Miyamoto ‘never throws away bad ideas’, we await Cooking Mama: Hitler Edition

Apparently, Mario’s dad (aka Shigeru Miyamoto) doesn’t throw away any ideas while he’s making games, even if they stink. Hmmm, probably explains why we’ve got Wii Music and still haven’t had a new Wave Race, then.

Speaking toSatoru Iwata, during the President of Nintendo’s regular Iwata Asks interview show, The Shig admits he locks unused ideas away untilhe can make them work. "If you think for yourself about what's wrong with your idea, and you understand the reasons why it's no good and get a handle on the problem, then you're sure to be able to use that idea sometime," Miyamoto points out.


Above: Hey, a Hitler cooking game might seem like a bad idea now, but maybe it could work on the Wii 14

He goes on to add: “That's why, while I used to tell people to store up ideas in a drawer, I recently suggest putting ideas that were no good into a drawer with the reason why they were no good affixed to them. If you have a bunch of ideas like that in store, the time will come when, in some way, you can take off that label. Like, 'oh, the rules are different now, so it's okay'.”

The Wii’s Mii avatars illustrate Shigy’s thought… eh, drawer-locking process. Miyamoto had wanted to make caricatures of people since the days of the NES back in the 1980s. Alas, he couldn’t think of a way to make the idea work. And it wasn’t until technological wizardrycaught up that we were finally given Mii Forest Whittaker.

What an age we live in.

Source: Official Nintendo Magazine

Sep 28, 2010

CATEGORIES
David Meikleham
Google AMP Stories Editor

David has worked for Future under many guises, including for GamesRadar+ and the Official Xbox Magazine. He is currently the Google Stories Editor for GamesRadar and PC Gamer, which sees him making daily video Stories content for both websites. David also regularly writes features, guides, and reviews for both brands too. 

Latest in The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask screenshot showing the deku mask
After a year of trying, Zelda: Majora's Mask streamer becomes world's first to pull off randomized no-hit run where even blocking causes a game-ending Mooncrash
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time screenshot showing Link, a young boy with elf-like ears and blond hair, with a surprised expression on his face
"I can't go through [with] this": The weirdest Zelda ad didn't get Nintendo's approval, but it probably happened anyway because the marketing execs were already on-site
Link and Epona
A Zelda movie is finally happening, but Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto used to adamantly oppose the idea even "if Steven Spielberg himself" wanted to do it
A screenshot of the moon in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Despite Zelda: Majora's Mask basically being a horror game, one of its key devs didn't think its creepiest features were scary at all: "People on the team were like 'whoa!'"
The Witcher 3 next-gen
Zelda and Star Fox legend Takaya Imamura would "love" to make a Star Wars game with The Witcher 3's CD Projekt Red – and now I'm desperate to make it happen
Botw
Legendary Zelda dev "wasn't too pleased" about working on A Link to the Past as it robbed his enjoyment of playing the finished game: "I still really don't want to play that game"
Latest in News
The First Berserker: Khazan protagonist
The First Berserker: Khazan isn't even out yet, but the new Soulslike RPG already has over 1,300 94% positive reviews on Steam from early buyers
fool me once
Harlan Coben’s new novel is set to be "more of a sequel" to the hit Netflix series Fool Me Once: "I don’t know any time that’s ever happened"
Naoe looks over at a dense, lush, green forest in Assassin's Creed Shadows from a viewpoint
Getting Assassin's Creed Shadows on PS5 and Xbox Series X was all about adding "dynamism" to the open world, but the devs seem most proud about the trees
Schedule 1
Schedule 1 is Steam's latest viral hit – an open-world drug dealing simulator with 98% positive reviews, co-op, and a free sample to get you started
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Reclaiming their crown, pacifist Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 player beats the whole RPG as "Merciful Henry": 1,741 strikes blocked, 472 knockouts, and zero kills
Somehow this keeps happening: Another game with a Persona 5 collab is going under, and this time it's JRPG comrade War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius