Miyamoto Concerned About Gamer Image Stereotype

kukyfrope writes "In a recent interview with MTV News, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto voiced his concern for the stereotypical image of gamers as kids alone in a dark room. He says that Nintendo wishes to change that image with the Wii, a sentiment made obvious by the wide array of people shown playing Wii in Nintendo's recent promotional videos." From the article: "I think it's time to break free from that stereotypical definition of what a gamer is, because until we do, we'll never truly be part of the national or worldwide culture."

The full interview is available

[kmhebert]

Rather than read an article about an article why not just go directly here [mtv.com]? It's a very informative interview, I really look forward to Super Mario Galaxy and how the Wii controller will work in that type of game.

Re:Worldwide?

[Psmylie]

"Is it because you want to steal our women?"

Steal? No. Borrow? Yes, please.

What you have to understand is that your typical "Western Otaku" (heh) has no real idea of what Japan is like, has never visited the country, and likely never will. I mean, if you base your entire opinion of a country on a very small set of media exported from it, you're going to have a skewed vision of the society. Watching the entire run of Urutsei Yatsura twenty times through is not going to make anyone an expert in Japanese culture.

Re:Worldwide?

[Dis*abstraction]

I'm pointing out that the social center of Japanese culture is highly racist, sexist, intolerant, and conservative in comparison to Western norms (even the United States). That's dandy if you're comfortable with that sort of interpersonal alienation, as you would be if you'd grown up in Japan, but if you're a Westerner traveling to Japan because it's "cool," you'd probably better be informed that you're chasing a fantasy that doesn't exist.