“I try to make sure that nothing I do wastes players’ time, making them do things that aren’t productive or creative.”
– For the Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, the design of addictive games starts with respect to the player’s experience.
As mentioned in the opening paragraphs of The New Yorker’s recently published interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, it is not often that the evasive designer sits down for a sincere conversation like the one captured in the story.
In it, Miyamoto shares a rare look at how moments with his family reflect what is important to him as a designer, giving fellow game makers a look at how kindness, respect, and warmth inform the design of some of the most Nintendo’s iconic games.
Following his own experiences as a parent, Miyamoto thinks about the designer’s responsibility to create an engaging game, without demanding too much from a person’s life. For him, the creation of that experience comes down to design to provoke a player’s innate curiosity without taking advantage of it.
“It’s kind of hard to build a game where the player can give up at any time. Human beings are driven by curiosity and interest. When we come across something that inspires those emotions, it’s natural to be captivated,” Miyamoto told The New Yorker.
“That being said, I try to make sure that nothing I do wastes players’ time making them do things that are not productive or creative. I could remove the types of scenes they saw in any other game or throw clichés, or work to reduce loading time. I don’t want to waste the player’s time by introducing unnecessary rules and what not.
“The interesting thing about interactive media is that it allows players to engage with a problem, to evoke a solution, to try that solution and then to experience the results. Then they can return to the thinking stage and start planning their next one. move. This process of trial and error builds the interactive world in their minds. This is the real canvas we project – not the screen. This is something I should always keep in mind when designing games. “
Find the full interview on The New Yorker for more information from Miyamoto about his leadership style, design considerations and desire to promote goodness in the world.