Shigeru Miyamoto's 1999 GDC Keynote 

I am a Japanese, and I must say the guy who is doing the translation is absolutely brilliant. He improvised here and there, subtract/add words here and there to convey the message Miyamoto-san was trying send, instantly. He can do this not because he understands Japanese language, which in itself is full of pronouns, but he understands the content of speech about game design and whatnot. It is obscure role, but simple translation of words into different language never works. If anybody were inspired by what Miyamoto-san has said here, one should equally thank the translator.

"Please turn off all your pagers"

actually his english is better than I expected it :)

Its so cool, that he seems so nervous at the start (when he speaks english), today he is so relaxed in front of the camera (and thats good too)

We are lucky we lived the era of miyamoto, I think that not enough people appreciate the fact that we live in a time where we can see so much creativity and innovation in an artistic medium. So sad that it will end one day :(

Miyamoto starts talking at 10:55

Yay, i have been waiting decades for this talk! _LITERALLY_

I started to get his philosophy when he said that he thought that Mario64 lost to tamagotchi. It's not about the graphics, it's about creating new experiences for the players (and he was thinking that M64 was more of the same); That's why he has not that many problems with hardware limitations; he's willing to discard visual quality to make the experience as he wants (such as limiting the number of elements in Hyrule Field). Enlightening indeed.

Why do they always forget to ask about turning off pagers nowadays.

So much foreshadowing of what happens on Nintendo Wii & Miitomo here... This guy knew all along...

Well we only waited like 18 Years for this. ABOUT FREAKIN TIME

1:00:05 Wowser! Bill Trinen was so young!!

I love how little Miyamoto gives a shit about high end technology or graphics. His entire philosophy from the beginning has always been "is this fun?". His genius comes in his simplicity and single minded focus on enjoyment. Throughout the years so many great looking games have come out that forget that they were/are video games. Miyamoto has never forgot that ultimately he is making a video game and that the player should be enjoying themselves and having fun. And this presentation was done in 1999. Things got a lot worse since then, and I'm glad that some of these big budget triple A games have failed and that some of these simple indie games have found success. The industry needs a kick in the ass every once in a while.

Even back then he was a legend in his industry. But nowadays we should consider him as a real historical person, that leaved an impact in humanity.

in 1999 this man had JUST BEGUN. I long for an in depth discussion/interview with him now. Candid and personal. I want to hear not just about his development career, but his opinions on gaming today, about his relationships with other developers and industry names... he has so much to share.

Very cool of Miyamoto to speak to the world of gaming, in such an open and useful way. I wonder why it hasn't happened anymore in the last 18 years. Game developers could learn more of his experience!

'please turn off your cellphone'... shout out to anyone who had a cellphone in 1999. You are on a level.

This was crazy cool, thank you so much for uploading!

He's so dedicated to making fun. He even was worried Nintendo 64 had lost to Tomagachi due to it's simplicity and fun. That seems like a silly anecdote, but that was pretty insightful to the main thesis of this talk: make your games fun. Start there, then the rest should be balanced from there.

20:36 Boy, this aged REALLY well. Can't wait to see how Miyamoto helps with the Super Mario Movie coming out next year.

This was awesome to listen too

I'd love to see a '99 Miyamoto's reaction to Breath of the Wild & MarioKart 8, & UE5 engine, or Minecraft, or modern console capabilities.

16:29 I remember that old DYKG video explaining that Miyamoto didn’t want to work with Shigesato Itoi on Mother because other Japanese celebrities were coming in with their own dumb game ideas (Takeshi’s Challenge is probably the most famous example). Glad Itoi was able to make his game series work out, but it’s interesting to see him allude to it here.

Laser pointers? I was hoping GDC is more civilized than my school.

They were really ahead of time with the stuff they were doing, I really wish one day someone is able to get a inside documentary on how they managed to dream up all of this before anyone else imagined possible.

I grew up with Nintendo during the Iwata era and I started with the Nintendo DS Lite. These days Nintendo is the only video game company I trust to make fun and good games. During the years I spent a lot of time looking at interviews with Miyamoto & co. but never have I seen him speak in English for so long. It's quite fascinating.

Wow, I didn't knew he was that good at english. nowadays he just uses bill trinen for traductions.

Miyamoto's English is actually pretty solid, even though he does seem to be struggling a tad bit to make sure he's pronouncing some of the words correctly. Using English with a native Japanese tongue can't be very easy.

Must have felt good to present not long after releasing the greatest game of all time!

Pagers, laser pointers... omg so 90s! ;)

Stephen hillenburg should've done a keynote on his cartoons including spongebob

"Pagers"

Amazing how his whole demeanor changes when he switches back to Japanese, for a few minutes he seemed almost nervous and unsure of himself, as soon as he switches to Japanese you can tell he's the goddamn boss of this stuff lol

Nice that they're showing beta footage of Super Mario 64 (Usually referred to as Spaceworld 95 beta)

10:43 "Sit down please, thank you..." He's not used to that kind of applause yet!

wow I didn't know Bill has been in Nintendo since '99 :O

Damn I was playing Nintendo that year

45:46 "Or willst thou suck?" That this hasn't become a meme yet is beyond me lmao.

Bill is just a lil babby

how far back does GDC goes???

Legend.

The Mozart of game design

Dude did miyamoto just literally invent the modern role of a game designer in one hour? This man is the fucking best

Does anybody else find the announcer lady in the beginning to be highly charismatic?

the Paul Rudd easter egg at 4:18 -- chef's kiss!

10:23 I thought it was cool to see Miyamoto speak English sentences at first before in Japanese.

I’m conflicted Looking up Miyamoto interviews, you realize just how much he really cares about originality. But almost all of my game ideas are iterative. They don’t come from nothing. They come from “ahhh I hate this game, but I’m so close to loving it. If only these 3 things were different..”

His English is impeccable.

did i just see paul rudd in a nintendo ad

My pager is off, my laser pointer is away and I'm ready.

Tim o Leary should’ve been their translating he sort of older than Bill Trinen

Is there a transcript of this speech?

Miyamoto normal, Miyamoto take a star ✨✨✨ 12:42

"No lazer pointers". Ah, the days of m youth.

Cool)))

Omg... the good days where you could buy a laser pointer from a store

M i y a g o a t o

50:13 What the hell is this, an earthquake?

Even in 1999, they asked to turn off phones (and pagers). It's become a ritual by now.

Look at how much character this man has. Look at how much anxiety people are suffering from in the world. You get the idea. I have no patience for how much of a safe-dystopian situation the world is in, starting with America. Some background: this is probably the most influential person in the history of the world, and he came form a place where people were not afraid to explore. His video games are a reflection of this willingness. He did adventurous things throughout his childhood and lived life to the fullest. So... Wake up and explore. The ironic thing is that we learn so much from his games. Children are not safe when we chain them down. No, then we become the enemies. It is ironic that we can become their enemies when we try to protect them. Is it the parents fault? No, it is the result of government teaching us that the world is dangerous. We cannot afford to blame people. However, The world is not dangerous if you believe that everything in it is truly for your good. Have a positive outlook. And explore out into the world...in a sense,...outside of your own mind. And teach everyone that this is the safest way of living possible. Thank you.

7:27 beytgah

Who’s the woman at the start?

The beauty of limitations and how it forces excellent game design to happen. The more you clutter with virtual glue, trinkets korok seeds and light orbs, the more games lose their meaning and become something they weren't meant to be. Where there is clutter, even valuable things lose their value. Where there is too much, nothing stands out. The essence of Japanese aesthetic is a concept called 'MA' (pronounced "maah") - the pure, and indeed essential, void between all "things."

Was that his us debut

Paul Rudd @4.20

He needs to speak English more often he’s good at it

12:12 He's a funny guy

Lmao i'm using this for my homework

22:25 "I have seen that not all great ideas come from ha. hardware tech... technologists" Smooth x'D

Prime Miyamoto. If he had this vitality today, he would probably be destroying developers at Nintendo for their creative decisions. I imagine Aonuma not seeing eye to with him now. Imagine if he dared to do that then. We are very likely Miyamoto Gatekeeped the format of Mario and Zelda. His force is what shaped those franchises. Nintendo owes him a lot. And Gunpei Yokoi is another giant in design who created the DMG-01 but not many will remember his name for it was at a time where game developers weren't the super stars they are today. Geniuses deserve all the recognition they get!

50:12, earthquake?

14:40 I was expecting a laugh but it looks like the joke went over the audience's heads update : he had to clarify lol

I always thought he was part of Metroid too, but apparently not. Guess that might be why the series wasn't a focus for so long.

I literally only came to find this so I could see his hilarious comment on Tamagotchi.

Lol, pagers.

BibbleThumb

Buttered sausage

Whats a pager?

9:45 ummm what? 😳

wow times fly, turn off your pagers

A little late on that one

love that loud moan

I bet he hated GTA

Turn off your _pagers_

0:29 in... Cellphones, lasers, and "Payjurs"?.. must be 1999 -- only they said that in the, tittle of the video -- SO I GUESS THEY JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT GUESSING GAMES OR FUN!.. And they probably hate kittens too!

He could clearly speak English, why bother with a translator

wolf in sheep's clothing syndrome

Strange, doesn't look as insightful as I thought it'd be... maybe because of the double language, that's distracting...