Nintendo's Miyamoto: Quitting smoking and gambling led me to Wii Fit
In a candid interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto talked about how his chain-smoking, pachinko-playing past led to the creation of Wii Fit.
Many Nintendo fans like to put Shigeru Miyamoto on a pedestal of perfection for the monumental contributions he's made to video games over the past 20 years, but it wasn't always Easy Street for the quirky developer.
In fact, during an interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata this week, the esteemed Miyamoto revealed he was plagued with poor eating habits, weight issues and a borderline pachinko addiction during his early years as a developer. What was bad for Miyamoto was good for gaming, however, as his subsequent desire to improve his health so many years ago led to one of the most popular peripherals in Japan: Wii Fit (one million sold in seven weeks).
"I used to play pachinko many years ago, but that stopped when I started swimming. Simply swimming without thinking about anything except how demanding it was had a similar effect to the stress relief I got from pachinko, which enabled me to escape the cycle of worries I had. Another thing I managed after quitting pachinko was to stop smoking, which also lead to better fitness," Miyamoto said.
Miyamoto also talked about the challenges of working with a development team and outside hardware manufacturers that were wary of creating such a complicated, risky piece of technology.
"We subsequently decided that we'd just have to go ahead and make it ourselves, fully aware that if we just made it like an ordinary scale you could buy anywhere, it'd be just plain boring. That's when, after a process of trial and error, we settled on the idea of making it so that you could balance on four points: front, back, left and right. This in turn lead us to the idea that we could also use it as an interface for a game," he said.
Even the size of the Wii Fit balance board was meticulously vetted by the infamously fickle Miyamoto, who's been known to make drastic changes to software and hardware at the last possible minute. A fan favorite from the US was brought in to test how the board responded to American feet.
"Since Reggie at [Nintendo of America] was scheduled to come to Japan to attend meetings of overseas executives, we had him get on the Wii Balance Board and even measured his shoulder width!" Miyamoto said. Suffice to say, the board passed the Regginator test.
In their four-page interview Iwata and Miyamoto also tackled one of the long standing criticisms of any accessory: you'd be hard pressed to find a 3rd party developer that would specifically design a game around one because of the risks involved. With WiiWare, Iwata thought Nintendo might have a solution.
"I think it'd be nice if some new, simpler software that used the Wii Balance Board came out through WiiWare," Iwata said. "I think if you suddenly released new software for the Wii Balance Board at full price, the publishers would find it a bit difficult to market as packaged software to be sold in shops. That's why I think it'd be good if you could download less expensive software onto your Wii instead of just relying on boxed games."
Bon Jovi Snags Kopple For Documentary
Bon Jovi has commissioned Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple to make a documentary about the band, which she's started working on as the New Jersey rockers prepare for a U.S. tour to promote their latest album, "Lost Highway."
"We just realized that (over) all the years, we really didn't document enough stuff," guitarist Ritchie Sambora explained today (Feb. 13) in a conference call with reporters. "Musically we documented things pretty well; we put out a box set (2004's "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong") a few years ago, but we look at other bands, contemporaries like U2, even Tom Petty and Aerosmith, and they had cameras rolling all the time. We didn't have a lot of footage like that going on."
Sambora says Bon Jovi has charged Kopple -- whose work includes the Oscar-winning "Harlan County, USA" and the Dixie Chicks' "Shut Up & Sing" -- to "capture the story about our success and the anomaly of our success, and then some of the trials and tribulations and stories and back stories."
The documentary will include both new and some archival material, including interviews and performance footage, but there's no title or tentative release date yet. "We're conceptualizing it at this point," Sambora said. "It's a work in progress ... I don't think it's gonna rear it's head for awhile."
Bon Jovi will certainly give Kopple plenty of material to work with. After rehearsals in DeKalb, Ill., the group hits the road Feb. 18 in Omaha, Neb., and promises a mix of hits and "Lost Highway" material, as well as "a lot of media, a lot of visuals," according to keyboardist David Bryan. "There's some pretty amazing screens, and the stage is just awesome."
After wrapping on May 1 in Atlanta, Bon Jovi begins a European tour on May 22 in Gelsinkirchen, Germany. There will be another leg of the tour after that, but keyboardist David Bryan said, "we don't have July figured out yet."
Summer Run To Be The Police's Final Tour
The Police will take one more victory lap through North America on their massively successful reunion tour before calling it quits for good, sources close to the tour tell Billboard.com.
The Police -- Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland -- will play another 30-odd dates in May and July in North America, with 15 previously announced European concerts sandwiched between in June. Elvis Costello & the Imposters will open the entire run of North American dates, which wraps the first week in August.
This final leg will play primarily amphitheaters with a few arenas, beginning May 1 in Ottawa. These will be the first-ever shed dates for the Police, as the amphitheater network present today was largely non-existent during the band's first go-round in the early 1980s. No festivals or stadiums will be part of the route.
Close to half the dates will be in markets not played last year in North America, where the tour began last May. The current leg finishes in Hawaii over the weekend.
These dates will be the last time the band performs together as the Police -- ever. But it has been a lucrative reunion, as the tour will likely end up in the $340 million gross range, with attendance north of three million. That would make it one of the top five highest-grossing tours of all time.
The Police reunion tour is promoted by Arthur Fogel, chairman of TNA International, the global touring arm of Live Nation. It is produced by RZO Productions.
STEVE GERBER PASSES AWAY
After a battle with pulmonary fibrosis, acclaimed and beloved writer Steve Gerber died on Sunday from complications due to his condition. The news was confirmed by a close acquaintance. He was 60 years old.
Gerber was a comics fan all his life, having started the fanzine Headline in his early teens, and eventually finding work as a writer at Marvel in the early ‘70s, working under Roy Thomas. Amid the work that was coming out of Marvel at the time, Gerber found his own, unique voice which often mixed the usual superhero tropes with satire, commentary and an absurdist sense of humor. During his early days at Marvel, Gerber is best remembered for writing The Defenders and Man-Thing, and of course, creating Howard the Duck and Omega the Unknown and having notable runs with many Marvel characters, from Shanna the She-Devil to the Guardians of the Galaxy, Son of Satan, and Tales of the Zombie. In many ways, Gerber was 1970s Marvel. It was his unpredictable, groundbreaking work and strong desire to stray from the beaten path throughout the ‘70s that made Gerber a role model for the next two-plus generations of comic book and other writers, including Michael Chabon and Glen David Gold.
After leaving Marvel in 1979, Gerber became something of a journeyman in comics, putting in time with some of DC Comics heroes, but most notably, being present at the forefront of the “independent revolution” of the 1980s. When it came to “mainstream” superhero comics of the time, Gerber was as loud a voice (or louder) advocating change and modernization as the legends of the day such as his friend and colleague, Frank Miller.
Many of Gerber’s larger plans did not come to fruition and, like many creators at the time who found that comics had seemingly passed them by, Gerber turned his attention to animation and television in the ‘80s, writing for Dungeons and Dragons, Transformers, Star Trek: The Next Generation (“Contagion”), G.I. Joe and Thundarr the Barbarian, which he created.
Following up on his independent work from the ‘80s, Gerber was one of the founders of Malibu’s Ultraverse, and for a period, found a home writing a handful of Image Comics titles. Gerber’s work throughout the ‘90s was an eclectic mix, always quirky and always very personal.
More recently, Gerber returned to Marvel to write a Howard the Duck miniseries for its MAX imprint. He had also recently returned to DC, where he had created the acclaimed series Hard Time for the publisher’s failed DC Focus line. Since that time, Gerber had largely taken up residence in the DC Universe’s more “mystical” side, writing the Dr. Fate story which was contained in the Countdown to Mystery miniseries.
Recently on his blog Gerber had been keeping his friends and fans appraised of his condition. In an interview about Dr. Fate here at Newsarama in September, Gerber discussed his health with characteristic frankness and humor, saying:
“It’s just a fact of life, it’s something I have to deal with. Naturally, I’d be very happy if there were, you know, a ‘cure’ for this, but there isn’t. I’ve got fibrosis of the lungs, and it’s a…so far slow-but-progressive disease that, if not treated, will ultimately off me.
“I’m moving toward getting on the lung transplant list at UCLA. And, hopefully, I will have a newly-refurbished pair of lungs (laughs) to breathe with in a little while. We’ll see what happens.
“It’s almost funny…I really do have a sick sense of humor about some of this stuff. (laughs) Part of me wants to go for the sympathy ploy. Put a picture of me on the cover of Countdown to Mystery with a gun to my head, or a plastic bag over it, and the caption, ‘Buy this magazine or this writer will never breathe again!’ The old National Lampoon gag.”
Gerber’s last post on his blog was from a week ago, noting that he was working through the night on a Dr. Fate script.
Newsarama extends its deepest condolences to Gerber’s friends and family. He will be missed.
Surnow leaves '24'
"24" co-creator/executive producer Joel Surnow is leaving the Emmy-winning Fox drama.
Surnow's departure is effective immediately. He served as an executive producer on the first eight episodes of the real-time thriller's seventh season that were produced before and into the strike but will not be creatively involved in the remaining 16 episodes, slated to begin filming shortly.
Surnow's overall deal with "24" producer 20th Century Fox TV was up April 30. This week, the writer-producer asked the studio to release him early, and it agreed.
Instead of signing a show deal to continue providing services on "24," Surnow decided to go for "a clean break" and leave altogether to focus on new projects. ("24" co-creator/executive producer Robert Cochran's overall pact with 20th TV also expired last year, but he continues to work on the series.)
Surnow began contemplating an exit from "24" in the summer, when the show was starting production on Season 7, but made the final decision during the strike.
"I did some soul-searching," Surnow said. "I took it as an opportunity to write on my own and do other things."
Surnow said he is not sure what exactly he will do next, but one thing is certain: "24" will be a tough act to follow.
"After doing '24,' I don't know if I want to do a mainstream show again," he said. "I like what's going on in cable; there is an opportunity to stretch dramatically there, which is something I'm trying to do."
As for his departure, Surnow said it was hard to leave the show that had been "a life- and career-changing experience" but knowing that "24" was in "the capable hands of Howard Gordon" made it easier. Gordon has run "24" since Season 6.
'Saturday Night Live' to return Feb. 23
NEW YORK (AP) — NBC's Saturday Night Live, the only late-night show completely shelved by the writers' strike, is planning a Feb. 23 return if the writers ratify a contract agreement and head back to work.
No host guests or guests have been announced for the return.
How long has Saturday Night Live been gone? So long that it opened its second-to-last show before the strike with a skit about a Halloween party at presumed president-in-waiting Hillary Clinton's house. The real Barack Obama made a cameo.
"It's been a long dry spell without Saturday Night Live on the air," Rick Ludwin, head of late-night entertainment at NBC, said Tuesday. "They've been sitting on the sidelines watching all this happening in politics and the primaries. SNL thrives during an election year, and they can't wait to get back on."
While the Tonight show and Conan O'Brien's Late Night returned in January without writers and did shows with skeleton crews, SNL is so dependent on its writers that it couldn't return without them.
New 'Star Wars' Animated Film Is Coming To Theatres
NEW YORK - The "Star Wars" universe, already substantially rendered by computer generated imagery, is giving in all the way to animation.
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars," an animated film, will open in theaters Aug. 15 and be followed by a TV series of the same name, to air on the Cartoon Network and TNT this fall.
"I felt there were a lot more `Star Wars' stories left to tell," said "Star Wars" creator George Lucas in a statement. "I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and, at the same time, push the animation forward."
Produced by Lucasfilm Animation, both the film and TV show will be distributed through Time Warner Inc., which owns TNT, the Cartoon Network and the film's distributor, Warner Bros.
Lucas, who serves as executive producer, is also planning a live-action television series spinoff of the franchise, which he began working on last fall. The animated series has long been in the works, though the theatrical release was only announced late Tuesday.
The movie and subsequent series takes place between the ground covered in episodes II and III of the "Star Wars" films: "Attack of the Clones" (2002) and "Revenge of the Sith" (2005). It will include cartoon versions of many familiar characters, including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padme Amidala and General Grievous.
A new character named Ahsoka, Anakin's padawan, will be the first female Jedi to be a character of focus.
"It turned out to be an idea that George wanted to explore," said Dave Filoni, director of the "Clone Wars" movie and supervising director of the series. "Henry Gillroy (a writer on the series) and I very much wanted to have a female Jedi in more of a lead role because you've had all the boys."
More than 30 episodes are planned, though Filoni declined to say exactly how long the show will run. He acknowledged it's a finite timeline before encroaching on "Revenge of the Sith" story lines.
Though the "Star Wars" films have been extraordinarily lucrative, the force won't be expected to be as strong in cartoon form. The film and series are clearly aimed at younger viewers, though Filoni hopes to also entice the many "Star Wars" die-hard fans.
"An animated series always appeals more to a younger audience," said Filoni. "But at the same time, we've tried to do some sophisticated things and ensure that we are going to satisfy the broad spectrum of `Star Wars' fans."
Though Lucas farms out various "Star Wars" projects in what's known as the "`Star Wars' expanded universe," Filoni says that Lucas ensured "The Clone Wars" has "that `Star Wars' feeling."
Fans will also remember other animated series following the first time Lucas completed a "Star Wars" trilogy. After "Return of the Jedi," the series "Ewoks" and "Droids" ran in the late `80s.
The Cartoon Network also ran an earlier version of a "Clone Wars" animated series for three seasons beginning in 2003.
Writers end strike; now they must write
LOS ANGELES - Hollywood writers' brief moment to savor the end of their 100-day strike gave way Wednesday to the cold reality of a blank page and networks and studios eager for new TV episodes.
"What we're all finding is there's a certain amount of, `OK, what are we going to do now?' said Shane Brennan, writer and executive producer for the CBS drama "NCIS."
"You go back to your desk, open your computer, look at the last thing you planned, the last thing you wrote," Brennan said, "and figure out how to go from there."
Cheryl Heuton, executive producer for CBS' "Numb3rs," has been making a flurry of calls to muster crew members, writers and others connected with the drama.
"We're just gathering everybody. The offices are pretty dark and lonely and will be for a couple more days," said Heuton.
Members of the Writers Guild of America members voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to lift the union's strike order, allowing the industry to jump-start stalled production of numerous TV sitcoms and dramas.
"It will be all hands on deck for the writing staff," said Chris Mundy, co-executive producer of the CBS drama "Criminal Minds." Actual production won't begin, however, until scripts have been completed, which could take days or even weeks.
For the Feb. 24 Academy Awards, the vote by East and West Coast guild members ended the threat of a boycott by writers and actors that would have robbed the ceremony of its celebrity luster.
Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which stages the Oscars, responded effusively.
"I am ecstatic that the 80th Academy Awards presentation can now proceed full steam ahead," he said, and without "hesitation or discomfort" for the nominees.
The writers' decided overwhelmingly in favor of ending the strike: 3,492 said yes, with only 283 voting to stay off the job. The number of guild members involved in the strike was 10,500, with countless other industry workers forced into unemployment because of the walkout.
Writers did not vote on the tentative contract agreement that already has won approval from the union's board of directors. The contract ratification vote will be conducted by mail and at meetings and will conclude Feb. 25.
Approval is expected, given Tuesday's lopsided decision and the enthusiasm for the proposed contract expressed at guild meetings held last weekend in New York and Los Angeles.
"At the end of the day, everybody won. It was a fair deal and one that the companies can live with, and it recognizes the large contribution that writers have made to the industry," Leslie Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corp., told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Moonves was among the media executives who helped broker a deal after negotiations between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, collapsed in December.
Under the tentative agreement, writers would get a maximum flat fee of about $1,200 for programs streamed on the Internet in the deal's first two years and then get 2 percent of a distributor's gross in year three — a key union demand.
Other provisions include increased residual payments for movies and TV programs downloaded from the Internet.
"These advances now give us a foothold in the digital age," said Patric Verrone, president of the West Coast guild. "Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as television migrates to the Internet."
Michael R. Perry, a writer for "Persons Unknown" and other TV dramas, said the deal made him hopeful the guild and studios could be "partners in a growing pie" of Internet revenue.
"I want them to be fabulously, filthy rich. I just want my piece," Perry said.
The strike that began Nov. 5 dealt a financial blow to a wide range of businesses dependent on work from studios.
It took a $3.2 billion toll in direct and indirect costs on the economy of Los Angeles County, the home of most of the nation's TV and film production, according to a new estimate from Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.
The last writers strike, a 153-day walkout in 1988, resulted in an estimated $500 million in lost wages.
Hollywood's labor pains may not be over: The contract between studios and the Screen Actors Guild is set to expire in June, said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney with the Los Angeles firm of TroyGould and a former associate counsel for the writers guild.
"The signs are mixed whether this is going to be another difficult negotiation," Handel said. "The actors face all of the new-media issues that the writers and directors faced."