Nintendo is, in general, considered to be among the best developers in the industry. At the very least, Nintendo games manage to induce a paradigm shift in video gaming as a whole; at the very worst, they end up being highly polished, well made video games that end up being among the highest rated of their generation, if not of all time.
Nintendo’s talent as a developer, then, is never quite in question. Which is why Shigeru Miyamoto’s recent statement to investors (via VentureBeat), in which he pointed out that Nintendo is ‘as talented’ as western developers, was a bit amusing- that was never in doubt, was it?
“Even though game software developers in the U.S. and E.U. are often said to have superior skills to their Japanese counterparts when it comes to software development techniques, Nintendoʼs software developers have mastered state-of-the-art technologies such as Unreal engine, and their skills can now be compared with those of Western developers. Our developers are more excited than ever to create software,” Miyamoto said.
Of course, if Miyamoto is talking specifically about modern technologies and development pipelines – which is the one area where Nintendo has consistently lagged behind since at least the Wii – then I can see the need to clarify the point. Personally, I think Nintendo is among the most talented development houses in the industry- and I can’t wait to see how Zelda, Mario, and other Nintendo games coming this year, pan out.
