Since helping to invent the modern video-game industry in 1981 with his design of Donkey Kong, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has repeatedly reinvented it, most notably with the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s – which introduced Super Mario Bros. and the Legend of Zelda – and in the 2000s with the Wii, which started a craze with its arm-waving motion controls.
1981年設計「大金剛」，協助創造電視遊戲產業之後，日本任天堂公司的靈魂人物宮本茂就不斷地徹底改造這個產業，最知名的例子包括1980年代推出紅白機，把「超級馬力歐兄弟」與「薩爾達傳說」帶給世人；以及本世紀初推出Wii，掀起消費者對揮舞手臂的體感操控的狂熱。

During a recent conversation Mr. Miyamoto, 60, talked about the violence in video games, the company’s newest creation, the Wii U, and the future of video games. These are excerpts from the discussion.
60歲的宮本茂最近接受訪問，談到電視遊戲暴力，任天堂最新產品Wii U，以及電玩的未來。以下是訪談摘要。

Q. What do you think of the conversation we’ve been having in the United States about games and violence since the elementary-school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in December?
問：您對美國康乃狄克州新鎮去年12月發生小學校園槍擊血案後，美國各界有關電視遊戲與暴力的議論有何看法？

A. That’s a difficult question. It’s a subject that I’m very sensitive about. We’ve seen through a variety of media that when people see or experience violence on screen, there is a certain amount of entertainment that people get out of that.
答：這個問題很難回答。我對這個話題很敏感。我們透過各種媒體知道，每當人們在螢幕上看到或經歷暴力，往往會從中獲得一定程度的娛樂。

Mario is a character that, I feel, doesn’t need to use guns. But when it comes to violence, you then have to ask, “So, if Mario doesn’t use a gun, is it appropriate for Mario to hit people?” And, in fact, when we were creating the game Super Smash Bros., we had very long and deep discussions about whether or not we thought it was appropriate for Mario to hit people.
我認為，馬力歐這個角色可以不必使用槍枝。然而一旦涉及暴力，你必須問，「如此說來，如果馬力歐不使用槍枝，他打人好嗎？」事實上，設計「明星大亂鬥」遊戲時，我們曾經花許多時間深入討論我們是否認為馬力歐可以打人的問題。

Q. The Wii U hasn’t sold as well as the Wii. Have you been disappointed by its reception?
問：Wii U的銷售成績不如Wii。您是否感到失望？

A. I think that the Wii U still has a long future. We really view it as being the ideal device that families are going to want to have connected to that screen in the living room that everyone is going to gather around and watch.
答：我認為，Wii U還有很長遠的未來。我們真的認為，它是許多家庭一定想把它接上客廳螢幕，全家人圍著欣賞的理想裝置。

Q. A lot of people in the industry are concerned about competition from phones and tablets. The Wii U is a way to bring those screens into console game play, but the industry feels very uncertain right now.
問：許多業界人士非常關切智慧手機與平板電腦構成的挑戰。Wii U是將這些螢幕融入電視遊戲的工具之一。然而業界現在有極強烈的不確定感。

A. The last couple of years in Japan we’ve seen a huge increase in the adoption of smartphones, to the point where in Japan people are saying, “Maybe I don’t need a console, or I don’t need a portable gaming device.” But we released a game called Animal Crossing: New Leaf that’s coming to the United States this year. And in Japan it has really been a big hit. And what we’re seeing is that the people playing it primarily are adult women. And adult women also happens to be the same group of people that has been rapidly adopting cellphones.
答：過去幾年，日本人使用智慧手機的數量大增，幅度大到許多日本人都說，「也許我不需要遊戲機，或者我不需要隨身型遊戲裝置」。不過我們今年準備在美國推出最新款遊戲「動物之森」。在日本，它非常受歡迎。這種遊戲的玩家以成年女性為主。成年女性恰好也是迅速採用智慧手機的族群。

As long as we’re able to provide an entertainment experience that people want to play, they’re more than happy to purchase another device to carry around with their smartphone.
只要我們能夠為人們提供他們樂於接受的娛樂經驗，他們一定很願意購買另一種可以搭配智慧手機的裝置。

Q. The Museum of Modern Art has a new installation with 14 video games. There aren’t any Nintendo games there, although the museum would like to have some. What do you think about games in museums, as opposed to living rooms?
問：紐約現代藝術博物館正在展出一件搭配14款電視遊戲的裝置作品。雖然館方一定願意展出任天堂的部分遊戲，目前卻未展出。您對博物館取代客廳，展出電視遊戲的現象有何看法？

A. I think the saddest thing about video games is that once the hardware that the game runs on stops operating, the game is gone. And the only way to preserve it then is through video. And so, on the one hand, I’m happy that there’s a facility that’s starting to preserve games in their original state. At the same time it seems a little strange to me. I still look at video games as entertainment.
答：我認為，電視遊戲最悲哀的一點是，一旦遊戲的硬體不再運作，遊戲必將消失。電視是保存遊戲的唯一可行工具。另一方面，一種工具已經開始保存遊戲的原始狀態；對此我樂觀其成。對我來說，這有點奇怪。我至今還是認為，電視遊戲是一種娛樂。

Q. You’ve had so much success over almost 35 years. Does that create additional pressure for you, compared with how you felt when you made Donkey Kong?
問：過去將近35年來，您締造許多成就。如與您當初設計大金剛的感覺相比，這是否對您構成額外的壓力？

A. What I always say is: “We can make the rules ourselves. Nobody has done it before. We can make it up as we go along.” And that to me is a lot more fun.
答：我經常說：「我們可以自行訂出遊戲規則。這並無前例。在一路前進的過程中，我們可以訂下規則。」對我來說，這會帶來許多樂趣。

Q. What’s most exciting to you about video games right now?
問：以目前而言，電視遊戲的什麼特色最令您興奮？

A. For a long time at Nintendo we didn’t focus as much on online play. But now we see that so many people are connected to the Internet. It opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities.
答：曾經有很長的一段時期，我們並不是很留意網路遊戲。然而如今，許多人已經與網路連結。這足以創造無限的可能。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/arts/video-games/shigeru-miyamoto-of-nintendo-on-wii-u-sales-and-game-violence.html

2013-03-26聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報十二版左