I've written at length about just why I believe Nintendo's Super Mario 64 is such an amazing gaming experience, and while we're all heard the stories behind the game's development, it's always good to distinguish the legends from the truth. The Miyamoto Shrine has put together a brief article discussing the creation of the game and includes revealing quotes from former Nintendo employee Giles Goddard on topics such as just what producer Shigeru Miyamoto would change if he had the chance to do it all over again. Some of it you've probably read before, but some of the material was new to me.
At one point the game had a fixed path, almost like an isometric type of game," recalls Mr. Goddard. The camera became quite a problem for Takumi Kawagoe who was working on the Lakitu cam, Goddard recalls: "Suddenly, halfway through the project, one of the people from downstairs came up and said 'Do you realize Sega has patent on being able to switch camera views?'" The team was devastated. "Half the patents that come out are for techniques people have used for years" says Goddard. "The software patents just don't work."
Super Mario 64 turns ten years old this year. Ten years. Suddenly I feel very old. "Back in my day video games controllers only had one control stick, and we liked it that way!"
