#itouquote

PEOPLE:

Shigesato Itoi, age 40. Creator of Earthbound Zero (Mother). Later: editor of the Ishinomori A Link to the Past manga.

Shigeru Miyamoto, age 36. Creator of Zelda & Mario. Producer of Nintendo EAD’s Software Development Department.

Seikou Itou. Author of the novel No Life King.

QUOTE: Itoi: Graphics becoming realistic [is], when you think about it, a ridiculous thing. If we go down that path it will eventually lead to caricature. A self-imposed bondage.

Miyamoto: … Rather than going for realism, you want changes like stereo sound. People aren't pining after perfection anymore. I totally agree.

Itou: It's about how weird you can get. Realistic sounds are just boring, you know?

Itoi: On CD-ROM, the games use actual human voices, but it's really lame.

Itou: It ruins the immersion. You lose the ability to project yourself into the character because you're forced to hear this other distinct voice.

PEOPLE:

Seikou Itou. Author of No Life King.

Shigesato Itoi, age 40. Creator of Earthbound. Later: Editor of the Ishinomori A Link to the Past manga.

Shigeru Miyamoto, age 36. Creator of Zelda and Mario. Producer of Nintendo EAD’s Software Development Department.

QUOTE: Itou: I mean, when you're actually playing a game, there's no way you aren't conscious of the fact that you are the one playing it. The idea that you could somehow "leap beyond" the fact that it's a game… well, that's just impossible.

Itoi: If we're talking about immersive tricks, movies are actually far more sophisticated at doing that.

Itou: Exactly. It's so bizarre. Society buys into this image of kids "getting sucked into the tube"… and people actually believe that.

PEOPLE:

Shigeru Miyamoto, age 36. Creator of Zelda & Mario. Producer of Nintendo’s R&D4 group.

Seikou Itou. Novelist. Author of No Life King.

QUOTE: Miyamoto: When pornography escalates, it eventually crosses into the grotesque. I think the world of "hidden secrets" in games has almost reached that same grotesque level. It's reached a point where it isn't measured by common sense anymore. It's just people getting bored and looking for stronger and stronger stimulation. We've hit a wall. When you're at the point where you have no choice but to go "grotesque," you have to start thinking of new ways to use the medium.

Itou: In a healthy way.