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E308: Miyamoto explains fusion of Wii and DS Zelda teams

Posted Jul 16th 2008 1:00PM by Phil Larsen
Filed under: News

If the DS Zelda team is helping out the Wii Zelda team, it could mean either of two things. One -- the next Wii Zelda is going to be beyond awesome. Two -- will the DS successor to Phantom Hourglass be neglected for longer than desired? It could cause longer development cycles, but the overall product will surely benefit from the extra talent.

Mitamoto explained that "the DS team is mixing in with the Wii team and working on the Wii version." Possible theory -- instead of a "realistic" Link for Wii and "cartoon" Link for DS, the two games might just be linked by more than just the name. All speculation, but speculation is fun!

Miyamoto, DS take home some Famitsu awards

Posted Apr 28th 2008 7:00PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

Hey, who doesn't know how awesome Shigeru Miyamoto is? Your grandmother? Shove her to the ground. Seriously, the man is a legend and your grandmother's frail, aged bones need to recognize that.

Speaking of recognition, Miyamoto and select titles on the DS recently got themselves some, as Famitsu dished out awards to the gaming icon and some titles available on his company's handheld system. The games that got the nod were Mario Party DS, Phantom Hourglass, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time and Darkness and Dragon Quest IV. All of these games received an Award for Excellence, where newcomer Professor Layton and the Curious Village got itself a Rookie award.

Miyamoto himself received top honors, as he accepted his time in the spotlight and thanked everyone by stating that he was happy to "get an honor like this, it makes me glad to have worked so hard over the past thirty years. This is going to sound a bit like a lie, but it's like a dream. That said, I didn't think five years ago that I'd be making Wii Fit. I thought I'd be making more Mario and Zelda."

Well, if there's someone who should be used to accepting awards, it's him.

Miyamoto: 'DS was designed with mothers and school in mind'

Posted Jan 30th 2008 8:00PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Interviews, News

For its 1,000th issue, lucky old Famitsu got quite the gift: a chance to sit down with Nintendo design guru Shigeru Miyamoto and chew the fat about Nintendo's past, present, and future.

As you'd expect, numerous topics were broached, with the DS talked about at length. Miyamoto explained how Nintendo approached designing the handheld, revealing that the company aimed for "something Mom won't hate," as well as a system that could help out at school.

As for what the future holds for the dual-screened wonder, Miyamoto said Nintendo was focused on making games that people would want to play at both home and, well, everywhere else: "When you take your DS out on the town, you'll be able to do all kinds of fun things with it in public spaces. This year we plan to challenge ourselves with that kind of system."

Elsewhere in the article, Shiggy discusses how his dismay with the GameCube controller directly influenced the development of the Wii Remote (the reporter apparently tried to defend the controller, but Miyamoto was having none of it), and reassured fans that Mario and Zelda still had big roles to play in Nintendo's future.

Get a signed GBA to go with your Phantom Hourglass DS Lite

Posted Jan 14th 2008 12:00PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: Fan stuff, GBA

Signed units are nothing new to us here at DS Fanboy. We've seen our fair share of them. But, when you have a limited edition GBA SP like this, signed by the man who made so many of our beloved Nintendo mascots a reality, we take special notice.

Should you be the bidding type, this auction for the pictured GBA SP is live until January 19th, giving you enough time to go over the decision to toss your coin in for this Miyamoto-signed GBA SP. It's a pretty sweet handheld, if we may say so. However, the starting bid of $500 is probably a tad bit ridiculous and has us questioning the seller's state of mind. We wouldn't drop that much dough on this item ourselves.

What about you, though? Is this GBA worth several hundred dollars?

[Via Go Nintendo]

A very special deal on a Miyamoto-signed DS [update]

Posted Jan 5th 2008 12:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Fan stuff

More than most autographed DS systems, this one has, uh, personality. Character. It looks like it's got a few stories to tell. Like the story of what that orange stuff is, and the story of how its top screen got that awful crack. And in case you're distracted by those two issues, this DS has in fact not been autographed by Shigeru Miyamoto, and it's selling for (a current bid of) just $18.35.

It's unlikely that you'd buy an autographed DS to play anyway. Items like that are strictly for display or bragging rights. So why not save yourself a little money and buy one that is less than perfectly functional? We were being sarcastic when we first started typing that, but now we think it's actually a pretty smart idea.

(Update:) Here's why: it's not really signed. As pointed out by commenter GCN Sean, it's a sticker. But hey, broken DS with a sticker on it for like $18, right? That's actually ... a terrible deal. Well, at least we think we've found the Worst DS on eBay. Really, we think the thing's a lot more entertaining now that we know it's a hilarious scam.

[Via GameSniped]

DS Daily: Heroes

Posted Dec 22nd 2007 10:30AM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: DS Daily

No, we're not talking about the heroes you might be thinking of. We're talking about the heroes behind the heroes. The names and faces that make our games come alive. The visionaries, if you will.

Yesterday's unveiling of a release date and the official website for Flower, Sun and Rain inspired a chat amongst the staff about the game's creator, Goichi Suda. You see, around these parts, we simply can't get enough of Suda's work: the wildly imaginative concepts, that inimitable visual style. Hand on heart, Suda's mere involvement in a project means a sale to this blogger is more than likely. We only wish others felt the same way.

But what about you, reader? Is there a particular development guru you look up to? Are you more about Sakaguchi or Shiggy, Molyneux or Mizuguchi? And do you ever purchase a game solely because they played a part in its creation?

Happy birthday, Miyamoto-san!

Posted Nov 16th 2007 5:40PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News

He created Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda. He has been indirectly responsible for using up thousands of hours of our lives. We sort of want him to be our Dad. Yes, Nintendo design guru and general gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto turned 55 years young today (hasn't he aged well?), so it felt only right that we took the time to wish Shiggy many happy returns.

Here's to a long and prosperous future, sir! One with lots of cake.

Shigeru Miyamoto is a man -- and how!

Posted Oct 23rd 2007 11:30PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News

True story: Shigeru Miyamoto is so manly, he doesn't sleep on a mattress like us mortals, but a specially constructed plinth, fashioned exclusively from glass shards and exposed six-inch nails. Also, when he's bored, he wrestles prides of lions. For fun. When (after several weeks) he tires and grows hungry, he chows down on some of the sharks he's killed with his bare hands. Another time, he once freed a trapped kitten from beneath an overturned tanker truck by lifting the vehicle himself with a single finger -- whilst working out.

And we presume that's why AskMen.com deem our Shiggy to be the 19th manliest man of 2007. That, and a bunch of other stuff about video games.

Miyamoto wins award in London

Posted Oct 19th 2007 12:20PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

Shigeru Miyamoto, one of the biggest names in the industry, recently received an award. The Economist's Innovation Award for Consumer Goods, to be exact, which was awarded to the gaming legend at the Science Museum in London.

Using an independent judging panel of industry experts, the choice to award Miyamoto was an easy one as Tom Standage, business editor at The Economist, comments "No one is more identified with modern video games than Shigeru Miyamoto." He further added "His pioneering vision and creativity truly created a new category of entertainment."

We agree, Tom.

Confirmed: all high-level Nintendo employees are required to have big circles in signatures

Posted Oct 18th 2007 9:50AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Fan stuff

Not only has Eiji Aonuma followed Shigeru Miyamoto as producer of the Zelda games, but he's followed Miyamoto in autograph style as well. Compare Miyamoto's autograph (left) with the thing Aonuma scribbled on this crimson-and-black DS, given to a Link costume contest winner at the Phantom Hourglass launch. Both Nintendo luminaries feature two big circle things in their autographs, even though Miyamoto signs his name using the Roman alphabet and Aonuma signs in kanji.

Congratulations go out, of course, to the winner, a GoNintendo reader named JulianK, one of the few people for whom Link cosplay had positive consequences.

Iwata and Itoi talk shop over dinner

Posted Sep 1st 2007 1:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Interviews, News

DS may have killed the 'Game Boy' name

Posted Jul 16th 2007 4:40PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News

We all suspected that the Game Boy Advance was basically moribund, because it lacks the high-tech money-printing capabilities of the DS. Confirming our suspicions, Shigeru Miyamoto mentioned in an interview with Kotaku that Nintendo basically didn't care about the platform anymore.

Now, according to George Harrison, it's not just Nintendo's "third pillar" strategy that's out, but the whole Game Boy line. He told GameDaily that "This year in our marketing you really won't see much push against Game Boy itself, so it will kind of seek its own level. It's hard to say in the future if we will ever bring back the Game Boy trademark."

It makes sense for Nintendo not to bring back the Game Boy name when the DS has so much momentum. But, personally, we think it's quite sad to see a Nintendo standard go away. Oh, well, at least we've got the Wii now to take over as the most awkwardly-named Nintendo console on the market.

Japanese hardware sales, May 14 - May 20: Satisfactory edition

Posted May 26th 2007 12:20AM by Jason Wishnov
Filed under: Features

Having issues with performance? Can't seem to keep those sales numbers up? Disappointed in your ability to satisfy Japanese schoolchildren? It's okay, Mr. Miyamoto. It's not you, it's just ... you know ... they've seen it all before. They want something new. They need something big, and yours just isn't big enough. But boy, do we have a product for you!

Trust us. With regular use comes a guaranteed increase in size, or your money back! Girls will flock to you, women will be putty in your hands! After all, we've seen the results firsthand. Yes, that's right, we've sunk quite a bit of our own money and time into this product, and we're just absolutely 100% positive you'll start seeing results within a few weeks. And hey, it's not your fault nature didn't give you a little more to work with! So go ahead and start Training Your Brain, Miyamoto-san, and give those women what they really want: your astronomically high IQ.

- DS Lite: 111,213 52,572 (32.10%)
- Wii: 52,193 351 (0.67%)
- PSP: 27,505 6,928 (20.12%)
- PS2: 10,881 467 (4.48%)
- PS3: 8,659 180 (2.04%)
- Xbox 360: 2,026 79 (3.75%)
- Game Boy Micro: 428 20 (4.90%)
- GBA SP: 330 13 (3.79%)
- Gamecube: 276 39 (12.38%)
- GBA: 33 15 (83.33%)
- DS Phat: 26 13 (33.33%)

[Source: Media Create]

DS Daily: The signing

Posted May 15th 2007 9:00AM by Jason Wishnov
Filed under: Features

Yesterday's eBay treasure-find got us thinking. We tend to idolize certain figures in the gaming world, even if they happen to just be suave business men. And don't get us wrong, Iwata-san is the very definition of a ladies' man. But in all the realm of gaming, from players to publishers, who would you want to sign your DS?

Bonus points if you don't pick Miyamoto, but, uh, we totally pick Miyamoto. I mean, he deserves it, right? And he's got such a cool signature.

eBay alert: DS Phat signed all over

Posted May 14th 2007 2:30PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: Fan stuff

Up for grabs on eBay is a DS Fanboy's dream: a DS signed by not only Shigeru Miyamoto, but also Satoru Iwata and the voice of Mario, Charles Martinet. Why would anyone want to get rid of such a priceless beauty? Turns out, school loans. But all of the money won't be going to school loans, as the seller will be setting aside 25% of the profit to go to Child's Play.

At the time we were writing this piece up, the current bid was $330.00. We have a feeling that'll be going much higher before the end of the auction on the 19th.

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