E309 | Miyamoto's Roundtable Roundup

As last year, where he let slip that a new Pikmin game was in development, Shigeru Miyamoto has hosted a roundtable presentation at E3. This gives him a chance to show off some key products in a little more detail, as well as giving press a chance to throw some questions at him.

The talk kicked off with a mention of a new DS title that fits into their lifestyle line-up; a guide application that allows you to find out information about locations and products in a city. There's no name or time frame for release as of yet, but it's undergoing testing at the moment.

Next up was some information on the new outings of Mario. New Super Mario Bros. Wii will feature around 80 levels and is playable in both co-op, with up to four players, and single player modes. It was said that Miyamoto-san has been wanting to create a multiplayer focused game in all of the time he's been working on the series, but the opportunity has never fully arisen - instead, they tend to start the multiplayer modes and put them on the backburner. Revisiting stages is encouraged to increase high scores, and there will be times where players will not only co-operate but also compete against each other. It's designed to be suitable for beginners and veterans alike to play together as, even if you lose all your lives on a level, if at least one player makes it to the next all players will respawn at the beginning of the following stage. One new element shown was the belly-sliding penguin suit in an icy realm. Interestingly, later in the talk Miyamoto-san stated that the game uses up practically all of Wii's processing power, such is the amount happening on screen.

On the subject of Super Mario Galaxy 2, Miyamoto-san admitted that much content originally intended for the first game was wasted, and so the Galaxy sequel began as a way to put them out there rather than binning them off entirely; a Mario Galaxy 1.5, in his own words. However, the team soon was reinvigorated by the project, and they have ended up going all-out to make new content as well. Due to this, they decided to make it a 'full' sequel instead, with 90% of the content being new and around the same size game as the first Mario Galaxy. It's scheduled for 2010 so that they can focus on New Super Mario Bros Wii this year.

The idea that their conference was nothing but sequels in Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort and the Mario games was addressed, with them feeling that there is enough new content in each to separate them from their predecessors. Talking about Wii Sports specifically, Mr. Miyamoto mentioned the Wii Motorsports game first discussed at Wii launch, though by the sounds of it it may not be in development any longer. Instead, Motion Plus was created and steered their direction towards sports that they could not do with the first game, such as basketball and fencing. Canoeing, cycling and wakeboarding were also confirmed as new modes. Things like golf have been brought back as with Motion Plus the system can now tell how strongly the remote is swung, and it can also tell players when their movements will produce a dud ball. Golf features an 18-hole course. Table tennis is apparently looking more accurate than Wii Sports tennis and is a favourite at the Nintendo of America headquarters. Pro athletes have allegedly told Nintendo that Resort is more 'realistic' than actual sports with Motion Plus.

Surprisingly, an achievement system of sorts is in place within Wii Sports Resort, with stamps being awarded as players reach certain goals. This isn't planned as a cross-game thing thus far; it was just thought that it fitted in well with Resort. Resort is set on the same island as the Wii Fit jogging stages, Woo-Hoo Island and Miyamoto hopes that it'll be popping up in a few more games - maybe a murder mystery game! Wii Murder? You and your japes, Miyamoto...

Zelda was the next subject at hand. The DS' Spirit Tracks is said to encompass traditional puzzles with new elements, such as phantoms that Link can command within dungeons. Above ground and out of musty corridors, the railways are king; the decision being made because young men "like trains". Attention was then turned to a new Zelda on Wii, with concept art shown that featured Link in his Twilight Princess get-up. Miyamoto and his team have been thinking of ways of moving the series forward. They're experimenting with lots of things - though Miyamoto-san personally wants to create a more swordplay-based action-style game that features much travel to different areas and allow players to reach their own interpretations of the content offered, other team members want to move it in a direction involving more RPG elements. Zelda Wii has not made an appearance at this E3 so it is not shown too early on and so they can focus upon the continued development of the title, though it was confirmed that they are aiming for a release next year, so it's likely it will be appearing at E3 2010. A lot of Motion Plus functionality is built in and planned at this stage - it may be essential to own the peripheral to play.

Finally, it was question time. On Microsoft and Sony announcing motion solutions, Miyamoto's response did not exude much concern. "[...] I don't know what the most perfect approach is to this kind of gameplay, but anything that gets players into full motion gameplay just expands the market for us. And I think we've created something very natural with Wii Motion Plus, at a good price point." The Vitality Sensor was brought up with hints and jokes as to its use: as a love tester device, for example. Yoga was cited as a way to change your pulse reading. Miyamoto-san would like to use Wii Speak more, but he says that processing power is an issue in using it, though they are considering it for many games that they develop. Finally, the game from which he draws the most inspiration? Sim City.

This summary was written using Gamespot's live blog-form coverage.

Are you satisfied with what Miyamoto-san had to say at his roundtable?