Satoru Iwata, President, Nintendo Co. Ltd.

Coinciding with the recent release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Iwata sits down with the creator of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto to talk about the mustachioed hero and the design choices that went in to NSMBW.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Senior Managing Director, Nintendo Co. Ltd.; General Manager, EAD

Iwata In this interview, we’re going to talk about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but rather than diving straight into a discussion of the new title, I’d like to begin by talking about Mario’s roots. There will of course be a lot of readers who know all about this, but I think there are also people who are completely in the dark about how Mario began.

Miyamoto Yes, you’re right.

Iwata Shall we begin by talking about the period of Mario’s initial conception, when he was known as “Jumpman”?

Miyamoto Sure. Now, this is something I’ve been asked about in hundreds of interviews, so I’ll make it quick! (laughs)

Be sure to check out the rest of the interview!

OSV: How were you discovered by Konami? And how was it working for them? I believe you were employed by Konami for 2 years, correct?

Yamashita: So, I was about to graduate from my college and was looking for a job. There was a consultation office of employment opportunities, so I went there. I initially was looking to do hardware designing for musical instruments, but they could not find any of those for females. Then the officer recommended Konami saying “Their music department is looking for someone to work.” I must admit that I did not really know what Konami was, but I gave a shot because it was a music job after all. Konami’s entrance exam was really difficult. If I remember correctly, I think there was like up to the 4th exam. I finally got the job after passing all those tough exams. I was placed into the acoustic effect research lab, and that was when I met the Famicom for the first time. I tried a number of games there. The first project I was assigned to was Akumajou Dracula on Famicom Disk System, or Castlevania in the west. That was also the first composing experience for me.

Siliconera: There were aspects of even the late NES titles that were not allowed in Mega Man 9. In terms of gameplay, there is no sliding and no charging of the mega buster. What kind of restrictions were enforced on the soundtrack?

Ippo Yamada: Taking away sliding and charging was a way of returning to the framework of Mega Man 2. The game’s sound effects reflect the same approach. The sound of charging the mega buster blocks out other square waves, so by eliminating charging from the game we could introduce a lot of other sound effects that would have been obscured, such as the enemy laser shots. This one choice opened the way for a lot of freedom in composing the music, which would have been curtailed by charge-related restrictions.

Check out the rest of the interview, and play this game if you haven’t already!

French artist Space Invader, or simply Invader, loves vintage video games so much that he uses their famous characters as motifs – for the mosaic tiles he puts up in the streets. Tiles? …an interesting twist in street art, we dare to say. Especially since he has been physically mapping the world’s cities with his pixelated art for nearly the last ten years or so. But wait! When he starts deconstructing the good old Rubik’s cubes for his artworks… Time for PingMag to talk to Invader!

Read on for the rest of the interview and more photos that explore the place and application of retro games in modern art and pop culture.