Miyamoto hushed up about hobbies?

By Tom Bramwell Published 11 August, 2008

Times report says so.

British newspaper The Times claims that Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto has been told not to discuss his hobbies in public.

Citing "sources at Nintendo", the Times report argues "any glimpse inside his head could be worth billions", citing examples of Brain Training, Wii Fit and Wii Music.

However, the Times' suggestion that Brain Training was created "after Shigeru Miyamoto developed a love of puzzles" contradicts Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's account.

According to Iwata, speaking at GDC in 2006 (although he's told the story elsewhere), Iwata himself had met the game's inspiration, Dr Kawashima, and was so impressed that he asked a small team to prototype the game, and the rest is history. Unless you read The Times, anyway.

Wii Fit, however, is said to have been inspired by Miyamoto's family life - or so he said in an interview we watched on the Wii's Nintendo Channel.

And we can't remember who came up with Wii Music. Let's call it a draw.

As for the Times' report, Nintendo UK calls it "rumour and speculation".

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (20) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DutchDemons #1 4 years ago

    can't believe that the same legendary man who created even more legendary game characters and franchises....is actually getting the same amount of credit for creating brainless games for housewives.

    what kind of sick world do we live in?
    Edited by 1 at 11/08/08 @ 09:09

  • Zomoniac #2 4 years ago

    Do his hobbies involve Nazi sex orgies?

  • rider_hibiki #3 4 years ago

    The real reason is that they find his interest in kitten huffing a bit embarrassing

  • bad09 #4 4 years ago

    Zomoniac beat me to it :(

    I bet he also likes cheesing....

  • the_dudefather #5 4 years ago

    wii snuff film coming soon

  • firefly #6 4 years ago

    If Nintendo UK calls the article rumour and speculation it's probably true.

  • sickpuppysoftware #7 4 years ago

    We don't want details of his "waggling hobby" to come out now do we?

  • Canyarion #8 4 years ago

    Haha, awesome.

    But still... to go from a gardening hobby to a game like Pikmin is a huge step.

  • Vin #9 4 years ago

    What a massive load of guff.

  • kinky_mong #10 4 years ago

    can't believe that the same legendary man who created even more legendary game characters and franchises....is actually getting the same amount of credit for creating brainless games for housewives.

    It is a crying shame. It's like if Ian Fleming was hailed as a genius for creating Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and everyone ignored James Bond (Could probably have thought of a better analogy buts it's early so give me a break).

  • penhalion #11 4 years ago

    Unless I missed some major evolution of man while I was on the can. I don't believe companies are yet able to hire Psy-ops to tear ideas out of a mans head. Why would anyone have any interest in his hobbies? Don't they have their own to inspire them?

  • BartonFink #12 4 years ago

    Wow slow news day eh?

  • jonsaan #13 4 years ago

    OMG. Wiirimming on the horizon.

  • sneetch #14 4 years ago

    "Wii Kill Hitchhikers" coming soon.

  • Rizzle #15 4 years ago

    "Do his hobbies involve Nazi sex orgies? "

    F1 Management sim confirmed!


    That, and it's worth noting that Pikmin is often explained as having been inspired by Mr M's gardening habits, so it's not all casual stuff that springs from his hobbies.

  • AJUK #16 4 years ago

    I guess that if his hobbies involved other games, say something like monopoly or jenga, and a link could be proven between that hobby and his multi-million selling game franchises, then there would be potential grounds for legal action? That seems like the kind of thing that might get a big corporation like Nintendo into action.

    Or it could simply be that if everyone knew he was doing a lot of Jetskiing then his next title would be obvious ;)

  • FFS #17 4 years ago

    any glimpse inside his head could be worth billions", citing examples of Brain Training, Wii Fit and Wii Music

    Oh dear.

  • FFS #18 4 years ago

    Nail in the coffin for my Wii.

    /starts shopping for 360

  • macmurphy #19 4 years ago

    Fluffing DS. Blow into the microphone and pump the stylus up and down the screen. Occasionally hammer the shoulder buttons in a track and field stylee to mimic testicle tickling. The final boss is Ron Jeremy.

    Myamoto=pest.

  • smelly #20 4 years ago

    >Nail in the coffin for my Wii.

    Uh? Even the stupidest of fanboys would be hard pushed to not only say miyamoto has come up with pretty much the best games ever (and also made games industry what it is today).

    Sure wii fit/etc may not be YOUR cup of tea, but YOUR in the minority.