Cheaper tech is Miyamoto's mission

Speaking on a flying visit to London recently, Shigeru Miyamoto told Channel 4 that Nintendo intended to continue producing entertainment products that provided "very good value".

As part of a broader comment on the themes of "excessive violence" in modern videogames, Miyamoto noted: "Nintendo's mission is to take advantage of improving cheaper technology to create reasonable and affordable entertainment."

It may sound like the handy revisionism of a company enjoying unpredicted success with the Wii and DS - systems that innovated in control technology rather than graphics and processing - but Miyamoto's comments can easily be traced all the way back to Game Boy creator Gunpei Yokoi's views on "lateral thinking of withered technology".

Yokoi sought to take advantage of cheap, mature technology in the design of systems like the Game Boy, and current Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata has previously acknowledged that it continues to inform the thoughts of designers working on systems like DS and Wii.

Miyamoto also reiterated his belief that "there are more ways of grabbing players' attention than violence alone" and added that he hopes "parents take advantage of the age ratings when letting their children play".