Videogames were once 2D only, with titles such as Pong, Pac-Man and Space Invaders making for easy controls. When a certain Japanese company started making 2D games based around a little Italian plumber called Mario, things started to change, and Mario became one of the first globally-recognised videogame characters.
But the legendary creator of those Mario games, which later turned into excellent 3D titles such as Mario 64, seems to be only now accepting the three-dimensional plane.
In a Q&A that followed the release of Nintendo's latest financial results last week, Miyamoto said the success of 2017 Nintendo Switch-exclusive Super Mario Odyssey had made it clear the veteran games maker was succeeding in making 3D Mario games accessible to a larger audience.
Miyamoto expanded further, when asked to elaborate on the differences between 2D and 3D Mario games, saying that the New Super Mario Bros series had been designed to make Mario games accessible to players of many skill levels, as the 3D games weren't as accessible to all.
The Nintendo veteran was describing the background to the development of the Wii game New Super Mario Bros Wii, which launched in 2009. "At the time, it felt like each time we created a new instalment in the Super Mario series, which by then had expanded into 3D, it became more complicated," he said.
“After the release of Super Mario Galaxy in 2007, the goal was to develop a more accessible 3D Super Mario game, and the result was New Super Mario Bros Wii, a basic side-scrolling Super Mario game that even new players could easily play. That later led to the release of the even simpler Super Mario Run game," Miyamoto continued, referring to a mobile game application released in 2016.
“When we develop software, we strive to incorporate new elements, but at the same time we want to make it easy for even first-time players to have fun...Recently, people of all generations have been enjoying the 3D Mario game Super Mario Odyssey, so for 3D Mario going forward, we want to try expanding further in new ways.”
The 2017 Switch title Super Mario Odyssey has sold nearly 22 million copies, making it the best-selling 3D Mario game by some distance, with the second best-selling being 2007's Wii exclusive Super Mario Galaxy, with 12.8 million copies sold. Perhaps Nintendo fans should look forward to even more innovative 3D Mario games for the future.