Miyamoto talks Odama

By Ellie Gibson Published 6 January, 2006

And creating new fun.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has gone on record to declare his respect for Yoot Saito, the man behind Seaman and forthcoming GameCube title Odama.

In an interview with Famitsu, partially translated by US website Next Generation, Miyamoto said: "[Saito] understands the way games go together."

For those who don't know, Odama is a military pinball game set in feudal Japan that sees you knocking down barriers and running over enemies with a giant ball, using a microphone to issue vocal commands.

Miyamoto revealed that, perhaps understandably, Nintendo bigwigs were slow to warm to the idea - Saito's initial pitch simply consisting of the statement: "I want to make a pinball game set in feudal Japan." But then he went off and made a demo, and Miyamoto got the point instantly.

During the rest of the interview, Miyamoto hinted at what's in store for the rest of the year, telling Famitsu: "Nintendo's theme for 2006 will be 'Create new fun.' 'Spread the fun of games to everyone.' To do this, we must return to the beginning, to recapture the essence that made people who enjoy games even now enjoy them in the first place."

"A game that keeps a smile on the player's face is a wonderful thing."

He went on to offer some sage advice for developers: "Before making a game, one must understand precisely how it will end.

"'Presentation' is not what kind of picture you paint; it is how you behold your beholder." Righto.

And just for the record, Miyamoto's favourite game of all time is - no, not Mario Party 5, but Pac-Man.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (15) Latest comment 6 years ago

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  • Kiigan #1 6 years ago

    I love Pac-Man too. The man has taste! Any chance of Odama getting a UK release?

  • jack_klugman #2 6 years ago

    Righto.

    Fuck off.

  • Pho-Zoon #3 6 years ago

    Ah nintendo. Delicious.

  • feinry #4 6 years ago

    how you behold your beholder???
    my english level is not good enough to clearly undestand... i mean, i understand the words, but not the sense
    someone could translate plz :D

  • Psi #5 6 years ago

    nintendo are just totally ripped to their silly little tits on acid 24-7 aint they..


    in recent news nintendo guru miyamoto gained conciseness long enough to gargle incohearent nonsence about pinballed controlled dogs in spacesuits eating pie and traveling in time. before taking another hit on the bong and passing out.


    if it came from anyone else you'd section them, but everyone reading this wants to know what the hell miyamoto's doing this time... those crazy buggers.

  • Kami #6 6 years ago

    Miyamoto is off his rocker.

    He's a genius and I bow to his awesomeness. But I still think he's a nutter.

  • Beanie #7 6 years ago

    I wish they would have stuck with the idea of controlling the action in Odama with the bongos.

  • Eldritch #8 6 years ago

    "Odama is a military pinball game set in feudal Japan that sees you knocking down barriers and running over enemies with a giant ball, using a microphone to issue vocal commands."

    Brilliant. You couldn't make it up! \o/

  • yagisencho #9 6 years ago

    Bow to your master. I said BOW!!

    Nintendo is currently the only reason I play anything other than WoW.

  • Dirtie #10 6 years ago

    Good ol' Miyamoto, you can always count on him to say something wacky and incoherent while helping create awesome games at the same time.

  • ROCKSTORM #11 6 years ago

    Alot of game designers are nutters - Just read what Kojima thinks of the next-gen. If you couldn't be bothered, he compares the next 3 consoles to dinners ???
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/06 @ 13:09

  • FooAtari #12 6 years ago

    Saw a trailer for this a while ago. It looks pretty damn good.

    NOE, this better get a release here...

  • Lynchman #13 6 years ago

    ah Pacman is too confrontational....

  • Genji #14 6 years ago

    Jokes about Mario whoring aside, it is nice to hear a game developer talk about "fun". I mean, obviously, Sony and Microsoft want to make fun games too. But when you hear them talk about their consoles, tech-talk always seems to push fun aside.

  • Kami #15 6 years ago

    Indeed Rockstorm, I know most of these figureheads of the industry have a slightly feeble grasp on sanity (Michel Ancel and Hideo Kojima two other reasonably good examples of people I think are awesome, but probably need to find those odd marbles which have probably rolled under their desks).

    Just ol' Shigsy is as barmy as I've seen them come. I think he's a genius, inspiring and charismatic, with boundless enthusiasm. He gave us Zelda, and for that I will forever worship the ground he walks upon. But he is... what's the word that people use? Oh yes... "Eccentric" (Personally, I find that a polite term for "Totally (bleep)ing off his nut";).

    But I'm surprised at his choice of favourite game of all time. It's a surprisingly humble choice, and outside the confines of Nintendo too which, for me, is a commendable and credible viewpoint. And yep, it's definitely nice to see someone like Shigsy talking about "fun" - so far, we've just heard the classic Clarkson line - "POWER" and "SPEED" and a lot of numbers and statistics flying about. So far from next-gen we've seen more of the same, but looking slightly better (in some cases, not all, I am aware of that thanks). Also nice that a wacky little idea like Odama can make it despite how strange it sounds. Shigsy seems rather sensible in this, but I can still read his trademark enthusiasm. I really want to know what his diet consists of to have THAT much energy...

    But yeah, still think he's barmy. But I also think he is awesome, and I hope he keeps doing this for a long time to come...