Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto has declared that Nintendo games do not fit into commonly understood genres of game and as such constitute an entirely separate genre of their own.
Citing the odd games Nintendo has a history of creating, the veteran designer explained his position in an interview with the LA Times. He claimed that Nintendo’s offbeat style contrasts with the gritty tone evoked by games from other industry players.
“It’s not that I don’t like serious stories or that I couldn’t make one, but currently in the video game industry you see a lot of game designers who are working really hard to make their games seem really cool,” Miyamoto said. “For a lot of us at Nintendo, it’s difficult to decide what cool is. In fact, it’s a lot easier for us to laugh at ourselves. It’s almost as if we’re performers. Our way of performing is by creating these fun, odd and goofy things.”
“Nintendo isn’t one simple element of an overall gaming industry,” Miyamoto continued. “I really think there needs to be a Nintendo genre, that’s almost its own entity.”
Source: IGN