Shigeru Miyamoto, game designer, producer and director at Nintendo, has recently taken part in an interview with The New Yorker where he talks about how he wants to create a kinder world, his kids who played Sega games, his career and many other interesting topics. Miyamoto also touches on how he instilled rules for his children when considering how long they play on video games for.
Miyamoto realises that children can have a hard time coming off playing games and says “Kids feeling like they can’t stop playing because the game is so fun—that’s something that I can understand and sympathize with. It’s important for parents to play the games, to understand why the child can’t quit until reaching the next save point, for example. In terms of my own kids, I’ve been fortunate in that they’ve always had a good relationship with video games. I’ve never had to restrict them or take games away from them.”
Shigeru Miyamoto continues and explains how his kids played Sega games as well as Nintendo games, while shedding light on the disciplines in his household : “It’s important to note that, in our household, all the video-game hardware belonged to me, and the children understood that they were borrowing these things. If they couldn’t follow the rules, then there was an understanding that I could just take the machine away from them. [Laughs.] When it was good weather outside, I would always encourage them to play outside. They played a lot of Sega games, too, by the way.”
And for those wondering what Sega games in particular, their choices were Out Run and Space Harrier. Interestingly, when asked if it made him jealous, Miyamoto responded: [Laughs.] “Not jealous so much as inspired to try harder, so that they preferred the ones I made.”
You can read the full interview here. It’s a lengthy read but it gives an interesting insight into Shigeru Miyamoto’s life, especially as he’s not one to usually speak to the media.
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