Miyamoto: Less Sega, More Mario

Fighting Words from Super Mario Creator

Suddenly, a lot of Sega fans may be rethinking their Nintendo Wii or DS purchase.

In an interview with Wired, Shigeru Miyamoto, the gaming genius behind the long running Super Mario franchise, was asked how he handles quality control at Nintendo. His response:

I’m always instructing my game designers on the history of the characters and worlds we’ve created. Often we’re in development and I’ll say, “Oh, this looks like a Sega game. We need to make it look more like Mario.”

Adding insult to injury, this article was published on June 23rd…Sonic’s official birthday. Ow.

Miyamoto’s comments have caused somewhat of a rift among gamers, particularly the older crowd that remember when Sega and Nintendo had a sometimes bitter rivalry in the early 90s. (Remember “Sega does what Nintendon’t?”) Ultimately the controversy among gamers has boiled down to whether Super Mario is a superior gaming icon over Sonic the Hedgehog.

TRISTAN’S EDITORIAL COMMENT: Mr. Miyamoto may have a point. Sega does have some quality control issues with its games of late. I’m sure when Sega can rival the innovation involved in such high caliber Mario titles as Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario’s Cement Factory, Mario Bombs Away, Mario is Missing!, Mario the Juggler, Mario’s Tennis, Mario Clash, Alleyway, Mario Pinball Land, Mario Party Advance, Mario’s Time Machine, Mario and Wario, Mario’s Early Years, Yoshi’s Safari, Mario’s Super Picross, Hotel Mario, Punch Ball Mario Bros., Wrecking Crew ‘98, Mario no Photopi, Mario Artist, Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix, Mario Pary 6, Mario Pary 7, and Mario Party 8, then we can dispute Miyamoto’s claims.