32 replies to this topic

[BlueBlur]

Q. What do you think of the conversation we’ve been having in the United States about games and violence since the elementary-school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in December?

A. That’s a difficult question. As someone who creates games and understands that children play those games, it’s a subject that I’m very sensitive about. We’ve seen through a variety of media that when people see or experience violence on screen, there is a certain amount of entertainment that people get out of that.

Mario is a character that, I feel, doesn’t need to use guns. But when it comes to violence, you then have to ask, “So, if Mario doesn’t use a gun, is it appropriate for Mario to hit people?” And, in fact, when we were creating the game Super Smash Bros., we had very long and deep discussions about whether or not we thought it was appropriate for Mario to hit people.

Q. The Wii U hasn’t sold as well as the Wii. Have you been disappointed by its reception?

A. I think that the Wii U still has a long future. We really view it as being the ideal device that families are going to want to have connected to that screen in the living room that everyone is going to gather around and watch. Certainly in the short term I would want to see it performing with probably a little more momentum. I think in the long term I’m not at a point where I’m concerned yet.

Q. What’s most exciting to you about video games right now?

A. For a long time at Nintendo we didn’t focus as much on online play because for many years doing so would have limited the size of the audience that could enjoy those features. But certainly now we see that so many people are connected to the Internet. It opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities.

Q. The Museum of Modern Art has a new installation with 14 video games. There aren’t any Nintendo games there, although the museum would like to have some. What do you think about games in museums, as opposed to living rooms?

A. I think the saddest thing about video games is that once the hardware that the game runs on stops operating, the game is gone. And the only way to preserve it then is through video. And so, on the one hand, I’m happy that there’s a facility that’s starting to preserve games in their original state.

 At the same time it seems a little strange to me. I still look at video games as entertainment. And it seems strange to me to take entertainment and preserve it as a piece of art per se. But I guess MoMA as a museum, they were one of the first to start preserving industrial design products. With myself being an industrial designer, I’m very grateful to see that, and grateful that they’re also preserving games.

Q. You’ve had so much success over almost 35 years. Does that create additional pressure for you, compared with how you felt when you made Donkey Kong?

A. I don’t really think about it in those terms. There are sort of two kinds of people. There are the people who say, “Oh, we can repeat that success.” And there are the people who say, “We’re never going to see anything as successful as that again.” What I always say is: “We can make the rules ourselves. Nobody has done it before. We can make it up as we go along.” And that to me is a lot more fun.


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[Hank Hill]

 

Q. The Wii U hasn’t sold as well as the Wii. 

Edited by GameCollector, 12 March 2013 - 10:33 AM.

[Alph]

I agree that violence in video games have reached an all time high and kids are extremely violent nowadays but it's not just games to blame, you can get a lot of violent stuff in films and especially the internet. Plus, kids should not be playing Call of Duty or Borderlands. I am a kid and I have never brought an 18 rated game and I do believe that a lot of people in my school are violent and aggressive.

[Hunter]

I agree that violence in video games have reached an all time high and kids are extremely violent nowadays but it's not just games to blame, you can get a lot of violent stuff in films and especially the internet. Plus, kids should not be playing Call of Duty or Borderlands. I am a kid and I have never brought an 18 rated game and I do believe that a lot of people in my school are violent and aggressive.

 

There is a lot more violence in the real world than there is in video games and films. How can people shield their children (or themselves) from violence in the media when their country is participating in an illegal war? The government likes to use the media as a scapegoat to cover up their mistakes and distract people from whats really happening in the world.

 

People were violent long before video games and films became violent. We always have, and always will, have evil psychopaths who spread violence around the world. There is nothing we can do about it unfortunately.

[tboss]

starting a violence debate? i was watching R rated stuff at 2. it didnt turn me into a softshell lizard who hated on people. did make able to face the stuff and not freakout (understand its wrong yes but leave most of the drama from it out). id keep borderlands more stricktly enforced. but conditions at home have a much larger effect than the games themselves.

 

id worry mostly about dumm people raised in poor environments.

Edited by tboss, 12 March 2013 - 11:20 AM.

[ThatGuy]

There is a lot more violence in the real world than there is in video games and films. How can people shield their children (or themselves) from violence in the media when their country is participating in an illegal war? The government likes to use the media as a scapegoat to cover up their mistakes and distract people from whats really happening in the world.

 

People were violent long before video games and films became violent. We always have, and always will, have evil psychopaths who spread violence around the world. There is nothing we can do about it unfortunately.

 

This.

 

People don't seem to realize that over the last couple of decades that video games have become more and more popular, crimes in the U.S. like murder, rape, robbery, and assault have become much less frequent. Just take a look at this.

 

http://www.fbi.gov/a.../tables/table-1

 

So, yeah. NO correlation between video games and violent crime.

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

This dude is a legend, that is all.

[Fiery]

I agree that violence in video games have reached an all time high and kids are extremely violent nowadays but it's not just games to blame, you can get a lot of violent stuff in films and especially the internet. Plus, kids should not be playing Call of Duty or Borderlands. I am a kid and I have never brought an 18 rated game and I do believe that a lot of people in my school are violent and aggressive.

Psh, COD was made for little kids. You rarely see anyone 17+

[Kao]

I agree that violence in video games have reached an all time high and kids are extremely violent nowadays but it's not just games to blame, you can get a lot of violent stuff in films and especially the internet. Plus, kids should not be playing Call of Duty or Borderlands. I am a kid and I have never brought an 18 rated game and I do believe that a lot of people in my school are violent and aggressive.

I haven't bought (only played in a friends house) a 18+ rated game too! I wanted to get stuff like Goldeneye, but my parents didn't allow me to buy it. Now I thank my parents for not letting me play stuff like that! Seeing my friend, who owns a Xbox 360...poor guy .

[DanJiblets]

You didn't own Goldeneye? I'm sorry but that is blasphemy.

[Auzzie Wingman]

Well, I guess I'm a blasphemer.

 

COME AT ME JIBLETS! I'll show you jiblets!

[unleashedknight]

This.

 

People don't seem to realize that over the last couple of decades that video games have become more and more popular, crimes in the U.S. like murder, rape, robbery, and assault have become much less frequent. Just take a look at this.

 

http://www.fbi.gov/a.../tables/table-1

 

So, yeah. NO correlation between video games and violent crime.

This is totally off topic, but Im listening to daft punks "One More Time" and your dancing ditto really fits with the music.

[DanJiblets]

Well, I guess I'm a blasphemer.

COME AT ME JIBLETS! I'll show you jiblets!

Time for a brodown brah.

[Kao]

You didn't own Goldeneye? I'm sorry but that is blasphemy.

Well I am tweve so it isn't quite for me!

[Hunter]

Well I am tweve so it isn't quite for me!

But it's rated "Teen" and the closest thing to blood is a red mark when you shoot someone.

[TheUltimateWaddleDee]

Ironically, Mario was originally going to have a gun.

[Insanity_Boi]

Ironically, Mario was originally going to have a gun.

Really? That would've been fun. Why stomp a goomba when u could blow his brains out lol

[Kao]

But it's rated "Teen" and the closest thing to blood is a red mark when you shoot someone.

Europians have it smarter to prevent scchool shootouts! Golden eye is 16+ in Europe!

[Hunter]

Europians have it smarter to prevent scchool shootouts! Golden eye is 16+ in Europe!

 

oh im in europe too, i though "teen" would be like 13+ or 14+

[Kao]

oh im in europe too, i though "teen" would be like 13+ or 14+

But isn't PEGI the main guys in Europe? Amaricain ratings have that ESBR or something