Shigeru Miyamoto is a legendary game designer. Many other "legendary developers" have cited him as a source of inspiration. That's one of the most significant things I got from the article. What's really interesting, though, is that Miyamoto doesn't really fit the stereotype that most of us have created to describe a gamer or a computer science junkie. And I believe a lot of stuff can be gleaned from his lifestyle and attitudes that could be a big slap in the face to GAMER demands and attitudes.
It's actually ironic and contradictory that gamers get upset when developers don't give them what they ask for, and yet also get upset when corporate bodies use surveys to determine what should be included in certain games. Shigeru Miyamoto flies in the face of the idea that surveys should be used to determine a game's content. He makes games that HE enjoys in the name of recreating childhood experiences he had, not stuff that players ask for. This of course can be a double-edged sword, but I think for Miyamoto it's been more of a good thing then a bad thing. In fact, the only thing he's come up with that I think the hardcore community has almost exclusively gotten upset over is his desire to take Fox McCloud out of the Arwing from Star Fox and make him venture on foot in Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox Assault. (I've actually read an interview with one of the original creators of Star Fox, Dylan Cuthbert. He actually has said that Miyamoto doesn't really care that the core fans want Fox to stay in his vehicle.)
It's also interesting that most of Miyamoto's inspiration for gaming doesn't come from other games; it comes from childhood experiences outdoors, particularly the trips he took through a cave with a lantern that inspired The Legend of Zelda. Since gaming wasn't even AROUND when he was a kid, his status as one of the world's top game developers is potentially all the more puzzling (to hardcore gamers who think you've got to be obsessed with the industry to make it) and significant. The fact that he doesn't even have TIME to play games anymore yet continues to be a powerhouse in the industry is also very significant.
My upbringing was actually kind of similar, though I don't mean to suggest I could ever become as great as Miyamoto, or that I'll ever even make it in the industry as I hope to. I spent a good portion of my youth doing things that ordinary kids do: going outside, playing with miniature cars and toys, and hanging with friends. When I got older--into 6th grade during the launch of the N64 to be precise--I started to skip out on many other things in favor of being indoors and gaming constantly. This served as both a help and hindrance for me in retrospect, not only in the ideas I have for gaming, but also in terms of my mental and physical well-being. Many of my best ideas are ones that are derived--to one degree or another--from other games I've played. While that may be true of all created things, it's something that could potentially render many of my ideas too generic.
What I believe we can learn from Miyamoto's example is that being a shut in with one specific hobby (gaming) that occupies most of your time is not going to serve you well in being creative in the gaming industry. You need to have experienced life as well. Even Miyamoto has made sure his little girls can't spend all their time gaming by requiring them to go outside on the weekends. What we can learn is that good gaming is about taking real life experiences that brought joy and finding ways to provide those same feelings in a digital form. It's not strictly--or perhaps even as much--about creating something that truly hasn't been experienced before as it is about RE-creating what brings us joy in real life.
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