Miyamoto cold on Mario Kart 7's customisation options

By Fred Dutton Published 22 November, 2011

Reckons they deviate from "the core fun of the series".

Mario Kart 7's vehicle customisation features made it into the finished game despite getting a lukewarm reaction from Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, according a new Famitsu interview.

As translated by 1Up, Miyamoto explained that he thought the ability to tinker with your kart deviated from the "core fun" of the series.

"I was actually pretty well against some of the customisation features of the game," he explained.

"It can be fun to win money for racing and use it to buy parts and such, but I didn't think that had much to do with the core fun of the series."

However, Miyamoto allowed the feature into the final build on the condition that the rest of the game was top notch.

"The idea for that [feature] came from the studio staff, though, and my final response was 'If you can build this customisation on top of a solid control and gameplay foundation, then go ahead.'"

Elsewhere in the interview, Miyamoto revealed that there was no intent for the game to be a huge leap forward for the franchise. As he sees it, the basic Mario Kart gameplay is already near-perfect, so it was just a case of making a bigger, better version for 3DS.

"Sometimes people yelled at me to look at things more closely, but like I said, the core of Mario Kart is pretty solid at this point and I think it's safe to have it evolve in a pretty staid and traditional manner," he said.

"The basic message here is 'Mario Kart has been powered up for the Nintendo 3DS,' and I think the online upgrades in particular are pretty neat. A lot of time was spent on how to get all the individual components working together - Wi-Fi and Street Pass, local and Internet play."

Finally he revealed the thinking behind the game's rather unambitious title.

"Coming up with the title was actually a lot of trouble for us, but it is the seventh game, and so it just sort of came down to what felt best. Besides, seven is supposed to be a lucky number, isn't it?"

Take a look at our recent Mario Kart 7 preview for more on the game, which is due out on 2nd December.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 2 days ago

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  • Cobalt_Jackal #1 3 days ago

    Who let him out of the home again?. :) XD

  • Tallon4 #2 3 days ago

    Hotdamn....I was expecting Jeremy Clarkson to turn up. I guess not :/

    But in fact, the man is right. The Mario Kart audience ( count me in ) would be happy with a bigger and better version, but I'm sure Retro has done an awesome job.

  • sethsez #3 3 days ago

    I'm looking forward to this quite a bit, but it's kind of odd that every comment from Miyamoto on it seems to scream "eh, good enough." The staff's hearts might be in it, but his sure isn't.

  • Raiko101 #4 3 days ago

    There isn't a great deal more that can be done with the series, but it never seems to get old. You always want a new Mario Kart with each new Nintendo platform.

  • 5lectro #5 3 days ago

    Yeah, who needs new features? It's only the 7th one!

    This guy worries me sometimes. :confused:

  • MattEdWithCheese #6 3 days ago

    The Miyamoto who said "No, we don't need more content in Steel Diver...?"

  • captain_Carl #7 3 days ago

    If it was up to Shiggs, they'd just release the same game every year. Because that's the core fun of the franchise.

  • Vice.Destroyer #8 3 days ago

    Have some respect guys. This is Miyamoto that you are dissing. Not Bobby Kotick. He has earned the right for his opinion to be heard. And, most importantly, he listened to his team, instead of ignoring them.

  • FenderMaster #9 3 days ago

    @MattEdWithCheese Yeah, I'm sure Nintendo zealots will send their negs this way for saying suggesting that the Allfather may not be the visionary he once was, but some of the things he's been saying lately have been worrying.

    The Steel Diver commentrs were just really really strange

    http://www.everybodyplays.co.uk/news/3DS/Nintendo-thought-Steel-Diver-didnt-need-more-levels/610

    I can understand the concept of a short but sweet 5-10 hour campaign with lots of replayability, but Steel Diver was not such a case.

    I wouldn't say he's entirely conservative, I mean he did come up with Wii Music, questionable though it's quality was, but when it comes to traditional games and genres he doesn't seem to be interested in pushing or evolving anymore. What he does do is push his games (only Mario Galaxy comes to mind to be honest) within their boundaries of their established rules and laws.

    Edited by 1 at 22/11/11 @ 21:31

  • Donaldthescotishtwin #10 3 days ago

    It more likely enhances the fun,what's wrong Miyamoto? You usually never object to anything.

  • Centrifugal #11 3 days ago

    Testament to how much power he has that he can bad-mouth an aspect of a major in-party game that hasn't been released yet and get away with it.

  • eviroboy #12 3 days ago

    I tend to just use the bog standard karts anyway tbh, always have, always will. Know your roots!

  • alcides #13 3 days ago

    Don't yell at Miyamoto san, you uncouth young oafs!

  • Machetazo #14 3 days ago

    So he told them they could include things in the game that he disapproved of, that didn't fit in to what he intended as long as they didn't half-ass the copy-paste stuff?
    I try to compare what I have seen of 7, to what I played a lot of in Mario Kart 64 and they seem worlds, if not continents apart.

  • Mister-Wario #15 3 days ago

    See, it's this sheer vanilla-ness that's put me off future Mario Kart instalments. I'm probably going to get Mario Kart 64 at some point for the nostalgia, but at the end of the day Mario Kart is still going to be the same game with some new tracks from now on. Sure, the formula might be spot on from a gameplay perspective, but since the main draw of this is portability and some light customisation and not much else...no thanks.

    To me, Modnation Racers was the ultimate racing game. I just couldn't really imagine playing any other racing game after that. You can make your own cars and characters, which is pretty cool, but you can also make your own tracks AND download all of the above for free. And you can do it on the PSV version too. Mario Kart Wii is great but the balance issues put me off and if I had to drive round any one of those tracks again after playing it for as long as I have I was going to tear my hair out.

    I mean, I suppose it's not that different from Mario Kart in many ways. But it's good to know that I can always download more tracks whenever I get tired of the current ones. Same with LittleBigPlanet,to a degree.

    Oh, and I'm annoyed that they've taken bikes out as well. After a while the Dolphin Dasher was all I felt comfortable using.

    Edited by 1 at 22/11/11 @ 22:42

  • TazerFan #16 3 days ago

    @Vice.Destroyer

    Have some respect? We are the generation that made this guy a bajillionaire, surely he can stand a bit of reasonable criticism.

  • sfp_noodle #17 3 days ago

    I think Miyamoto is missing the bigger picture. This is a fun kart racing game intended for all ages, but it is still going to be played by the children the most. They love being able to give their games a personal touch. Customisation is a massive thing for them. Changing the colours of their karts, adding accessoies and what not, that's a whole lot of fun for a kid. Hell even I would spend ages costomising my ride just to give it a personal touch.

    So sorry Miyamoto, respect you a great deal, but can't understand how you think allowing gamers to customise their kart will take away any kind of fun. Yes, Mario Kart is an established franchise with an established model that works, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

  • Rogueywon #18 3 days ago

    The "core fun" of the series was ruined in Mario Kart Wii, by letting too many karts onto the track with too many weapons available for pickup. Any last vestige of "racing" vanished from the game, in favour of a quick-fix party-game mentality.

    I don't recall Miyamoto protesting against that. Nintendo really need to... erm... promote him. Sideways. Into a positon where he has no influence on games development. Time to let some new talent and fresh ideas loose on these franchises.

  • Machetazo #19 3 days ago

    @Mister-Wario You're annoyed at the bikes going, and I wasn't best pleased that they ditched the Double Dash vehicle style.

    They beat the new Driver AND Wheelman by years for seat-swapping on the fly, though!

  • Mr.Spo #20 3 days ago

    Erm... Miyamoto isn't exactly doing much wrong here. A feature he wasn't keen on still made it into the game, even though he would have the final say on its inclusion--it shows he listened to the new generation of developers, who felt the customisation was needed, even though he himself didn't see the need for it. How is this a bad thing?? He's taken on board features and design decisions from his junior staff--that can only be a good thing going forward.

    Then again, this is a Nintendo article, and they ARE the anti-christ, and deserve criticism for everything they do, even when it's a good step, I suppose. Next time Miyamoto, don't listen to your team, do what you want, and we can all criticise you for that instead!!

  • Astro-Creature #21 3 days ago

    If the gaming god isn't happy, then it's a no-buy from me.

  • JumpinJackFlash #22 3 days ago

    Super Mario Kart is still the best as each Mario Kart title afterwards the series just got worse.

  • Kami #23 3 days ago

    @Mr.Spo; "Then again, this is a Nintendo article, and they ARE the anti-christ, and deserve criticism for everything they do, even when it's a good step, I suppose"

    I know the feeling. Sometimes I feel like walking in sprinkling holy water everywhere and chanting to repel the evils that pervade this kind of topic.

    So, Miyamoto doesn't do PR very well. Miyamoto is a jolly nice chap - but, at 59, he's of a different generation to us. He likes to do things his way and has probably found it very hard in recent years to let his babies go into hands other than his own, that's understandable really for a man who now needs to rely on such large teams - but, as the article states, Miyamoto let the team have their fun as well. In what way is that bad?

    Take successful game, let team have their own little input if they can do the game properly as well? Isn't that something we should encourage MORE of in the industry? You know, giving development teams the ability to have their own ideas? To find their own ways of making new installments fresh and interesting? These are the people who'll be taking over from Miyamoto one day, right? "You can do that drawing but only once you've done your homework and done it well!". It's something we're brought up to react positively with. It got the desired effect too it would seem.

    There's a real positive edge in that realisation. Good on all involved I say. No compromise - just do everything. And do it great.

    Can't wait to play it now especially knowing Rainbow Road SNES is in it! Wooooo!

  • andywilkie35 #24 3 days ago

    If Miyamoto's against it then it's a good sign for the game

  • ShiroBen #25 3 days ago

    Jeez you people are harsh. If I remember correctly the mods actually have a gameplay effect, I think I'd prefer just cosmetic stuff--personalising is fun, but for a kart game balance is pretty important ... well, anyway, I guess we'll see if it works or not.

  • madmaardigan #26 2 days ago

    Very frank and PR bullshit free interview. Respect.

  • WAusJackBauer #27 2 days ago

    Obviously customization is too complicated for casual gamers :P

  • Eraser #28 2 days ago

    I dunno, but while I've give Mario Kart my fair share of love, what I dislike about it now is the randomness of the game. Ever since Mario Kart 64, it seems that every iteration of the game tries to reward those that suck at it more and in the process punish those that are great at it. The net result is that being great at the game is no longer possible.

    Someone who's in the lead for 2 laps can finish last due to a single blue shell right before the finish line. That kind of randomness just completely wrecks the game IMO. Bizarre Creation's Blur is my new Mario Kart.

  • koopa #29 2 days ago

    I never use anything but the default karts, this customization could be fun for a first couple of plays, but later everyone will just want to get to the game as simple and fast as possible. This is MK, not GT...

  • nickthegun #30 2 days ago

    As touched on above, a lot of the fun was already sucked out of MK with giant sized tracks and gameplay mechanics that meant 1st place was the worst place on the course to be.

    Edited by 1 at 23/11/11 @ 09:45

  • Der_tolle_Emil #31 2 days ago

    I agree with Miyamoto. Mario Kart has never been about customization and if you ask me should not be; At least not when it affects how the game plays. Customizing your kart so it look they way you want it to is fine but ultimately if that also affects how the karts drive you will end up adding parts that you find look stupid but you do it anyway because the kart is handling better.

    This is fine with a lot of games but I don't think it should be in a game like Mario Kart.

  • rogermellie #32 2 days ago

    @Eraser

    I agree and I hope they remove the blue shell.

  • Vice.Destroyer #33 2 days ago

    @TazerFan But what are these people criticising? The fact that Miyamoto questioned a game mechanic, didn't like it, ensured that his team polished the game to his standards and *then* allowed them to put in the customisation option?

    That is where the reasonable criticism comes in? My original point still stands. The guy has shown for over a quarter of a century that he has the talent to make great games. To pick up on a feature that he wasn't keen on, has the power to veto, but STILL included it should not result in some of the comments in this thread. (Read again, there is precious little that you could ever call reasonable criticism. Most of it is fucking ignorant rudeness. "yeah, you know that feature that Miyamoto didn't like? But still put in the game? That makes Miyamoto a fucking idiot that is past it") That's what your 'reasonable criticism reads like to me.

  • 32768Colours #34 2 days ago

    That's right Miyamoto, god forbid you should do anything other than release the same game over and over. :rolleyes:

  • St-Caerdydd #35 2 days ago

    What Nintendo need to do is make "Mario Kart All Stars" every weapon there ever was (including both versions of the blue shell) every single track from SNES, GBA, N64, DS, Wii and these new 3DS ones. Nice HD graphics and even better online play. Make that the Wii U version of Mario Kart.

    A boy can dream..

  • TonyHarrison #36 2 days ago

    Between this and the reaction to Nintendo having the correct attitude towards DLC, some of you people need help.