Famed creator of Nintendo's Mario and Zelda series, Shigeru Miyamoto, has revealed that the company wishes to buck off the growing AI trend in the gaming industry.
Nintendo Switches Off Game Indsutry's AI Trend
Nintendo Would “Rather Go in a Different Direction”
While its peers like Sony, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft and more have embraced the use of AI in game development and other endeavors, Nintendo has revealed that it prefers to buck off the growing trend in the gaming industry. In an interview with The New York Times, Nintendo legend and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said that the company has no interest in following suit when it comes to using AI in their projects—as a way to march to the beat of its own drum, according to Miyamoto.
"It might seem like we are just going the opposite direction for the sake of going in the opposite direction, but it really is trying to find what makes Nintendo special," Miyamoto told NYT. "There is a lot of talk about A.I., for example. When that happens, everyone starts to go in the same direction, but that is where Nintendo would rather go in a different direction."
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa also previously commented on how the company sees and treats AI in game development. In an annual shareholder meeting, Furukawa said that Nintendo won't integrate AI in its games, primarily due to concerns over intellectual property (IP) rights.
"In the game industry, AI-like technologies have long been used to control enemy character movements, so game development and AI have gone hand-in-hand even before," Furukawa commented. "It is possible to produce more creative outputs using generative AI, but we are also aware that problems can arise with intellectual property rights."
Companies like Sony have avidly endeavored on AI advancements for their products. As seen with the polarizing PS5 Pro which uses AI-driven upscaling tech which PlayStation dubs as PlayStation Spectral Super Revolution (PSSR). Meanwhile, Ubisoft introduced earlier this year "Project Neural Nexus NEO NPCs," which uses generative AI to simulate in-game conversations and interactions with NPCs.
Nintendo, on the other hand though, seems adamant about keeping that certain "human touch," Nintendo's approach to game development is based on decades of experience and a commitment to delivering unique gaming experiences, Furukawa said. "We have decades of expertise in creating optimal game experiences for our customers"
Source:
NYT: The Mushroom Kingdom That Shigeru Miyamoto Built
