Shigeru Miyamoto: The Mark of Genius

The tell tale sign of a genius is great originality, an ability to take your field in a new and uncharted direction, often based solely on a singular vision.

There's no doubt that video gaming has it's own genius, the great Shigeru Miyamoto. A giant in game design, and the single most influential mind in video gaming ever. Not only responsible for designing some of the worlds best games, and most beloved and widely known franchises, but also the lead ideologist behind the video gaming superpower Nintendo.

The gaming master mind is at it again, and the results are redefining the video game industry, like any good gaming genius would. Miyamoto's brainchild, the Wii, is outselling all expectations and are headed into the magical Christmas season as the clear favorite to become this generations top console. Coming off the disappointing Gamecube performance (the Wii has already outsold the Gamecube) it is remarkable what Nintendo is doing.

The monumental shift will put it's stamp on video gaming for a long time. Just like when Nintendo introduced the game pad which became the only way to play video games for years and years, the new innovations in the control scheme of the Wii will be copied by anyone producing video game hardware in the future. Motion control is such a paradigm shift it's impossible to imagine it not being included in future consoles.

But the real genius of Nintendo is not in motion control, other companies will look at what Nintendo are doing and copy the obvious innovation, but they will not be touching the core of why the Wii is so very successful. The so called 'blue ocean strategy' of Nintendo likewise is not the true mark of genius. Nintendo has been very successful in expanding the market, but that is hardly genius, not easy, but nothing groundbreaking or new, it is the goal of every company in the world to expand their audience.

The real genius of Nintendo is in the game philosophy, in making games accessible. The Wii is running laps around the competition because it is immediately appealing to almost everybody. The motion controls make sure people hear about the product, but it's the simple purified gameplay that attracts real customers. And that's where the genius shows through. Anyone can make a game, lot's of people can make a good game, a few people can make great games, but only genius creates a timeless game. To successfully create a very simple game, the game design has to be perfect. The controls the characters the balance the presentation, everything has to be perfected. A simple game gives no hiding places for bad gameplay, the game has to be designed flawlessly. Nintendo does just that, with Wii Sport they created a game that anyone could pick up and play in a matter of seconds, the game concept and controls so utterly intuitive that it excludes no one. Little kids, and senior citizens put on the same level as an experienced gamer and being able to play right away. That kind of design is not just difficult, it is genius. And as so often with geniality, it look so obvious and simple in retrospect.

Miyamoto will hopefully bless us with his genius for many more years, already we are seeing his brilliance in other titles. From the simple routine of checking his own weight, he designed Wii Fit, a title that goes against everything in gaming, is ridiculed by the hardcore player, and yet will end up selling over 10 million copies, probably much much more. Miyamoto saw the fun in weighing yourself, and created a unique gaming experience.

So that's where the strength of Nintendo lies, in the ability to create excellent game designs that are amazing in their simplicity and uniqueness, universally accessible and most of all tons and tons of fun. There is no doubt in my mind, that a shift back from complex game models, to simplified pure gameplay is the main reason why Nintendo has revitalized the entire video gaming industry.