After stepping down as the voice of Mario and preparing for his new role as Mario Ambassador, Charles Martinet has a message for fans. With help from creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the longtime voice of Mario took a moment to introduce his new role and gush about how mu??ch he loves all the people who have supported him as Mario over the years.

The video starts with a hearty, "It's a-me, Charles!," as Martinet effortlessly leaps into the iconic voices of multiple characters. It's a bittersweet reminder that we'll no longer?? hear him as Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. While he won't be doing those voices in games, his new role will allow him to continue meeting with fans. Martinet calls this a "great, great honor" and says he's looking forward to seeing folks at events around the w?orld.

Miyamoto follows that intro with some reminiscing about the first time he met Martinet, who has been voicing Mario since Super Mario 64 in 1996. He fondly recall?s filming videos with Martinet and how he prioritized putting smiles on faces. Check out t??he full message from Martinet and Miyamoto below.

//twit??ter.com/??NintendoAmerica/status/1699784766932029753

Leaping into a new era

During a recent appearance at Galaxy Con Austin, it seemed Martinet knew about as much about his new role as the rest of us. Miyamoto offered additional details, adding that the actor will meet with fans, perform familiar voices at events, sign autographs, and have a blast interacting with everyone. Martinet responded with a loving "Thank you so much, Papa!" emphasizing his unwavering enthusiasm for meeting Mario fans. 

"All that I'm here to do is to touch your hearts, to make you smile and to make you laugh, and bring a little bit of that magic of happiness," Martinet exclaimed. I think it's safe to say he's accomplished that mission. 

[caption id="attachment_402620" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot via Nintendo[/caption]

As for what's next, Nintendo remains tight-lipped about the new era of Mario voices. Miyamoto simply stated that, starting in October with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, "the voices of some Mario characters have become new." Hopefully, we'll find out more about who's stepping into those timeless overalls soon. In the meantime, it sounds like Martinet is going to have plenty of opportunities to remind everyone that it's still a-him who gave Mario his unforgettable voice. 

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SpriteCell is heading up the charge

Shigeru Miyamoto is a living legend, and has given myriad intervie??ws throughout his rise to stardom. Thankfully, a new project is looking to fully chronicle his start, from start? to (whenever he decides to) finish.

Spotted by Nintendo Life, Twitter user SpriteCell has collected a ton of grade A Miyamoto content. As you can see from the full site here, things are ext?remely comprehensive. You get a general overview of the major years of Miyamoto's career on the landing page, as well as breakdowns

Right now SpriteCell is "sitting at over 450 entries," with the aim o??f "collecting and summarizing every Shigeru Mi??yamoto interview, appearance, and writing." It's a gargantuan task given that Miyamoto is one of the longest-running and most storied figures in gaming, but this project is already a win in my book.

It's incredibly easy to just flip through and spend an entire evening on this site. For instance, I clicked on the 2010-2014 archive, and stumbled upon an Iwata Asks column about Steel Diver: an oddity I still think about from time to time. Miyamoto not only has a storied career in terms of his personal contributions to the medium; but he also rubbed elbows with some other titans of the industry. All of that is preserved here in SpriteCell's work! Now we wait for the tons of Tears of the Kingdom interviews to help fill out tha??t 2020? to 2024 section.

If you wa??nt to contribut?e to this project, you can do so here, as per SpriteCell's landing page:

"If you find an interview, video, social media post, book passage or whatever else where Mr. Miyamoto speaks or writes that is not covered in the archive please contact me on twitter or e-mail me at thespritecell(at)gmail.com. Also feel free to contact me if you see a typo or if you spot s??ome kind of formatting issue."

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See the future that once was

A piece of Nintendo history has resurfaced on YouTube. Once-lost footage of Nintendo's prototype LCD monitor for the GameCube has shown up, years after the hardware was sho??wn at E3 2002.

YouTuber and IGN parent company Ziff Davis employee Adam Doree uploaded some footage from the show, as noticed by GoNintendo. This LCD monitor was apparentl?y show??n at E3 2002, but was never released.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp7KBJv4pqg

The attached LCD monitor would have made that GameCube handle suddenly make a lot more sense. To me, it feels like a distant murmur of the ideas that would lead to the Wii U and Switch. Part of the thinking, as Nintendo's Satoru Iwata explains in the footage, is that players mig??ht be able to carry their GameCube around and link them up, using something like a broadband cable.

A different dimension

Having a small screen on top of the GameCube wasn't the only gimmick of this monitor, though. This may have also contained another wild potential twist: 3D technology. In an Iwata Asks a??bout the Nintendo 3DS, Iwata talked with producer Hideki Konno about early attempts at glasses-free 3D.

Iwata: Then after development had advanced a bit, the 3D idea came up.

Konno: Yes. I think the timing was good. Some of the staff members around me were saying things like, "Today's 3D LCDs really look good!" I thought so, too. I had a connection with 3D games anyway. After the development of Luigi's Mansion for Nintendo GameCube was over, I was involved in ?the experiment of making a 3D version of it.

Iwata: Luigi's Mansion 3D. Unfortunately, we never released it.

Konno: Yeah. We tried fitting the Nintendo GameCube with a small, roughly four-inch, LCD that allowed you to enjoy Luigi's Mansion in glasses-free 3D.

Iwata: We showe??d that LCD as a reference exhibit at the 2002 E317, but kept the 3D aspect secret. I liked that, though.

Konno: Yeah. It had depth, so it really pulled you into the world of the game. I thought it was great, but�/p>

Iwata: But we just couldn't get past the problem?? of ho??w to sell it.

Konno: Right. Liquid crystal was still expensive back then, and no matter how new an experience we could provide through the games, there would have been a need fo?r players to buy the LCD as an accessory. There was even talk that it could turn out to be more expensive than the console itself!

Iwata: In the end, we cou??ldn't overcome that hurdle and it never m??ade it out into the light as a product.

LCD Wonderworld

As if the development history of this long-lost LCD screen couldn't get more interesting, here comes Yuji Naka. Also included in Doree's tape archives from the show is footage of Iwata discussing the history of this monitor. As Iwata shares, Nintendo brought out the LCD monitor to show off the technology. But this screen also lead to a collaboration between two othe??r well-known developers: Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and, at the time from Sega, Yuji Naka.

According to Iwata, Miyamoto was talking to Naka about Phantasy Star Online. The question was floated: is there a way PSO could go portable? Naka responde??d, saying it would be a good idea, but there was something else he had been thinking about and wanted to propose.

Naka then forwarded a card game based on Phantasy Star, which Iwata says is being shown off on the consoles. Obviously, this never came to fruition in this form. But given the timing (E3 2002), that sounds vaguely similar to 2003's GameCube entry Phantasy Star Online Episo??de III: C.A.R.D. Revolution.

Either way, it's an incredible piece of GameCube history, for a console that's seemed to only grow fonder in peoples' hearts as time goes on. While we may dream of what may have been, we do at lea?st have the Switch now for our on-the-go Nintendo needs.

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'The truth is I wanted to remove the entire system'

An old interview with Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, which covers the Ocarina of Time Navi situation, among a few other things, just popped up thanks?? to a new translation.

The massive interview, done in 1999 as part of the Japanese strategy guide (and translated by shmuplations), is rather enlightening, and features a candid Miyamoto at the mid-stage of his career, shortly after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. As a reminder, Miyamoto was the producer on the project, with a combined directorial team of five people, one of which was Eiji Aonuma. Although it reached legendary status almost directly after launch, there are some lingering issues that people have with it: both at the time (which I can recall vividly, I was there, Gandalf!), and whenever it's re-released.

The interview sheds some light on that, and the big highlight is the Ocarina of Time Navi takes: and Miyamoto had some hot ones in 1999! He comes out of the gate saying "I think the way we give hints is still a little too unfriendly," when asked about how Ocarina of Time handles puzzles, eventually working his way to Navi, noting that she is "the biggest weakpoint of Ocarina of Time." It's not just an errant comment, either.

Miyamoto delves into why he thinks his way, and chats about the nature of tutorial systems in games as a whole, explaining that it's "incredibly difficult to design a system that gives proper advice," and that "to do it right," you'd need to essentially develop two games. He further clarifies his thoughts: "If you read Navi's text, she says the same things over and over. I know it makes it sound bad, but we purposely left her at a kind of "stupid" level. I think if we'd tried to make Navi's hints more sophisticated, that "stupidity" would have actually stood out even more. The truth is I wanted to remove the entire system, but that would have been even more unfriendly to players. You can think of Navi as being there for players who stop playing for a month or so, who then pick the game back up and want to r??emember what they were supposed to do. It's a brazen excuse, I know. (laughs)."

Eventually he concedes that there's no perfect system, and that the amount of hints players need "vary from person to person." And hey, the Navi system wasn't all that bad, I get what they were going for; but Majora's Mask did it better, so they clearly learned something there. The entire interview is worth reading, for tidbits like it taking "three whole years" to develop Ocarina of Time, and that even though h?e was "producer," Miyamoto was "mostly just monitoring everyone's work," and was "very laid-back" (which explains why he didn't vehemently interfere with Navi's design).

That said, what's the deal with Fi in the original release of Skyward Sword?! Talk about saying the same things over?? and over.

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'I’m focussing on the need to continue to find new experiences'

What perfect timing! We just saw Miyamoto as our collective dad in Nint??endo's recent Super Nintendo W?orld theme park Direct; now we can hear him talking about being an actual dad (and granddad!) in this recent interview from The New Yorker.

In what is mostly a personal interview, we learn a bit more about Miyamoto's home life, as well as his general philosophy for kindness: something that definitely comes across in all his works. What strikes me the most is the humility. The "father o??f Mario??" is a big deal, but growing up, he claims that his family life was relatively normal.

"In terms of my own kids, I’ve been fortunate in that they’ve always had a good relationship with video games...I’ve never had to restrict them or take games away from them," he says. In fact, he talks about how his kids played Sega games, and dug Out Run and Space Harrier. Most recently he got to experience Captain Toad with his grandkid, who was ??"shiny eyed" while playing it.

Remember how some parents were "concerned" about kids being really into games? Well, Miyamoto embraces it: "I could see how a p?arent might be concerned about how immersed their child can become in a game. But, in my game design, I always want to encourage a relationship between a parent and child that is fundamentally nurturing. I was helping my grandch?ild navigate the 3-D world inside the game, and I could see the 3-D structure being built inside this five-year-old’s head. I thought, This could help his growth as well." What a dad!

Here's another great quote from Miyamoto on the human experience, in direct reference to the tale that he wanted Goldeneye 64 to be less violent: "I think huma??ns are wired to experience joy when we throw a ball and hit?? a target, for example. That’s human nature. But, when it comes to video games, I have some resistance to focusing on this single source of pleasure. As human beings, we have many ways to experience fun. Ideally, game designers would explore those other ways."

He goes on to say: "Beyond that, I also resist the idea that it’s O.K. to simply kill all monsters. Even monsters have a motive, and a reason for why they are the way they are. This is something I have thought about a lot. Say you have a scene in which a battleship sinks. When you look at it from the outside, it might be a symbol of victory in battle. But a filmmaker or writer might shift perspective to the people on the ship, to enable the viewer to see, close up, the human impact of the action. It would be great if video-game makers took more steps to shift the perspective, instead of always viewing a scene from the most obvious angle." As a parallel, this is something that The Mandalorian ;is sort of exploring now, in regards to th?e destruction The Empire razed in the original trilogy; and something creators are exploring more and more in recent years.

So what's next for Miyamoto? Innovation, innovation, innovation. It never changes. But who will replace him? Miyamoto responds in kind, with kindness: "Now I’m focusing on the need to continue to find new experiences. This has always b?een what interested and excited me about the medium: not perfecting the old but discovering the new."

Shigeru Miyamoto Wants to Create a Kinder World [The New Yorker]

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This theme park looks like a dream come true for Nintendo fans

Shigeru Miyamoto is having the time of his life in this walking tour of Super Nintendo World.

The proud father's happiness knows no bounds in this special 15-minute Nintendo Direct presentation, and it's transferring to me right through the screen. It'll likely be a few years before I can visit this theme park – it's opening in Japan on February 4 but won't be accessible in Hollywood, Orlando, or Singapore until later – and I've accepted that for now. But once it does open, it's on. I've gotta go one day.

During his tour, Miyamoto covered mu??ltiple areas including the inside of a Warp Pipe and the gift shop, he previewed the Power-Up Band and phone app, and he showed an exclusive Tokot?oko Mario toy.

Definit?ely watch the Direct when you get a chance. It's a fun one.

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Finally, a good delisting

Usually when something's delisted, it's generally bad news. This might be the?? rare exception to that rule.

Nintendo is delisting Pikmin Short Movies on October 8. It has been available on the 3DS and Wii U eShop following its debut at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2014. That doesn't mean Pikmin Short Movies is lost to the ether, though. ?Nintend?o plans to upload the film to its YouTube channel shortly after the delisting. 

In case you're not familiar -- and I wouldn't blame you because I forgot all about this -- here's the synopsis that Jordan wrote in 2014: "Pikmin Short Movies, is made up of three episodes: 'The Night Juicer,' in which Captain Olimar makes his favorite juice; 'Treasures in a B??ottle,' in which Pikmin meet a strange treasure; 'Occupational Hazards,' a big adventure at a construction site." If that doesn't sell you, it's worth noting?? that Shigeru Miyamoto was attached as a producer.

Pikmin Short Movies disappears from the eShop on October 8. Usually, this is the part where we'd say "Last chance to buy it or miss out forever!" Not this time??, though. This time, it's "Last chance to needlessly drop $5 before it's free and you can watch it on any of your devices!" Sometimes, rarely but sometimes, a delisting works ??out.

Pikmin Short Movies to be removed from the 3DS?? / Wii U eShops next week [Nintendo Everything]

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Legendary Nintendo figure receives annual honour

Shigeru Miyamoto, renown for his tireless work on many iconic Nintend??o franchises, has been chosen for Japan's Order of Culture, which is awarded every November to a selection of individuals recognised for their contributions to art, literature, film, science and other mediums reflecting national culture.

Miyamoto, along with his fellow recipients, will be declared a Person of Cultural Merit on November 3, which the Japanese government recognises as its national "Culture Day". The 66-year-old developer began his legendary Nintendo career in 1977 and is responsible, among other achievements, for the creation of some of the industry's most recognisable brands, including Donkey Kong, Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Star Fox.

Speaking of the award in an interview with Sankei News (translated by Cheesemaster) Miyamoto said he was "thankful that light is being shined upon the genre of games." before spotlighting his co-workers, noting "This is a ?job where you can't do anything by you??rself."

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka offered his applause on Twitter, saying "Congratulations! This is a first for the game industry, right? I'm really glad that people from the game industry are chosen now."

The ceremony will take place?? at the Japanese Imperial Palace on November 3.

Shigeru Miyamoto reco??gnised as a person of cultural merit [VGC]

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New novel goes over the legendary man's life

Satoru Iwata was massively influential in the world of video games. While he may have been the president of Nintendo and thus not working directly with other companies, his decisions and actions have shaped everyone in some way. In a new Japanese retrospective novel titled Iwata-San, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto r?eflected on the relationship he had with Iwata during his tenur?e.

"To me, he was a friend more than anything," Miyamoto says. "It never felt like he was my boss or that I was working under him. He never got angry; we never fought about anything." As he explains, Iwata was seven years younger than Miyamoto and that typically brings friction to a relationship. "Normally, if someone younger than yourself with fewer years of experience becomes president, it might be difficult to get along with each other,??" Miyamoto explains, "but it was nev??er like that. It had always been obvious that he was more suited for the position (than me), so it never became a problem. I think it allowed us to naturally become true friends."

Miyamoto details?? how the two would share opinions at lunch on a daily basis. Surprisingly, the duo rarely collaborated on games together but were often giving each other ideas for their respective projects. In particular, a moment between the two is discussed where they conceived the plans for the Nintendo DS in the parking lot of an Italian restaurant they would visit. It started from a request from Nintendo's previous presiden??t, Hiroshi Yamauchi, when he asked for a device with two screens.

"[Iwata??] left many words and structures that live on in the work of our younger employees today," Miyamoto stated. "The only problem is that, if there is some good-for-nothing idea I come up with over the weekend, I have no one to share it w?ith the next Monday. That I can no longer hear him say 'Oh, about that thing...' is a bit of a problem for me. It makes me sad."

A translation of some excerpts from the book is available on IGN. There's a lot of insight into the friendship that Miyamoto had with Iwata and how the man's influence lives? on today. It's practically a tear-jerker with how sentimental it gets, but then Iwata's influence was strong even for those disinterested in Nintendo's output.

Shigeru Miyam?oto Opens Up in New Book about Missing Late Nintendo President Satoru Iwata [IGN]

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Along with the arcade version of Donkey Kong

Nintendo unveiled that the unreleased arcade game Sky Skipper will be coming to the Switch this Jul??y via the Arcade Archives line-up. This was a game originally made in the early '80s with cabinet art done by Shigeru Miyamoto. For one reason for ano??ther, it never released, but 10 cabinets were made for test locations. Only one remains and that was where the rom for the game was pulled from.

Nintendo isn't going to be touching up the translation for anything; this is the pure arcade experience as it was originally meant to be played. The only addition will be online leaderboards to share your scores, which should hopefully give Sky Skipper the competitive element it never h??ad the chance to revel in.

Along with that, the arcade version of Donkey Kong is also coming to Switch. Coming is actually incorrect because you can download that right now from the eShop. This will be similar to Sky Skipper in that it will have on?line leaderboards to host your scores for the world to see. I'm sure we'll get perfect runs in no time, so look out for that.

Nintend of America [Twitter]

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He also explained what it'll take for a new Seaman to happen

In a talk about game design philosophy at Reboot Develop 2018, SimTower, Seaman, and Odama creator Yoot Saito revealed that he once worked on an unusual Nintendo DS game codenamed Mario Motors.

Saito told some heartwarming stories about his friendship with Nintendo's Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto, some of which he has shared before in detail. Back in the early 2000?s, the three would have get-togethers in which they would ?"chat over tea casually" and talk about ideas for games.

"During one meeting, Iwata-san asked me a question: 'Saito-san, what have you been interested in lately?' I immediately understood what he was getting at, so I answered 'sculpting chunk.' Miyamoto-san said 'huh?!'" (To help ??explain to the audience what he was referring? to, Saito talked a bit about how things like watches, camera frames, and MacBooks are made. Sculpting objects out of metal chunks spoke to him and it was an idea he "really wanted" to make into a game.)

"This kind of sculpting is really appealing to a middle-aged guy like m??e," Saito said.

"I explained this crazy idea to them and they really listened to me very ca?refully in complete silence, and finally said 'that sounds interesting, let's gi??ve it a try.'"

The concept eventually morphed into Mario Motors, "a game where you created engines."

Saito summed it up as "shaving and sculpting out of a chunk of metal to make a cylinder [which then] decides the ability of your engines." For part of the game he wanted to teach players how acceleration works in an ?interesting way and thought about having them blow into the DS microphone. "I scrapped this idea because this would cause children to?? get out of breath," he explained.

Reflecting back on his meetings with ??Iwata and Miyamoto, Saito said "I really understand just how much they respected each other,?? and how they formed the two wheels that pulled Nintendo's game business forward. They paid attention to me because they were always hungry for something new."

As for why Mario Motors never moved ahe??ad, Saito said "I can't tel?l you why, but please guess."

He didn't have any formal announcements to make during the talk, but it seems as if he's still interested in a SimTower-style game (he asked the entire audience to come up mid-presentation and look at a basic prototype on his iPad) as well as Seaman. For the latter, Saito would want it on mobile "without any endings for years" and that would require a sophisticated and nuanced AI engine that talks back to players. "Until that engine is done, I'm not going to create a sequel to Seaman, but I am working on that."

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'I've been considering an animated film for many years now'

Among massive discussions regarding Nintendo Labo and several other upcoming key products in Nintendo's repiotoire, a recent Corporate Management Policy Briefing with the Big N brings to light answers to a few? burning questions -- for one, why did Nintendo choose Minion studio Illumination to host Mario's first movie?

Well, taking the qualifier that "[they'll] call it quits" if they can't make "something interesting" in the end, Miyamoto explains himself rather well in the briefing, stating "I’ve been considering an animated film for many years now. ??There has long been talk that Nintendo could make a movie because “making?? a game is like making a movie.” But they are completely different to me. Interactive experiences are completely different from non-interactive media, and to make a movie I want a film expert to do the work. Thinking that way, I have talked with all sorts of different movie directors and producers, and eventually I was introduced to Illumination via Universal Parks & Resorts, with whom we are developing theme park attractions."

He goes on to say, "As a producer, Chris Meledandri (Illumination’s CEO) is noted here for movies like Minions and Sing, but he is a veteran with a ton of experience, including the movie Ice Age and stints at companies like 20th Century Fox Animatio?n. When I talked with Chris, he said he had read a lot of interviews with me and felt we had a similar approach to creation. Talking about our similarities, we clicked and decided maybe we should do some kind of collaboration. We started our conversa?tion over two years ago, and finally reached the stage where we could make an announcement. Chris is extremely cost-conscious and time-conscious in his quest to make successful movies. We decided to try making a movie together, and distributing the completed movie globally through Universal Pictures."

I don't know why but picturing Miyamoto watching Ice Age warms my heart. Well there you go. The movie could ma??ybe not happen if Miyamoto isn't happy about it, which is probably the most interesting tidbit of all. Until the?n I'll reserve judgment as Illumination has put out some decent stuff since 2012.

Q & A Summary [Nintendo]

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Miyamoto looks so young

The recent release of  Nintendo's SNES Classic has plenty of gamers and newcomers reliving the '90s all over again with some great games from the era that defined a generation. I thought it would be appropriate to get deeper into '90s nostalgia with a nine-minute clip from the 1994 French documentary Otaku. The documentary?? segment about Nintendo covers a brief introduction and company history, and goes into its business philosophy along with some short interviews of the employees in Japan.

Much of the info in the video are things that many video game enthusiasts already know but ??seeing Nintendo's offices and workers around 1994 is still a trip, considering that 1994 is about 23 years ago. Mario's daddy, Shigeru Miyamoto, is also featured and gives us the basic info on Mario and just looks pretty young at the ??age of 40.

This short clip?? has been around on the internet?? for a while but is now friendly to English-only speakers who don't like reading subtitles but do like hearing emotionless computer female voiceovers.

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From our community blogs

_{[This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The views expressed by jbsgame.community members may not reflect what everyone at our company is inhaling.]}

The last time I saw Shigeru Miyamoto was at a Redmond, Washington gas station; I accidentally left him there after an evening of righteous blazing. Needless to say, we formed a special bond that night. So when he called me up to offer an exclusive peek at the behind-the-scenes secrets of Nintendo’s controversial voice chat plans, I was hardly surprised.

I arrived at Itami Airport at 4AM, but that's not why my eyes were red if ya know what I mean. The Shigsmeister himself greeted me at the exit, straddling a perfect replica of Link's Motorcycle from Mario Kart 8. He tossed a helmet my way. &ldqu??????????????????????????o;Love the octorok sidecar, Shigs,” I growled, stroking every last hair on my chin with p??anache.

??“This time, I might? leave you at the BP,” he jested.

Damn, I knew he woul??dn't let me live that?? down easily.

Not five seconds after I inserted myself into his makeshift cephalopod, we were careening down the Nihon highway like it was Toad's Fucking Turnpike. Once acclimated to the ??rush, I began to take in the scenery and spied something on his back: the Blade of Evil’s Bane, or at least a goddamn great replica. ??“Is that what I think it is?” I shouted, combatting the sounds of Epona’s engine.

His signature grin was the only reply.

At the edge of a foggy, moonlit wood we power-slid into a controlled stop. He quickly hitched his steed to a nearby lantern lit with an odd, blue flame before taking a gift straight from his hors??e's literal mouth: a Deku Stick-sized blunt that was dank to the touch. Wordlessly, he held it to the lantern's open flame and sucked at the other end like a dying man at a flask. His exhalation of bright blue smoke cut through the fog like a Light Arrow, illuminating a path through the dense woods.

Following a customary second puff, he passed the makeshift torch my way and be??gan prancing through the trees like a mischievous imp. While I was certainly no athlete, I had been trai??ning my whole life for that moment; holding the tip of the stick aloft, I filtered smoke from my fat lungs into the freshly-woke wind.

The Lost Weed, as?? Shigs was fond of calling it, led us north, then west, then south, and finally west again. Before long, we found ourselves at a large clearing containing an ornate stone plateau. He reached back, removing his sword from its sheathe before sliding it into a pedestal. It quickly became clear that this was no mere legendary blade, but rather the sickest goddamn bong ever created. We took turns standing over it, huffing a seemingly endless supply from the top of the hilt for what felt like hour. Everything became a haze.

Before I knew it, I awoke to the faint sound of? a familiar voice calling my na??me. A glowing mushroom caught my eye, and I couldn't resist reaching out to touch it. To my surprise, the voice became clearer. "Did you like it?" said the voice.

"Boy, Shigster, I liked it alright." I groaned, rubbing my temple??. "Maybe just a bit too much. But anyway, where are you and what the hell is this weird fungus?"

“These special shrooms are my creation," he said. "They carry my voice anywhere in these woods."

Staggering to my feet, I noticed that a strange fungal tendril had made its way into my pocket. Then it hit me. “If this princely toadstool carries our voices,” I sighed. “Why is it connected to my phone?&rd??quo;

&?ldquo;Better sound quality,” he replied wi??th pronounced hesitation.

&??ldquo;But, why not… ya know,”?? I said taking a moment to gather my thoughts. “Make the mushrooms strong enough to carry voices by themselves?”

“Too expensive.”

“You might as well just call your friends on the phone while just looking at mushrooms,” I said. “Why bother to tether them together?&rdqu??o;

The shroom remained silent.

“Shigeru, man, what are you smoking?”

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Stabbing the wall and resting

Other than weapon durability, climbing/stamina seems to be the biggest beef people have with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild -- and according to several members of the dev team, regaining stamina while climbing almost ??made it in until Miyamoto canned the concept.

Speaking to GameSpot, art director Satoru Takizawa explained the mechanic: "Until a?bout halfway through the development, we had a spec where you could take your weapon and stab it into a wall. When your stamina gauge was dwindling you could stab the weapon and kind of hang out and rest there." It sounds pretty rad, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi notes why it was missing: "So the answer is that Mr. Miyamoto heard of the concept he said, ‘You can’t stand on the tip of a sword. This is strange.’ And then we explained, ‘No no no, you sta?b it in.’ Then he’s like, ‘No, it’s not going to work.’ Another idea is that it’s very hard to actually stab a sword into a big piece of rock. We considered that you can stab them into cracks or crevices in the wall, but then you can’t freely use that feature anywhere you want, so I decided not to implement it...so starting from the early stages of development we had been constantly showing Mr. Miyamoto our progress. At times we would even show him once a week what we’d been working on, because if we don’??t do that, and then go face-to-face and present the idea, tables might be flipped!"

Miyamoto's meddling is known in all corners of the world, with mixed results. Star Fox Zero allegedly suffered from it, but given how universally celebrated Breath of the Wild is, the wisdom that he imparted probably ended u?p bettering the game as a whole.

Zelda [GameSpot]

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'Even when I place him in it he runs away'

Long-time game designer Shigeru Miyamoto is not someone I can picture e??ver slowing down. Even when he's not at the Nintendo offices or traveling for work, the 64-year-old has a desire to keep busy.

Asked by Time about his hopes for the next 10 years in or outside of gaming, Miyamoto said, "As a company, we've carefully gotten ourselves involved in the mobile industry, and that'??s something that I was personally involved in. Then with the Nintendo Switch, the idea of having a console that's also a portable device, I think that opens up new doors to all kinds of possibilities. In the industry of fun, I think there's still a lot we can still e?xplore. I think what I want to accomplish is kind of laying down the standards for what those possibilities are going to be over the next 10 years."

Amusingly, an unnamed Nintendo exec interjected with "Not your cat stool?" Miyamoto elaborated: "When I'm told that maybe I don't need to go to work for a few days, I worry that I don't have things to do, so I try to make sure there are things in my personal life that I can really work on too. So my garden looks really good now. I've been spending months just hoeing. [Laughs] And I made a cat hammock."

"I took a stool and then kind of pulled it apart and put it together so it's like a hammock for a cat," he explained. "Even when I place him in it he runs away. It's not quite there yet." This guy.

Follow through to the full interview for a discussion about HD Rumble, the late Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata's role in the creation of the Nintendo Switch, and Miyamoto's current thoughts on storytelling in video games, particularly with respect to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

10 Things Nintendo's S??higeru Miyamoto Told Us About Switch and More [Time]

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Apparently they had similar experiments

Nintendo is usually the developer that tries new weird things and gets away with it, but in the case of Minecraft, Shigeru Miyamoto wi?shes they had thou??ght of it first.

Speaking to Glixel, the legend recounts, "I do like Minecraft?, but really more from the perspective of the fact that I really feel like that's something we should have made. We had actually done a lot of experiments that were similar to that back in the N64 days and we had some designs that were very similar. It's really impr??essive to me to see how they've been able to take that idea and turn it into a product."

I think a lot of people had an idea to create an exploration sandbox (I know I did as a kid), so I'd love to see some rough plans as to what Nintendo had in mind. Either way Minecraft is here, it's still as popular as ever, and it's a driving force that'??s now actively influencing Nintendo. It's crazy ??how that all worked out.

Shigeru Miya?moto on Mario, Minecraft, and Workin?g With Apple [Glixel]

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No one invite Dennis Hopper please

The Wizarding World of Mario finally has a name and du??e date, Nintendo and Universal Studios have announced. The Nintensula, if you will, will be called Super Nintendo World and will boot up in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. Orlando and Hollywood locations will have to wait a bit longer, which is not an unfamiliar feeling for anyone who plays video games.

The first official image shows a Mario-inspired park layout including Peach's Castle, a Toad House, Peach and Toad mascots, thwomps, goombas, and an entrance to Bower's Castle. Not only does the image and font style of the park title suggest a Mario-focus, but so do their words: "Super Nintendo World will feature characters and themes from the 'Super M?ario' seri?es...The attraction area will also feature a variety of other globally popular Nintendo characters." I

It's early and still entirely possible we see other franchises represented on a large?? scale. Mario is far and away their most successful and recognizable-by-grandma IP, so it makes sense to show that first. Still, don't be surprised if other series are limited to mascots, gift shops, and smaller attractions within the real-life Mushroom Kingdom. Yoshi and Donkey Kong are technically their own series, but we all?? know it's really still in the Mario lore. 

Speaking of Donkey Kong, there appeared to be a design for a Donkey Kong themed ride based on mine-carts among various ride b??luep?rints Universal Studios filed patents for recently. Scuttlebutt seems to think another design could potentially be Mario Kart inspired ride, which is frankly a lot more likely than an F-Zero or Star Fox attraction.

Typical parkgoers including soccer moms, grandmas, and younger children are not likely to be familiar with less popular games like F-Zero, Pikmin or even Metroid.&nbs?p;I'll be curious to see how these are represented i?f at all. 

Super Nintendo Land coming to Universal Studios Japan in ??Time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics [Universal Studios Japan]

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He plays acoustic guitar

Say what you will about Jimmy Fallon (and trust me, my joyless co-workers have), but with this year being so terrible, I feel like we need his brand of entertainment now more than ever. You may look at Fallon and see somebody feigning excitement over every little thing, but I see somebody who actually loves what he's doing and wants people to have fun. And not only that, but I see somebody who genuinely enjoys playing video games and (only occasionally now) highlights them on a show millions of ??people watch.

Take last night's episode of The Tonight Show, for example. There was the expected Switch presentation with Reggie, and that's fine. But then ??there was also this short clip of preeminent Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto playing the most recognizable piece of music in video games with one of the greatest hip hop ensembles in history, The Roots. There's no point to it other than to make you smile. Did it work? I know my day is just a little brighter having watched it.

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Nintendo brings its new video game console to late night

Nintendo revealed its new home (and portable!) video game console, the Switch, two months back with a commercial. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime brought the new console with him for an appearance on The Tonight Show, for our first ?real, live l?ook at the new system in action.

Fils-Aime opens the presentation playing a projected version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, doing as little as possible besides moving Link ?around. He then stows the Pro controller he was using and pulls the Switch from its dock (which has two cables com?ing out of it in this set-up).

From there,?? host Jimmy Fallon, famous for making it in co??medy after losing his funny bone in a tragic childhood accident, takes over, playing on the Switch's screen as if it were a Wii U. A much thinner Wii U. He pops out the kickstand at one point, but doesn't slide the two controller units off of the sides of the console base.

Zelda seemed to run well on the new console. I didn't have any complaints when Jordan and I played it on Wii U six months ago, but some gamers have been worri?ed about the frame rate in Wii U footage of the game. It also looks like there is a USB-C port on the ??console for charging, as leaked yesterday.

Nintendo will likely go quiet on the Switc??h until its January 12 event, where we should learn the most important details, like how much the thing actually costs.

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One away from a nice number

Jimmy Fallon describing the Nintendo Switch at a Cavs game? pic.twitter.com/4IPwqz9jZk

— Wario64 (@Wario64) December 8, 2016

Not sure what the Legend of Zelda and Mario creator is doing court-side. I guess he's hanging in New York with Reggie.

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Launch regions expanded, as well

During a recent financial presentation this past week, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima discussed the pricing structure for the upcoming mobile game Super Mario Run. While no concrete figure was given, Kimishima? did mention that gamers will need to pay to unlock "all of?? the game content."

This is similar to how Nintendo labels some of their 3DS games as "free-to-start"; I'm not sure I'm a fan of that wording, but it is a bit more honest ?than the more traditional phrasing. As such, Kimishima reassured everyone that after paying, "children can play it with peace of mind."

Along with that information, Nintendo iterated that the game will be launching in 150 countries in December. While we can assume Japan and the United States are included, there isn't a full list of countries available. I'm going to assume that anywhere the iPhone is, Super Mario Run will follow.

While I can't say I'm exactly thrilled that a main Nintendo franchise will be getting a mobile spin-off, having Mario hit phones was an ine??vitability. The Wii U was a pretty big misstep for the company, regardless of whether you liked it or not. Nintendo needs to recuperate their losses and putting Mario on iOS is a damn safe bet.

As for when the game will be coming to Android devices, no exact date was given. I'm not sure this presentation put anyone's mind at ease, but at least we know that Run won't be totally loaded with microtransactions.

Nintendo Talks Super Mario Run Pricing, as Launch Regions Expand [GameSpot]

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I'm not sure I can look at him the same way again

Come to think of it, I've never before tried to guess Mario's age specifically. Have you?

I've always considered him to be in some vague late-30s or early-40s gray area, if not older, going off the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film. That's a wide range! So you can imagine, then, that word from creator Shigeru Miyamoto about Mario being firmly in his mid-20s comes as a huge shock.

This uncomfortable ??detail has bubbled up out of a 2005 interview with Miyamoto, recently and horrifyingly shared again, in which the designer states: "Normally when you create a character and present him to the world, all the details get filed ??in: what's his favorite color? What kind of food does he like to eat? But aside from the fact that he's about 24-25 years old, we didn't define anything else."

So, Mario is younger than me. I am not okay with this.

Mario is only 24 yea??rs old, accor??ding to creator Shigeru Miyamoto [Ars Technica via NeoGAF]

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What did we do to deserve him?

Watch as Mr. Miyamoto reveals his favorite ways to play #SuperMarioRun on the go! pic.twitter.com/MboONwsdsw

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 12, 2016

In talking up Super Mario Run's one-handed game design, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto recently went on the record to say that it's possible to play the?? upcoming mobile title while "riding the subway or, my favorite, eating a ham?burger."

That was a mental image well worth conjuring, but now we don't have to use our imaginations. Here's the legendary designer chomping down a burger while jumping over obstacles in Super Mario Run.

I'd be afraid of the grease getting anywhere near my phone once I was done with the game, but I'm no stranger to this risky business. I tend to floss and brush my teeth while simultaneously playing Pokémon Shuffle, and I haven't once dropped my phone. It's only a matter of time.

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Go on

I can recall a lot of "we aren't interested in smartphones" talk from Nintendo in the last five years or so, but now they're going full steam ahead with projects like Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem mobile, and Super Mario Run.

The infamous amiibo figures might be in that equation too, as Miyamoto recently told IGN after the Apple conference that they're looking into it. Noting the announcement of the support of NFC technology for the iPhone 7 and new Apple Watch line, he mused on the idea, stating, "Until the announcement this morning there wasn't a whole lot we could do, but now we can look at what they've said and how we might have an opportunity to use that." Applicable Android devices would presumably be in the mix as well, and the technology in general has been around for a long?? while.

I mean, if it adds some sort o??f interaction with smartphone games in lieu of f??orking out for in-app-purchases (read: microtransactions) I'm all for it.

Nintendo won't rule out amiibo support [IGN]

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Except Mario Clash

Shortly after the Apple press conference where Miyamoto appeared on stage to announce Super Mario Run, he spoke with USA Today about things like bluegrass music and Star Wars, but most importantly Mario in virtual reality: it's won't happen anytime?? soon.

Miyamoto, a developer who loves to innovate and adapt new technologies, explains that although "adapting Mario to new platforms is a key to keeping him relevant," they want to maintain the concept of playing with family and friends. He also said they want players ?to play a long time which is "hard to do in VR," r?eferring to how people can't play with headsets on all day. So yeah, you heard it here first: Miyamoto wants you in front of your TV playing games for long periods of time.

One is tempted to argue that many Mario games are single-player, but on second thought there has been some sort of multiplayer or at least encouraged turn-taking through Mario's history (having Luigi in the original Super Mario Bros. to encourage turn-taking for instance). He envisions?? family and friends sitting around and playing the game together in a social environment, as opposed to someone like me who plays them alone. Sorry to disappoint you Miyamoto-sama.

Otherwise that could just be their excuse regarding questio??ns of virtual reality instead of "I dunno lol." A businessman would say the opportunity is there and they will think about it. However, in Japan people are more afraid than in the west to make promises and not deliver in fear of losing face or credibility, so much so that weather forecasters always say "I think" when announcing weather. If that's the case, it's hard to blame them given the uncertainty of the fut?ure of virtual reality, as well as the colossal failure that was the Virtual Boy. 

The 2D side-scrolling formula may not have a use in virtual reality, but being Nintendo, it should be able to find a way to make a unique 3D Mario game in VR. If it were to pull a, well, Mario Runner and come out with a virtual reality Mario game in the next few years, what do you think it will be? What other Nintendo franchise could you see on VR? A first-person Metroid Prime game might be neat in VR.

Miyamoto on why Mario is finally coming to smartp??hones [USA Today]

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Super Mario Run

Legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto made a surprise appearance today at Apple's special event to announce a new game, Super Mario Run, a runner that appears to be based on New Super Mario Bros. U. This will launch on iOS first, implying that it might be a timed exclusive and? ??coming to Android later.

This is Super Mario Run on iPhone pic.twitter.com/nBBu73Ghjy

— Wario64 (@Wario64) September 7, 2016

"Super Mario has evolved whenever he has encountered a new platform, and for the first time ever, players will be able to enjoy a full-fledged Super Mario game with just one hand, givin??g them the freedom to play while riding the subway or my favorite, eat?ing a hamburger," said Miyamoto.

Super Mario Run will be out this December at a set price to be announced at a later date. Also, there will be Mario stickers in iMessage for iOS 10. 

MAMA MIA!

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If you take his word for it

For thousands of years and at least one Pirates of the Caribbean movie (arguably all four), people have been interested in a source of eternal life. We're not talking some Wishmaster "I don't ever want to? die" GOTCHA!-ass-shit that leaves you looking like the Crypt Keeper when you hit age 206. We're talking Dorian Gray without the lifelong crippling fear of picture frames.

Nintendo genius and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto might have it.

Speaking to Kotaku, the 63-year-old laughed off the idea of aging and coming full circle with the latest Zelda, saying, "I personal?ly don't feel like I'?ve gotten old."

He might be right. First, I don't think Miyamoto is old, mostly because he's younger than my dad, which is a lifelong shifting goalpost of what "old" means until I get slid into a coffin of my own. Second, look how youthful he looks! Plus. he still makes games at Nintendo, a com??pany that makes video games for youths (also known as "kiddie games") and you can't be a rheumatory-ass cane??-walker to do that. You think Dennis Hopper could create a safe, fun, age-appropriate game for your children? No, because he got old. Even died from it.

Miyamoto, on the hand? Still working on Pikmin! 

He did offer some good dishing on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, though. A lot of people think that Zelda is about dungeons that can be traversed with a rec??ently acquired item or z-targeting or the Hero of Time or whatever. Wron?g. It's about hiking.

"[I[f we were to make it 3D and really realistic, and render the player realistic, you’d run into games that are just like that all over the place," he said of the new Zelda. "And so Zelda is really about exploring and adventuring [through] the land. And you’re kind of fighting against the land as if you were hiking in real life, and that&rsquo??;s how this game works. And the player has t??o think for themselves and has to put their ideas into practice. That’s what this game is."

It's a theme, not a set of mechanics or aesthetic choices. In that context, the surprising, Spider-Man-like climbing (you walk into any vertical surface for long enough and Link starts to scale it) system in Breath of the Wild becomes a more interesting idea. Same with the constantly breaking equipment and subsequent foragi?ng. The Jack London-evoking subtitle seems a good fit.

What Makes Shigeru Miyamoto Tick [Kotaku]

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It was 'close to completion' at E3 2015

So uh Pikmin 4 guys? It was supposedly "close to completion" last June, Miyamoto then confirmed, but priorities have changed??.

Speaking to Miyamoto at E3 this year, he offered the following statement: "Yes, you are right, and we’re working on [Pikmin 4]. So, you know, when we’re in development we have to create a list?? of priorities and it has been hard to kind of fit that into that list, but we’re hopefully starting to see that on the list now."

I think it's easy to read between the lines here -- "NX." It's crazy how everything is riding on this machine now, with nearly every project that was supposed to be released on the Wii U being pushed back. I'll never ??stop singing the praises of the GamePad and lament the fact that the console never caught on.

Pikmin 4 Update [GameRant]

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