. Yes.
