5. Living People in the Game

When the finish line for this project had come into view, (Kiyoshi) Mizuki-san¹⁶ went to consult Eguchi-san and said, “We’re going to make an empathy network,” and then Miiverse – which we just mentioned – suddenly entered the picture.¹⁶. Kiyoshi Mizuki: Network Business Department. A producer of Miiverse. In addition to appearing in the session of "Iwata Asks" with the producers of Miiverse for Wii U, he has appeared in past sessions over Iwata Asks Walk with me! and the Nintendo 3DS Pre-installed Software.

But before Miiverse came up, we had talked about how since it was a theme park, we wanted it to be a plaza where, like at a world fair, people from all over the world would gather.

I also really wanted to make a plaza like this. I thought you needed to be able to see lots of people gathered. I wanted to show people’s Mii characters wandering around and forming lines. Walking around the plaza, you really feel like you’ve come to a theme park to have fun.

But Miiverse didn’t exist at the time, so we wondered how we could make it like that.

Yeah. First, we talked about getting Mii Contest Channel¹⁷ Mii characters from the server and having them appear in the plaza.¹⁷. Mii Contest Channel: A Wii Channel. Users may post their Mii characters for others to see, or receive Mii characters from others. Users may also submit Mii characters to contests following certain guidelines, and evaluate others' Mii characters.

Yeah. But then it wouldn’t feel alive, so we didn’t have a solution.

So hearing about Miiverse was a godsend?

Yeah. I really thought we should do it. I think I placed unreasonable demands on Yamashita-san, though.

That struggle paid off, though. It feels like there are living people in Nintendo Land.

I kind of like that atmosphere when you can see posts from overseas, and languages I can’t read are flying around.

It’s like, “I’ve come to a theme park!”

Yeah. Compared to pre-readied Mii characters, ones that someone has made are much more alive, so Miiverse really brought the plaza to life.

There’s another point to the plaza. It’s easy to think of Nintendo Land as a game for many people to play, but I also want to consider people who will play alone. I want people to encounter others through Miiverse and not feel as if they’re playing alone.

That gives rise to motivation for playing again the next day. You can play at different times and don’t have to play together. But I think there’s a great value to knowing that there are actually people who have the same experience and empathise with each other.

It’s enjoyable being able to speak through Miiverse.

Um, to be honest, I was wondering what people would write in Miiverse. But even if they write idle things like “I cleared such-and-such,” when you see that, you naturally get excited.

A really big part of that is that you share a common experience.

Yeah. I want people to be relaxed when they post. I think a faintly happy feeling will gather and grow, so I’m really looking forward to the beginning of the service.

I see. Okay, starting with Shimamura-san, I’d like to finish by asking each of you to say something to people who will play alone and to people who will have others to play with,.

Okay. I want people who play alone not to reject it out of hand, but to play it once and experience Nintendo Land and Miiverse.

In the single-player attractions, there are ones even the incredibly talented gamers among our staff keep challenging furiously.

Yeah. We set the hurdle really high so that even the debugging team said the Solo Attractions are the most difficult, so I hope people will give it their best.

For people who play with others, even if people of varying skill levels gather, we tried to create enjoyable multiplayer gameplay. So draw in as many people as possible to play it.

Okay. Yamashita-san?

For people who play alone, it’s easy to focus on multiplayer gameplay when it comes to the Team Attractions, but there’s plenty there for single players as well. And the player-character viewpoint changes depending on whether you play on Wii U GamePad or with the Wii Remote. For Metroid Blast, for example, you can play as Samus or in a Gunship, so it’s twice as pleasing.

I hope people who play with others will experience it in a group. You’ll have fun playing because of the conversation that naturally arises.

It’s a game that inspires conversation.

Yes. You can get very close to each other when you play, so try out the Competitive Attractions in particular. And if you do an excellent job clearing Donkey Kong’s Crash Course, you’ll become a popular performer among those around you! (laughs)

All right. Sakaguchi-san?

I hope people who play with others will enjoy the different roles they play. I also like just watching a game, but I think it’s interesting how you can participate in games through different roles, so I hope everyone will gather together and talk.

To people who play alone, I want to say that each game has a spirit of “Bring it on!” for those who still think it’s something to not take seriously. (laughs) It has plenty that will suck you in, so enjoy that.

Okay. Eguchi-san?

We talk about playing with a lot of people, but each family is composed differently. I think there are all kinds of patterns whenever people gather, but you can discover a game here that can be played no matter who gathers, so I hope people will relax and have a good time.

We made plenty for each attraction that single players can thoroughly enjoy too, so people who are good at games as well as those who aren’t will both definitely be able to find something to their taste.

With Miiverse, you won’t feel alone, so I hope people will walk around Nintendo Land Plaza, feel the world through the Mii characters’ comments there and post their honest feelings after playing, to proactively get a little closer to the world.

Good. The internal team at Entertainment Analysis & Development Division at Nintendo spent a long time seriously making this game from the ground up for Wii U. It may look easy at a glance, but I want to get across how it has a lot of depth.

I think players will understand it for the first time upon playing it, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it spreads. Good work, everyone – and thanks!

Thank you!