Miyamoto claims he's never heard of Ratchet & Clank
by Chris Powell 
{ Dec 15th 2007 at 1:00AM }
Well, Miyamoto has finally found the opportunity to weigh in on Schneider's claim, and apparently, the Mario creator hasn't even heard of the series at all, including the PS3's newly released Tools of Destruction. When asked his thought's on Schneider's comment, Miyamoto said, "I'm sorry, but I have to admit that I've never seen the game in question. Is it a PC game?" Ooooh, burn!
Continuing, Miyamoto expressed his surprise by the claim and even said "In terms of the spherical worlds and anti-gravity, we had the original idea as soon as we finished the development of Mario 64 and had been experimenting with it for many years, even on the N64." So there you have it. If Miyamoto is to be believed, and why shouldn't he be, Nintendo didn't borrow anything from Insomniac. Both companies make brilliant games, and we see no reason to think that both couldn't have come up with such a design concept entirely on their own.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim Parsons @ Dec 15th 2007 1:06AM
Even if that was where the ideal for Super Mario Galaxy came from who cares,
Trev (Completely Normal Human Defense Force) @ Dec 15th 2007 1:24AM
Agreed.
Insomniac's comment was along the lines of "it would be great to think he saw it in our game and liked it enough to do something similar". They were flattered, but Nintendo was too sacred to touch, even like that. Fanboys flipped out.
If Miyamoto has never seen or heard of R&C, fine, it was just a similar idea, but people took it was WAY too much of an issue.
dustandechoes91 @ Dec 15th 2007 1:10AM
I hate when people complain about companies copying something. Everything has to have someone do it first.
Dehshizknight @ Dec 15th 2007 1:39AM
Lol, imagine id suing every FPS game company because they all made FPS's.
gamefreak054 @ Dec 17th 2007 8:58PM
I dont care about this either. I dont event think that they are that a like. The nintendo wii version has a way better gravity effect and you can jump around small planets while ratchet and clank only had the cool view of the planet looking rounded.
Wayne @ Dec 15th 2007 2:04AM
I am so sick of Mario... Get something new already FFS!
http://ps3features.blogspot.com
Demis @ Dec 15th 2007 2:28AM
Agreed, i'm so sick of that little freak.. He's like a pest what doesn't want to F'ing die! Hope that Nintendo and Mario burns in a Cave, along with MasterChef - Oops, MasterChief*
Thoas @ Dec 15th 2007 3:44AM
I'm with you on that one, Super mario is getting old
strike911 @ Dec 15th 2007 4:52AM
whether you dislike Mario or not, the newly released Super Mario Galaxy scored higher than any other game in recent memory, and Mario's selling power is something that will probably stick around for years on end. A lot of reviewers said that Galaxy is throwing a new spin of innovation on platformers as we know them. While I haven't played it myself, I would like to from all the rabid responses I've heard from the game.
I respect Miyamoto for what he's done, but being ignorant of what other people are doing seems like a bad thing for game developers and directors.
gjamesl @ Dec 15th 2007 1:26PM
mario scored higher than any other game recently? i dont know about that, call of duty 4 got great scores, uncharted did, and there were some others that score a 9 or above. so to say mario got higher than any game is incorrect according to game rankings.com
Mak @ Dec 15th 2007 5:08AM
Hmm, does anyone actually believe the spin he has never heard of the R&C series? By denying he has ever heard of it (which is a ludicrous claim), just makes it sound even more like they borrowed ideas...
Kenology @ Dec 15th 2007 1:55PM
I believe it. R&C isn't the biggest of franchises in Japan. Also, Miyamoto has said many times that he doesn't even play videogames. I'd think he'd be too busy supervising various EAD games to even notice R&C.
Alien @ Dec 15th 2007 6:14AM
I dont think that he never heard about the game , especially because Nintendo had hard times to get their games selling at least as much as R&C games ... but I dont think that theyve copyd eachother neither ...
jimmyink @ Dec 15th 2007 6:18AM
what arrogance. this guy is just too cool for the community
Wayne @ Dec 15th 2007 7:12AM
I wouldn't normally comment twice on an article, but I feel I have to.
Saying that he hasn't heard about Ratchet and Clank means they really were asleep during the PS2 era...
Also, with regards to the Mario thing. Surely they could make an awesome platformer with a new IP? Take Uncharted for example, sure it's not a platformer, but it's a refined game with a new IP.
Riod @ Dec 15th 2007 2:43PM
They could, but why would they?
Everyone, with the exception of some sony and m$ fanboys, loves Mario games. Super Mario Galaxy is a great game on its own right, as well as a worthy successor to a series of games that (except for the godawful Super Mario Sunshine) innovate the platforming genre every generation. They don't have the most "mature" plot or backstory, but who cares? In that genre, the gameplay is where it's at. As a side note, a lot of you people confuse "mature" and "violent". I honestly don't see why games like GTA, as apposed to say Killer 7, are more mature than this. More blood? Sure. More hookers? you betcha. But is it really more mature?
Also, people keep saying nintendo doesn't have new IP's. Let's look at the Gamecube. We have Pikmin, Animal Crossing, Eternal Darkness, Battalion Wars, Geist, and Baten Kaitos, and Metroid Prime which is such a reinvention of the game it can almost be counted as a new IP. The Wii has only been out for a year, and already we have the Wii series, Disaster: DoC. Nintendo keeps their franchises fresh and innovative; in my humble opinion, in that aspect Nintendo's games have more variety than the floods of FPS's that fill the PS3 and 360's catalogs, each one more derivative than the other.
LJ @ Mar 6th 2008 10:38PM
@Riod
Really? Sony and MS fanboy dislike mario? No wonder they got a PS3 or a 360... Who would have thought? Man.. you're a genius!!!
After the always refreshing sarcasm.. I just gotta say i'm sick of mario it's a game for 10 year old. I enjoyed it a lot back in the 90s... we are the the 21st century now, can NINTENDO do a breakthrough (innovation wise) game!!! GOD! Same stupid ZELDA gathering the triforce! Same stupid mario and the stars!!! GOD! The WII is no even a console is a next-gen TOY!!!
Haiddasalami @ Dec 15th 2007 8:04AM
Maybe he was confused by the Japanese title. Seriously Miyamoto has probably played R&C, its just that he cant take the hit on his superstar reputation.
Kspraydad @ Dec 15th 2007 9:36AM
As a SONY only player ... bite me Miyamoto.
Oh....an spymac spam is lame...please put a filter in place.
SKI @ Dec 15th 2007 10:29AM
Miyamoto doesn't play many games, and when he does it's either a Brain Age type game or whatever he's working on. He likes to keep himself cut off from what other people are doing to keep his ideas fresh.
chris.westermann @ Dec 15th 2007 10:34AM
I can kind of understand this because from an industry perspective, Nintendo is very closeted. Nintendo doesn't need to follow industry trends, what they do is making them a mint in game and console sales. But when you look at Nintendo's strategy over everyone elses they are seriously out of touch with reality. I can easily see most Nintendo game developers being very Nintendo-centric, eating, breathing and living for the company without having much outside influence. Its a shame really because Nintendo is wasting a lot of this talent on repetitive iterations of the same-old same-old. To think that someone has spent 20 years ONLY thinking about Mario or Zelda is kind of sad really, especially since they are not making significant advances in these games.
I honestly think that Mario Galaxy is the worst Nintendo game of all time. Yes, the platforming is fun and innovative, but its wrapped up in this sickly cute childish fluffy game that should make anyone over the age of 8 ashamed to even admit playing it, I am.
Popfrogs @ Dec 15th 2007 11:08AM
I agree with you. The best musicians and artists don't make great works by locking themselves in a closet with a piano for 20 years. You have to get out, sample life, spend time listening to others and playing other people's games. The fact that Nintendo has such a stale collection of IP and such a poor selection of 3rd party titles is a reflection of their locked-in-a-closet attitude.
Then again if you look at their sales, they could make nothing but Super Mario sequels for another 100 years and people would still buy their stuff. I just don't get it.
Jakob H @ Dec 15th 2007 11:05AM
What's Mario?
Organic_Shadow @ Dec 15th 2007 12:40PM
Call of Duty 4 just outsold Mario Galaxy according to NPD.
What's Miyamoto gonna say now? "Never heard of it. Is it a mobile phone game?"
Cue NDF talking about low install base of Wii compared to PS3/360/PC combined...
gjamesl @ Dec 15th 2007 1:37PM
For this guy not to be informed of other games is ignorant on his part. Yes the guy makes fun games we all know that. Do you really think musicians only listen to themselves and no one else or dont know about the trends in the industry?
Also where would nintendo and the wii be without this guy? Honestly i wouldnt ever buy a wii unless the price was like $20 for each game. Most games on the wii are junk and get boring after 20 minutes. Not counting mario,zelda and a few others what does it have that will keep you playing for a long time like call of duty 4 or uncharted or one of those games with long online life? Playing uncharted is like a movie its production value is so high and you cant get that on wii
Kenology @ Dec 15th 2007 1:57PM
Are you guys really that upset about Miyamoto not knowing what Ratchet & Clank is?
It's really not that big a deal.
Extinction @ Dec 15th 2007 3:05PM
"Both companies make brilliant games, and we see no reason to think that both couldn't have come up with such a design concept entirely on their own."
But when Sony says the same thing about motion sensing, having worked on it for years as well, you guys call them liars and say it was tacked on.
Sigh.
Thomas @ Dec 15th 2007 5:54PM
never heard of it huh?! Ridiculous, lol We should be laughing at this guy. What a doof!
Liam Reidy @ Dec 15th 2007 6:49PM
LOLZ (sorry who hasnt heard of that lil ferret and his tool box)
heard of GTA!!!... BOOM
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=APdL_3HuP-4
jimmyink @ Dec 15th 2007 8:55PM
Someone feel free to make or break my claim with actual stats, but of all the people I know that own wii consoles, the actual 'gamers' are the only ones that purchase any additional games. These same 'gamers' are the ones that also own a ps3 and or 360. They are the ones that continue to purchase games, which are more often than not ps3 or 360 games.
Most people who soley own a wii are almost oblivious to the fact that you can play something else apart from wiiSports.
Sure the console sales are booming, but what will happen once the market is finally saturated? will people actually continue to pour their money into nintendo's wallet for more games?
GamerMichael @ Dec 16th 2007 1:41AM
OMG!!! super mario galaxy is the second highest rated game of all time :O!! still havnt burnt it...i need to get a new chip in my wii :'(
Joey Hurwitz @ Dec 17th 2007 2:25AM
Nintendo is in real trouble sony hasn't even brought out their big guns yet MGS4,Killzone 2,Little Big Planet and Home and though Sony got off to a bad start they finally got the price point correct now at $399 where as is recent history tells us anything you won't be seeing any Marios,Zelda,Super Smash Brothers only killer game Nintendo has is Mario Kart for 2008 and compared to other Mario games this one Mario Galaxy is not selling as well as Nintendo would like it got outsold by alot of games including COD4,HALO 3,Guitar Hero 3 just to name a few and people are starting to get sick of the noviety of the Wii and are demanding better games and that is where Nintendo will fail cause they always have trouble in that area the same reason they have finished 3rd in last gen race and will do so again this generation Nintendo and Microsoft had a chance to burry Sony this year and they didn't do it and trust me by September 2008 Sony will be where they belong as #1 seller of consoles once again but have to tip my hat to xbox 360 and wii at least this generation you are putting up a fight.
KiraXD @ Dec 16th 2007 11:18PM
lol hes never heard of Rachet & Clank and this guy is in the Video Game businiess...? sorry miyamoto... theres a reason why o own a ps3 and 360.... nintendo games are lame.
(yes i hate nintendo)
KiraXD @ Dec 16th 2007 11:19PM
*why I own*
HektikLyfe @ Dec 17th 2007 5:33PM
Super Mario 128 had characters running on a spherical world didn't it? So did Prey. Who did it first? Who cares really when it is who did it best that matters. I've never been a supporter of the Wii because of its lack of quality software but I will call it like I see it and right now Mario interests me more than Ratchet.