Miyamoto Quotes & Sayings

Game music has a purpose and it does incorporate sound effects. — Shigeru Miyamoto

There's definitely space for uniqueness in a home console. — Shigeru Miyamoto

4 years earlier "This is truth: when you sacrifice your life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and to die with a weapon yet undrawn." Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings. — Phillip W. Simpson

The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy's useful actions but allow his useless actions — Miyamoto Musashi

Aspire to be like Mt. Fuji, with such a broad and solid foundation that the strongest earthquake cannot move you, and so tall that the greatest enterprises of common men seem insignificant from your lofty perspective. With your mind as high as Mt Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things happening near to you. — Miyamoto Musashi

In strategy it is necessary to treat training as part of normal life with your spirit unchanging. — Miyamoto Musashi

I'd like to be known as the person who saw things from a different point of view to others. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Anything that is impractical can be play. It's doing something other than what is necessary to continue living as an animal. — Shigeru Miyamoto

This is a truth: when you sacrifice your life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and to die with a weapon yet undrawn. — Miyamoto Musashi

Immature strategy is the cause of grief". — Miyamoto Musashi

When in a fight to the death, one wants to employ all one's weapons to the utmost. I must say that to die with one's sword still sheathed is most regrettable. — Miyamoto Musashi

Nowadays I think it's really important that designers are really unique and individual. — Shigeru Miyamoto

A bullet from a gun does not make a distinction between practice and combat. You are training to be one and the same way in your life — Miyamoto Musashi

The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him. — Miyamoto Musashi

True warriors are fierce because their training is fierce. — Miyamoto Musashi

There is even rhythm in being empty. — Miyamoto Musashi

The fact of the matter is that the world does not care about you or me, our hopes, our desires, or our dreams. And, the world of dreams, hopes, and desires that is constructed between our ears it is not necessarily a reflection of what is actually going on around us. — Miyamoto Musashi

In sum, it is not good to let the hand or the sword become fixed or frozen.87 A fixed hand is a dead hand; a hand that does not become fixed is alive. It is necessary to master this well. — Miyamoto Musashi

Thirdly, the gentleman warrior, carrying the weaponry of his way. The way of the warrior is to master the virtue of his weapons. If a gentleman dislikes strategy he will not appreciate the benefit of weaponry, so must he not have a little taste for this? — Miyamoto Musashi

from one thing, know ten thousand things — Miyamoto Musashi

In the strategy of my school, keep your body and mind straight and make your opponent go through contortions and twist about. The essence is to defeat him in the moment when, in his mind, he is pivoting and twisting. You should examine this well. — Miyamoto Musashi

Do not let your opponent see your spirit — Miyamoto Musashi

The ultimate aim of martial arts is not having to use them — Miyamoto Musashi

It may seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first. — Miyamoto Musashi

If a man chooses a certain Way and seems to have no particular talent for this Way, he can still become a master if he so chooses. By keeping at a particular form of study a man can attain perfection either in this life or the next (if a next life is believed in). — Miyamoto Musashi

The spirit of defeating a man is the same for ten million men. The strategist makes small things into big things, like building a great Buddha from a one foot model. — Miyamoto Musashi

Fixation is the way to death. Fluidity is the way to life. — Miyamoto Musashi

There are some ghost stories in Japan where - when you are sitting in the bathroom in the traditional style of the Japanese toilet - a hand is actually starting to grab you from beneath. It's a very scary story. — Shigeru Miyamoto

If you fail to take advantage of your enemies' collapse, they may recover. — Miyamoto Musashi

Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend to its power or live a lie. — Miyamoto Musashi

Providing new means of entertainment is the important thing. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Originally, I wanted a machine that would cost $100. My idea was to spend nothing on the console technology so all the money could be spent on improving the interface and software. If we hadn't used NAND flash memory and other pricey parts, we might have succeeded. — Shigeru Miyamoto

We don't pay a whole lot of attention to the Internet until people have played the game - then we pay a lot of attention to whether people liked it. We read through it and see it, but we don't take it into consideration ... [The Internet] is not going to dictate the direction of where the game goes. — Shigeru Miyamoto

The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things. — Miyamoto Musashi

Arbogast had then assembled a dream team of creative consultants and contractors to help make his bold claim a reality, luring some of the videogame industry's brightest stars away from their own companies and projects, with the sole promise of collaborating on his groundbreaking new MMOs. That was how gaming legends like Chris Roberts, Richard Garriott, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Gabe Newell, and Shigeru Miyamoto had all wound up as consultants on both Terra Firma and Armada - along with several big Hollywood filmmakers, including James Cameron, who had contributed to the EDA's realistic ship and mech designs, and Peter Jackson, whose Weta Workshop had rendered all of the in-game cinematics. — Ernest Cline

If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything. — Miyamoto Musashi

It would be a joy for me if someone who was working with me became a big success. — Shigeru Miyamoto

guard. It is in this sense that I recommend the guard without a guard. Whatever the situation is, you hold the sword so that you can slash your opponent. — Miyamoto Musashi

Do not let the body be dragged along by mind nor the mind be dragged along by the body — Miyamoto Musashi

As far as Im concerned, I regret nothing. — Miyamoto Musashi

I think that inside every adult is the heart of a child. We just gradually convince ourselves that we have to act more like adults. — Shigeru Miyamoto

To create a new standard, you have to be up for that challenge and really enjoy it. — Shigeru Miyamoto

This is the entertainment industry, so game designers have to have a creative mind and also have to be able to stand up against the marketing people at their company - otherwise they cannot be creative. There are not that many people who fit that description. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Japanese people have a funny habit of abbreviating names. — Shigeru Miyamoto

With your spirit open and unconstricted, look at things from a high point of view. — Miyamoto Musashi

When you attack the enemy, your spirit must go to the extent of pulling the stakes out of a wall and using them as spears and halberds. — Miyamoto Musashi

The way is in training. — Miyamoto Musashi

I wanted to make something very unique, something very different. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Do not waste time idling or thinking after you have set your goals — Miyamoto Musashi

A man cannot understand the art he is studying if he only looks for the end result without taking the time to delve deeply into the reasoning of the study. — Miyamoto Musashi

This Fudo Myo-o, whose name means "Immovable Wisdom King," is represented with a sword to cut through our ignorance and a rope to bind up our emotions — Miyamoto Musashi

All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. — Miyamoto Musashi

Of course, when it comes to Japanese role-playing games, in any role-playing game in Japan you're supposed to collect a huge number of items, and magic, and you've got to actually combine different items together to make something really different. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Water adopts the shape of its receptacle, it is sometimes a trickle and sometimes a wild sea. — Miyamoto Musashi

I think that the entertainment industry itself has a history of chasing success. Any time a hit product comes out, all the other companies start chasing after that success and trying to recreate it by putting out similar products. — Shigeru Miyamoto

By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. — Miyamoto Musashi

Of course, I have my own limits as to how much game software I can take care of at any one time. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Crossing at a ford occurs often in a man's lifetime. It means setting sail even though your friends stay in harbour, knowing the route, knowing the soundness of your ship and the favour of the day. — Miyamoto Musashi

Donkey Kong Country proves that players will put up with mediocre gameplay as long as the art is good. — Shigeru Miyamoto

You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour. — Miyamoto Musashi

For a long time at Nintendo we didn't focus as much on online play because for many years doing so would have limited the size of the audience that could enjoy those features. But certainly now we see that so many people are connected to the Internet. It opens up a tremendous amount of possibilities. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock n' roll. — Shigeru Miyamoto

In other words, I'm not intending to start from things that require a five-year development time, — Shigeru Miyamoto

You should not have a favourite weapon. To become over-familiar with one weapon is as much a fault as not knowing it sufficiently well. — Miyamoto Musashi

To know ten thousand things, know one well — Miyamoto Musashi

I think what's really the most ideal thing is for the player themselves, within their own imagination, to carve out what they view as being the essence of the character. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Never depart from the way of martial arts. — Miyamoto Musashi

Fortunately, because of the spread of smart devices, people take games for granted now. It's a good thing for us, because we do not have to worry about making games something that are relevant to general people's daily lives. — Shigeru Miyamoto

It is difficult to realize the true Way just through sword-fencing. Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. — Miyamoto Musashi

There is no one way to salvation, whatever the manner in which a man may proceed. All forms and variations are governed by the eternal intelligence of the Universe that enables a man to approach perfection. It may be in the arts of music and painting or it may be in commerce, law, or medicine. It may be in the study of war or the study of peace. Each is as important as any other. Spiritual enlightenment through religious meditation such as Zen or in any other way is as viable and functional as any "Way." ... A person should study as they see fit. — Miyamoto Musashi

As the innocent infant relies upon the mother for sustenance, so the innocent wanderer, following his native compassion and bliss, relies upon the natural intelligence of life to sustain him. There are various Ways. There is the Way of salvation by the law of Buddha, the Way of Confucius governing the Way of learning, the Way of healing as a doctor, as a poet teaching the Way of Waka, tea, archery, and many arts and skills. Each man practices as he feels inclined. — Miyamoto Musashi

People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment ... — Miyamoto Musashi

I know as a child, I was really interested in becoming a manga artist, to create my own stories and illustrate them and present something that people would be interested in reading and looking at as well. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Get beyond love and grief: exist for the good of Man. — Miyamoto Musashi

What if everything you see is more than what you see
the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it is really a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things. — Shigeru Miyamoto

I don't really think of things in terms of legacy or where I stand in the history of Nintendo or anything like that. — Shigeru Miyamoto

If you learn indoor techniques, you will think narrowly and forget the true Way. Thus you will have difficulty in actual encounters. — Miyamoto Musashi

This is truth: When you sacrifice your life, you must make fullest use of your weaponry. It is false not to do so, and to die with a weapon as yet undrawn. — Miyamoto Musashi

A good idea is something that does not solve just one single problem, but rather can solve multiple problems at once. — Shigeru Miyamoto

As a kid, I was a big comic fan and I liked foreign comics as well. — Shigeru Miyamoto

I think when you talk about competing against others, the problem is that you refer to something that's been done already and try to beat it. — Shigeru Miyamoto

I don't want to criticize any other designers, but I have to say that many of the people involved in this industry - directors and producers - are trying to make their games more like movies. They are longing to make movies rather than making videogames. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Of course, I would like to know what [Sony and Microsoft] do with their machines, but there is no game that I feel the need to go see. So far, from what I've seen on the show this year, there does not seem to be any games that I would like to have created myself. — Shigeru Miyamoto

Too much is the same as not enough. — Miyamoto Musashi

Even if a man has no natural ability, he can be a warrior. — Miyamoto Musashi

Then you will come to see things in an all-encompassing sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void.

In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom exists, principle exists, the way exists. Spirit is Void. — Miyamoto Musashi

The bow is tactically strong at the commencement of battle, especially battles on a moor, as it is possible to shoot quickly among the spearmen. — Miyamoto Musashi

Generally speaking, the Way of the warrior is resolute acceptance of death. — Miyamoto Musashi

There are many ways of understanding simple things, but generally the opposite is true for difficult ideas — Miyamoto Musashi

I don't like all the attention. I think it's better to let my work do the talking. — Shigeru Miyamoto

What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself. — Shigeru Miyamoto

What I call the void is where nothing exists. It is about things outside man's knowledge. Of course the void does not exist. By knowing what exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void. — Miyamoto Musashi

Controller is so intuitive, even your mum can play. — Shigeru Miyamoto

You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon, or anything else, for that matter. Too much is the same as not enough. Without imitating anyone else, you should have as much weaponry as suits you. — Miyamoto Musashi

The principle of my school is quite different. In the other schools, techniques are displayed like merchandise adorned with colors and flowers, so they can be turned into a way of making a living, which is not the true way. — Miyamoto Musashi

From inside fortifications, the gun has no equal among weapons. It is the supreme weapon on the field before the ranks clash, but once swords are crossed the gun becomes useless. — Miyamoto Musashi

When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void. — Miyamoto Musashi

A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad. — Shigeru Miyamoto

The snowfall obliterated the borders between the fields and made Kabuo Miyamoto's long-cherished seven acres indistinguishable from the land that surrounded them. All human claims to the landscape were superseded, made null and void by the snow. The world was one world, and the notion that a man might kill another over some small patch of it did not make sense. — David Guterson

Games have grown and developed from this limited in-the-box experience to something that's everywhere now. Interactive content is all around us, networked, ready. This is something I've been hoping for throughout my career. — Shigeru Miyamoto