Before they used people with degrees in psychology to design the games to be as addictive as possible, they were created for fun. Now a days, some games are created for fun, for children, for entertainment and others are designed to be very addictive. It is like a beverage aEU" you go from water to Everclear (190 proof acohol). They are all beverages, but they affect you different.
This article discusses how SOME games ARE designed to be just for fun
Mario Brothers creator seeks to keep gaming simple
By ANTHONY BREZNICAN
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- With his boyish grin, tousled black hair and "Donkey Kong" T-shirt, Shigeru Miyamoto looks like any other video gaming enthusiast at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.
But with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, Nintendo is counting on his imagination to boost sales of its second-place GameCube console against Sony's leading PlayStation2 and Microsoft's third-place Xbox.
Miyamoto, 49, may be unknown to most Americans, but hardcore gaming fans revere him as an icon -- the Walt Disney of video games, a man who has created a multitude of memorable titles working quietly from Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto, Japan.
His creations -- from "Donkey Kong" in 1981 to the "Mario Bros.", "The Legend of Zelda" and last year's "Pikmin" -- are not only among the most popular games of all time. They helped make video gaming itself popular.
The combination of an unlikely mix of rotund cartoon creatures and adventure action are Miyamoto's hallmark. He thinks games should appeal to the inner child in adults and seeks to keep them simple so they attract first-time players.
"I don't necessarily focus on making characters for children," he said through an interpreter. "But every adult has a kind of a childlike core to them and a bit of their childhood still in there. So really, what I'm trying to do is draw out the child in the adult while still entertaining younger kids as well."
Miyamoto's games have produced sequel after sequel, each one taking advantage of the latest technological advancements. The first of them featured complex single-screen adventuring at the advent of video gaming.
Then came the innovative scrolling screen format of "Super Mario Bros." on the original Nintendo Entertainment System console, along with the rolling overhead view of "The Legend of Zelda" in 1986. The next-generation Super Nintendo console allowed for the combination of both formats with improved graphics, seen in the "Zelda" follow-up "A Link to the Past."
The first PlayStation console topped the Super Nintendo with graphic realism in games such as "Mortal Kombat," but Miyamoto helped Nintendo lead the industry again by moving in the opposite direction.
With the Nintendo 64 console, he put even more cartooniness in the 3-D games "Mario Kart 64" and "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time."
With PlayStation2 and Xbox again tempting designers with the possibilities of ultra-realism, Miyamoto is still defying the industry trend by choosing cutesy over gritty.
Miyamoto says too many designers are focused on taking video games to the Internet, rendering the most realistic images possible and creating increasingly complex game play.
"One of the big problems is that people making games now are making them for gamers," Miyamoto said. "The further you take a game for hardcore gamers and focus on them, the less inviting it becomes and loses people who don't normally play."
His games usually start simply -- a player barely needs to read the instructions to begin.
With "Pikmin," in which a spaceman directs scores of ant-like alien plant creatures to help gather parts of his damaged spacecraft, the missions begin with easy tasks that gradually lead to more complex puzzles.
With that philosophy in place, newcomers get acclimated to the game slowly, while advanced gamers just speed through the easy parts to the more difficult levels.
"It really becomes an issue of innovation and creativity to open the doors to people who don't play games," said Miyamoto.
The married father of two children -- ages 14 and 16 -- said he tries to keep his personal life simple, too. He doesn't play games for fun -- instead he plays bluegrass guitar, tinkers in his wood shop or works in his garden.
Miyamoto has worked on nearly 80 different Nintendo games, with sales of the "Mario" series topping 150 million worldwide. As a result, Nintendo executives are inclined to trust his judgment.
"He has a lot of freedom," said Perrin Kaplan, vice president for corporate affairs at Nintendo of America. "He's very true to his art, regardless of the pressures from others."
Miyamoto is now showcasing two major titles planned for release during the next year: "Super Mario Sunshine," which features the Italian plumber character in slapstick adventure on a tropical island, and an as-yet untitled "Zelda" follow-up that renders its elfin hero as a full-fledged cartoon.
It's the first time either of the wildly popular characters has starred in a GameCube title, and Nintendo hopes their inherent popularity will fuel console sales.
In a few days, Miyamoto will return to Japan to put the finishing touches on those games with his team of developers. Meantime, cheers of admiration followed wherever he went during the Los Angeles gaming convention.
The shy, soft-spoken designer acknowledged it was somewhat comforting to know his work is still influential.
"For three days every year," he said, "I get to feel like a rock star."
Edited by: lizwool at: 9/17/05 7:47
Liz Woolley