Miyamoto: Developers Should Focus on Uniqueness, Not Hardware Power

When Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto talks, everyone listens. And for good reason, too. The number of unforgettable franchises the gaming legend has started speaks for itself, and even if Nintendo is struggling a bit with the Wii U in our current generation, the company always seems to have something creative up its sleeve. And it’s that creativity and uniqueness that Miyamoto believes should be the driving force when it comes to developing hardware.

Speaking with Time, Miyamoto discussed his company’s current situation in the hardware race after E3. It’s clear that Nintendo isn’t flying quite as high as it was with the original Wii, but Miyamoto continues to fight for bringing something new to the table over launching a device that reaches for bleeding-edge technology.

“From my perspective, with regard to the more powerful hardware systems, to me what still remains incredibly important is the developers maintaining a focus on creating unique games because if all that everyone does is uses the enhanced power to create more and more games that look and feel the same, then all that it becomes is a competition about the power of the hardware rather than the uniqueness of the experience,” he said. “That, to me, is where developers should be devoting their effort.”

Will that be enough as the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One launch later this year? Games like The Wonderful 101 and Pikmin 3 will make the Wii U more appealing in 2013, but as of right now, the future of the console is unclear.