Nintendo Director to Concentrate on ‘Something New’

January 7, 2012

Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

1. explore (v.) 
ik-splawr] – to search or inquire into something
Example: The student wants to explore how the human body works.

2. oversee (v.) [oh-ver-see] – to watch over or direct (something or something) in order to be sure that a job is done correctly
Example: The manager makes sure he oversees all operations in his department.

3. previous (adj.)  [pree-vee-uhs] – pertaining to something that occurs or exists before something else
Example: The previous president did a good job, but the current president is better.

4. attitude (n.)  [at-i-tood] – the way a person views things or how he behaves towards it
Example: Because of his positive attitude, he was able to handle his work easily.

5. instill (v.)  [in-stil] – to gradually introduce or teach
Example: Parents patiently instills in their children the importance of respecting other people.

Read the text below.

After creating the famous Nintendo games such as Super Mario, Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong, Shigeru Miyamoto now wants to explore and focus on new ideas.

Contrary to the news that came out from tech website Wired, Miyamoto has no plans of retiring from being the top Nintendo director. According to Nintendo’s spokeswoman, Miyamoto’s intended sarcasms were just misunderstood in that interview. He may be less committed on individual projects in the company, but he will still maintain his role of leading Nintendo’s direction in the future.

In an interview with CNN, Miyamoto admitted that he may be tired of overseeing each additional input to his original works. He is not worried to leave his previous works to his team, for he believes in the attitude that he instilled in them, such as the desire to make changes and the desire for perfection.

He did not reveal what his new project would be. His ideas, however, are often creative, and based on real-life experience. He said that he thinks differently, and believes that many possible ideas can be produced into a single game.

Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor. 

Discussion A

·         What do you think makes a good game creator?
·         If you were to come up with a video game, what would that be?

Discussion B

·         What do you think are the benefits of video games to people?
·         Are there any disadvantages (of playing video games)?

January 7, 2012