Crazy driving games, first-person shooters, combat matches…gamers play to relax but video games aren’t exactly synonymous with calm. Now Nintendo guru Shigeru Miyamoto is advising video-game designers to get more zen …
If you’re a video game fan, you probably enjoy the thrill of beating your opponent to a pulp or slaying a killer on the run. But maybe the feelings games like Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil inspire are not the healthiest ones. In these games, some of the most popular on the market, players either pretend to be gangsters stealing cars, engage in street fights or track down and slay killers and cannibalists.
Chances are good you’ll soon start seeing more games with happier and more peaceful scenarios. Maybe a game where the ultimate goal is a relaxing holiday on a sunny beach with a fruity drink in hand? Although these gory, violence-driven games are popular, they may be giving the industry a bad name as many researchers continue to suggest that there is a direct link between virtual violent game-playing and real life aggressive behavior.
These were the thoughts shared at a video-gamers’ conference held in San Fransico last week, by one of the industry’s top designers, Shigeru Miyamoto. He gave a speech in which he srongly encouraged designers to start developing “happier” games, where provoking an ultimate positive feeling of joy and glee in the player is the end goal.
Miyamoto’s word holds substantial weight in the video game industry. Starting out at Nintendo as a penny arcade game designer, he eventually designed such games as Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda which together have sold 288 million copies worldwide.
This article was published Wednesday, March 14, 2007.
