They do. A lot. In an unusual and interesting way.
I recently asked some Nintendo people about this. I was talking to the creators of the 3DS’ new Super Mario 3D Land as best one can talk over email, through a translator. I think we succeeded nicely…
Me: “When making a Mario game, what do you strive for in terms of a relationship between the developer and the player? Are you a movie director giving us a role to play? Are you a friend giving us a challenge? How do you think of that relationship?”
Yoshiaki Koizumi, producer of Super Mario 3D Land: “Unlike a movie, which moves forward with the progress of time, a game cannot move forward without the actions of the player, so in a sense, a game is an incomplete story. Because we want players to complete the story by playing the game, we do our best to build an emotional bridge between ourselves and the players while trying to ensure that we can finish the game together. For example, we prepare enemies that look like they should be jumped on, mountains that are begging to be conquered, and princesses that look like they should be saved, but it’s the players who actually do these things. In that sense, perhaps our relationship is like the relationship between a lead actor and a director.”
The video game creator and the video game player are connected. Each has some impression of the other. Surely you, as a player, has thought of that, though perhaps not consciously. Maybe you’ve failed a jump a few times in a Mario game and grunted “What were they thinking? This is impossible.” Or maybe you’ve smiled at some delightful thing you discovered in a Zelda that feels like it was put there just for you.
According to Nintendo, you finish the work they started. You make the game complete. That’s how a Nintendo game creator thinks of you.
Tom
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:34 AMThe answer to “What Nintendo’s Game Creators Think Of You” is…
“$”
MattPrime
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:52 AMI always assumed it was ‘Evil Gaijin”
Mr Waffle
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:23 AMThey don’t really think we’re evil, just smelly and hairy. And probably have big noses too.
El Phantasmogoro
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 1:34 PMBig noses is an unbelievably common fetish in Japan so maybe you are in with a chance at spooning with Shiggy.
Richard Smack Version 2
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 9:59 AMThe word Sheep comes to mind :D
Date666
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:14 AMWhy do they just keep starting the same game?
drew
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 3:24 PMWhat are you saying? they just make the same game over and over?
obviously you don’t know enough or haven’t played many mario games. While any of them may be a Mario game, Nintendo does actually innovate within the genre that Mario games fall into, which is generally a ‘platformer’.
miniluv101
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:34 AMI always saw the Nintendo relationship like that between a hooker and a client: they’ll say they love you to get your money but there’s still some things you’ll want that they wont do for any price.
BR!4N
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 10:31 PMWell… that’s a nice lie! They really had me for a second! What they think of us is walking, strange-colored, completely filled wallets.