Aside from his assurances of sticking around, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto still possesses enough quirk to feasibly lash his house onto a bunch of balloons and leave us all behind.
News Blips:
Mario creator and all-around nice guy Shigeru Miyamoto has no plans to retire anytime soon. Speaking with GamesTM, the longtime Nintendo employee portends a future of continuing to do what he does best, regardless of how many years Father Time tacks on. "When I look around and see how aged cartoonists continue to work on their manga and how movie directors create new movies all the time, I understand that they would never retire," said Miyamoto. "And by the same token, I guess I will still be making games somehow." Super Mario Crochet, anyone?
Blowtooth, a "pervasive" game developed at a British university, explores the visceral thrill of smuggling drugs and other substances through high-security locations. Participants utilize the Bluetooth application on their smart phones to find other suitable devices, which enables the "contraband" (fear not, Internet watchdogs: The smuggled stuff is completely virtual and very fake) to be downloaded onto the unwitting accomplice's phone. After sailing through the security — such as an airport checkpoint — with possibly a smug smirk on his face, the player uploads the goods back onto his phone and continues on his merry way. I can totally see someone getting punk'd over this. [GamePolitics]
Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), the other game developer dynamo from Japan, has left an enigmatic tweet regarding his "confidential" new project. "I'm going to leave my next project to the side while I focus on the 'Confidential Project,'" he wrote. Kojima's initial tweet from the previous week mentioned that his next project "will challenge a certain type of taboo," and would wind up with the director's departure from the industry if things went awry. Thankfully, there seems to be a new new project taking up Kojima's attention, so we get to keep him for a while longer. Are you confused, yet? [VGArabia]
A report by the National Labor Committee reveals the working conditions of a Chinese factory that produces Xbox 360 controllers. Among the numerous criticisms of the factory were an inclination to hire teenage "work-study students" who would be subjected to daily 15-hour shifts. Workers reportedly earn only 52 cents per hour, along with harsh punishments that are exacted for any rule breaking. Microsoft is sending a team of its own investigators to inspect the factory after the publishing of the report. [GamePolitics]
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