Nintendolosophy: Imagination Through Limitation

By Rob Galbreath / Saturday, 01 October 2005

Nintendolosophy: Imagination Through Limitation What does it mean to be limited?

As a primary demonstration, I'll use the classic example of a parent and child. The child, having performed some action of which the parent disapproves, has limits imposed upon him or her. Perhaps the parents limit the amount of T.V. the child can watch or how many hours he or she can spend playing those mind-numbing video games. In this scenario, the limitation is used in a negative fashion, as a means of punishment.

Also consider this example of a dedicated athlete. He or she works hard every single day to improve his/her conditon . The athlete really wants to be the best, but is limited due to a lack of raw talent; the likes of which his/her teammates and/or competitors are instead blessed with. In this situation, limitation is still considered a negative, but the imposition is more natural rather than forced.

Now, can there be a positive connotation to limitation? Why, of course. I'll use the above two examples as a means of displaying this point. When either the child or the athlete realizes that limitations are imposed upon them, they engage their minds in how to best deal with and/or shatter their limitations. The child may consider sweet-talking his or her parents, try to make a case for why the action disapproved of by the parents is indeed not deserving of punishment, or the child may simply realize other means of sidestepping the imposed limitation.

In the case of the athlete (and I can speak almost anecdotally in this manner), he or she could work smart by playing off the flaws and weaknesses of their more talented teammates/competitors. Assuming the sport is something like cross-country, the hard working athlete could take advantage of their teammate's/competitor's moments of laziness and forge ahead strategically. Not to say teammates and/or competitors can't push a person in more positive ways, nor am I saying parental limitations should be disrepected, but the point here relates to overcoming limitations.

Let's relate this back to Nintendo and gaming. During the NES and SNES generations, developers often had many technological limitations imposed upon them by the hardware. They couldn't have full orchestrated music or high polygon counts. They couldn't fully realize the extent of their ideas. However, did those limitations create bad games? Well, yes, to an extent, for there are always those who get knocked down by limitations and never think creatively. For the sake of this argument however, let's say those games are in the minority.

Using Final Fantasy as an example, the earlier games (that meaning FF VII and prior) are fondly remembered as some of the best pieces of software in existence. They were fun, engaging, moving, and beautiful. Yet, every game had greatly imposed limitations. On the SNES, the developers were limited to sprites and midi sounds. The hardware didn't contain the power to allow for everything the developers could have desired in their games. Despite this, the games are remembered for their beauty, their charm, their appeal, and their gameplay. The music of certain games alone is revered among many communities, online and otherwise.

To further illustrate this point, let's compare the original Final Fantasy VII to the possible PS3 remake. The original game ranks high on gamer's lists as one of the greatest games every produced. The textures were blurry, the polygon count was low, the sound board was limiting, and the CG scenes paled in comparison to the earliest Pixar film. However, the game is fondly remembered for its greatness and the extent to which is opened up the imagination. Comparing this to the possible PS3 remake, the polygon count would be higher, the textures would be cleaner, the sound would be crisper, but would the imagination still be there? Well, not one to jump to assumptions, I'll just say time will tell.

Imagination, in this context, is the vital word that deserves the main focus here.

With today's game hardware, many developers can make whatever they choose. They can make the game world as large as they want, can make the game as graphically stunning as they desire, can use a full orchestra, can have the flashiest effects, and they can make the game as complicated as they like, but is the imagination still there? Sure, in some respects, but for the most part it's on the decline. Without imposed limitations, there's no need to engage the mind critically. As I'll soon point out, when you give someone everything, you achieve nothing. Keep that in mind.
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Satoru Iwata has stated that his goal with the DS (and extending further, the Revolution) is to "bring gamers back to the start line of 20 years ago." Now, statements like these are always open to interpretation, so let's interpret. I believe I've stated that Iwata could mean bringing back the simplistic and open-armed nature of gaming that existed back during previous generations. Perhaps the Nintendo president is referring to putting his company back on top as it was all those years ago. But I think he's trying to say, let's get creative again. In actuality, all the above might be true, but I think the foremost and the latter most certainly apply in this context.

If you haven't seen the Revolution's controller yet, get a quick glance here. Have a decent grasp on the image now? Good, let's continue. Notice how everything about the controller is unconventional; the design, the button layout, the manner in which it's used, all of these compare very little to 'traditional' controller design. Many people beg the question, "how am I supposed to use this?"

Stop right there and focus on that question.

"How am I supposed to use this?" Already, Nintendo has achieved its goal. Do you see it? We're forced to ask the question and engage our creative minds because the controller is outside the norm, so to speak.

Now the imagination sets in. We have realized that this controller imposes limits on 'traditional' game design. How do we overcome the limits? By getting creative and thinking critically.

Of course, the limitation is only imposed to a certain extent. Developers aren't being forced to re-use outdated Super Nintendo technology. They can create the game worlds they want, the characters they want, and add in all the polygons and orchestrated music they want. The difference is that they have to engage their minds to get over the greater limitation imposed on all those aspects by the controller. Their game worlds, their characters, their gameplay mechanics, these all depend upon this unconventional controller. Nintendo has placed a barrier in their path, the likes of which having not been used in years that must be overcome.

As I've said many times prior, the DS represents the Revolution in its early form, at least in philosophy. The combination of all its components creates a machine that is unconventional; the DS doesn't recreate current game models with higher polygon count and a better sound chip. Knowing this, developers have limitations enforced upon them and must search for solutions to overcome these hurdles as they did those many years ago.

As a result, games change (not always for the better mind you; depends on the game). But more importantly, gaming expands because new ideas have to be circulated in order to overcome the obvious boundaries.

Consider for the moment what would happen if we gave developers everything. What if we told them, "make a slate as big as you want, and adorn whatever you desire upon it. I'm not going to limit anything you do in any way." Chances are that the developers would be overwhelmed and their creations would be underwhelming.

Furthering this point, consider three of today's greatest franchises: Castlevania, Zelda, and Final Fantasy. In their current state, they are enormous games, filled with moving stories, orchestral scores, and advanced gameplay mechanics. But why are they this large? They began as simple works, created by developers with heavy limitations laid upon them. Even then though, they were considered masterpieces of their time, perhaps even more so than their current editions. And it was thanks to those pesky limitations. It's somewhat the old adage, to get big you have to start small.

If you never imposed limitations on your child, they would never garner respect for authority and the ability to think critically in order to free themselves of punishable situations. If the athlete could have all the raw talent he or she desired, that person would never gain a respect for strategizing creatively and giving a 100% effort. If Nintendo and other hardware manufacturers gave developers everything they wanted without changing the paradigm, creativity would be stifled and certain games would never become legendary.

It is in this moment that I have concocted a fitting catch phrase for Revolution:

Imagination through limitation.