Some developers start with a story they want to tell, or a premise they want

你會從哪開始?

to explore. Others start with some emotion they want the player to feel, like terror

有些人想要說個故事，或是一項假設的探討

or accomplishment.

有些人則想讓玩家體驗某種感受，例如恐懼與成就

Others still start by using the technology to simulate something, like a planet, or a

還有人則是透過技術來模擬實境，像是星球與宇宙

universe. And, of course, plenty of developers start by taking a game that already exists,

當然有更多人是從現有遊戲中挑一款進行參考

and adding in a few extra features.

然後加了一點新的要素進去

But Nintendo is, predictably, quite different.

任天堂與眾不同

Whether it's making a brand new game or the latest entry in the long-running Super Mario

無論是開發一款全新的遊戲 或在瑪莉歐系列增添一章

series, Nintendo always starts with the same goal: coming up with a new way to play.

任天堂的目標永遠相同

So what you do in the game, and how you do it, is used as the catalyst to drive everything

嶄新的玩法

else - from the design of the main character, to the way you deal with enemies, to the genre

所以你在遊戲中玩什麼、該怎麼玩

of music on the soundtrack.

決定了這款遊戲的一切

"That's how we make games at Nintendo," says Shigeru Miyamoto - creator of Mario,

無論是角色的設計

Zelda, Pikmin, and more. "We get the fundamentals solid first, then do as much with that core

還是敵人的機制

concept as our time and ambition will allow".

甚至是遊戲的音樂也一樣

And so, in this episode of Game Maker's Toolkit, we're going to look at how one of the world's

「我們就是這樣做遊戲的」─宮本茂這麼說

greatest game developers finds success by prioristing play.

他是瑪利歐、薩爾達、皮克敏與多個系列作品的作者

In many of its games, Nintendo starts by coming up with some interesting new action for the

「我們先建好扎實的基礎」

main character to perform. The late Gunpei Yokoi,

「接著在時間與野心允許下盡情從核心發想創作」

said "I first take the character which you're going to control and replace them with a dot

因此在本集的GAME MAKER'S TOOLKIT

as a placeholder, then I think about what kind of movement would be fun".

我們要來看全世界最優秀的遊戲開發公司之一

The most famous outcome of this way of thinking is this guy. You might know him as Mario,

是如何在「遊戲優先」下成功的

but when he arrived on the scene he was simply known as Jumpman because this portly Italian

許多遊戲的開端，任天堂先讓遊戲角色能做點新奇的事

plumber is defined by his leap.

現已去世的橫井軍平說 (GAME BOY的開發者)

Not only does he have the most dynamic and expressive jump in all of gaming - 2D or 3D

我把玩家要控制的角色先用一個點來當作參考

- but his breakout game, Super Mario Bros, is all about the jump.

接著我再思考怎麼樣做會好玩

Mario leaps onto platforms and over pipes. He jumps into bricks to break them and blocks

在這個思考模式下創作出來最有名的角色

to unleash power-ups. And that includes the fire flower which shoots at an annoying 45

就是他─

degree angle meaning you have to jump to get a good shot. And the flagpole is always one

你們應該都知道他叫做「瑪利歐」

brick off the ground, so you have to jump to finish the level.

但其實在剛登場的時候，他的名字叫做「JUMPMAN」

Miyamoto toyed with other ideas, including a shoot 'em up stage, but dropped them because

因為這個胖胖的義大利水管工擁有獨領風騷的特質─

"we wanted to focus on jumping action".

他會跳

Oh, and don't forget about jumping on enemies to kill them. That might seem like an obvious

在2D與3D遊戲裡 他不僅有最具活力與個性的跳法

way to dispatch foes as that's how Sonic, Aladdin, and scores of other platformer heroes

而他的成名作：超級瑪利歐兄弟

do it but - get this - no one did it before Mario.

更是充滿了跳躍要素

Miyamoto came up with that by asking: what is the logical way to defeat an enemy in a

瑪莉歐跳上平台、蹬過水管

game about jumping?

撞破磚塊、取得道具

There's a real advantage to forging a game around a strong main mechanic.

其中包含從討人厭的45角發射彈跳火球的火之花

When you can interact with almost everything in the game by using this mechanic, Nintendo

代表你如果要射的準，你得跳

can make a game where the player's range of actions is very small and easy to learn - but

最後的旗子也在底端放了一個磚塊

the number of things they can interact with is huge.

所以你要過關，你非跳不可

When talking about Pikmin, Miyamoto said "the basic action that you conduct is very simple.

宮本曾經打算在遊戲中加入僅透過射擊來過關的關卡

It's a matter of simply throwing the Pikmin at tasks and calling them back. And yet with

但最後捨棄了這個念頭，因為─

the Pikmins' abilities and the breadth of strategies available, it opens up broad possibilities

「我們想專注在『跳躍』上」

of how you can approach the gameplay".

也不要忘了「踩扁敵人」這個擊倒方式

Other examples of unique actions include shooting a water gun, firing ink, turning into a painting,

就算這概念看起來是這麼地理所當然

plucking things out of the ground, and using a vacuum cleaner.

像是音速小子、阿拉丁，跟數不盡的角色都這麼做

In Luigi's Mansion for Gamecube, Luigi interacts with the world almost exclusively through

但你必須知道

his vacuum cleaner. He can't even jump but where his brother overcomes every challenge

瑪利歐前沒人這麼幹

with a big springy leap, Luigi uses his hoover to solve puzzles, suck up ghosts, collect

「在一個跳躍的遊戲中，該怎麼打倒敵人才合理?」 宮本從此問題中得到了踩扁敵人這個答案

loot, check for booby-trapped doors, and more.

遊戲專注在單一且強而有力的機制上有莫大的好處

So while some developers might say their game is about prejudice or ideology or the decline

當只透過一個機制來與遊戲中幾乎所有東西互動時

of the American frontier, how many games are literally about using a vacuum cleaner?

任天堂可以做一款遊戲 玩家操作簡易又平淡無奇

And when Nintendo needs to add in extra mechanics, it can attach them to those main actions.

而可以互動內容卻是斑駁陸離

For example, Splatoon is primarily about shooting ink and swimming in ink - and so, you can

當提到皮克敏系列時，宮本說：

reload your gun or climb up a high wall by shooting ink on the floor and then swimming

「基本概念非常的簡單」

in it. No extra buttons required.

「把皮克敏扔出去辦事，再叫他們回來」

God that's good.

「然後，搭配皮克敏的能力與可以使用的策略」

Of course, not every game is built around some brand new mechanic. Nintendo is, after

「展開了充滿各種玩法可能性的大門」

all, not exactly known for making entirely new games and characters - or new IPs as the

其他獨特玩法的例子 像是「射水槍」

industry calls them - and there are only so many things you can strap to the back of a Mario brother

「噴墨汁」

But Nintendo games are still driven by new ways to play and so sometimes it's about putting

「變成一幅畫」

a new twist on an already established mechanic.

「拔蘿蔔」

That might involve reinventing 2D gameplay in a 3D world, as we saw in Mario 64 and Zelda:

「使用吸塵器」

Ocarina of Time. It might be about putting those old mechanics in an interesting new

在Game Cube的路易吉洋樓中 路易吉幾乎僅透過吸塵器來互動

context, like Super Mario Galaxy which is still fundamentally about jumping - but now

他甚至不能跳

in micro gravity. Or how Pikmin 3 is still about commanding Pikmin, but now with the

比起他哥哥用跳的方式突破各種挑戰

added stress of juggling three heroes.

路易吉則用吸塵器解決謎題、吸取鬼魂 收集寶物、確認陷阱、以及更多

And sometimes, Nintendo looks to come up with an interesting new system that governs how

當一些開發者會說他們的遊戲是關於歧視

you play - like the three day timer in Majora's Mask or the interconnected map of Metroid.

是在探討意識形態

Whatever the case, there's got to be some new gameplay that can help drive things - or,

又或是描述美國邊疆的衰落

Nintendo says there's no point making the game.

有多少遊戲只在乎你怎麼用吸塵器?

When Miyamoto was told that fans wanted to see a new F-Zero game, he said "I'd like

而任天堂需要在遊戲中加入額外的機制時

to ask those people: Why F-Zero? What do you want that we haven't done before". To Miyamoto,

這些機制可以附加在核心上

the thought of just making another racing game with more attractive graphics is unfathomable.

比方說，漆彈大作戰中能做的是噴墨汁與在墨汁裡游泳

Nintendo designers are big fans of the design principle "form follows function", which basically

當你需要補充墨汁或是爬上高台時

means that how something looks is determined by how that thing works. It's something that

只要在噴出來的墨汁裡游泳就好

Miyamoto likely picked up when studying industrial design at college.

無須再按其他的鍵

And it's why boos blush when you look at them, and why enemies that charge at you in Super

超棒

Mario World look like quarterbacks, and it's why whenever Nintendo re-releases the original

當然並不是全部的遊戲都建立在全新的機制上

Mario Bros it swaps turtles for Spinies because everyone keeps trying to jump on the damn

任天堂從來不是以嶄新的遊戲與角色出名

turtles.

或是業界用法─全新的IP(智慧財產權)

But Nintendo goes further than that, and uses the new gameplay at the heart of a game, to

瑪利歐兄弟能背負的東西也只能這麼多

determine almost every aspect of the presentation.

但任天堂的遊戲還是以「新的玩法」作為主要動力

Once Splatoon's mechanics had been developed, producer Hisashi Nogami says "we then conceived

所以有些時候只是在既有機制上做點改變

the characters and the world vision to match perfectly with the gameplay".

這可能包含在3D世界中重製2D遊戲的玩法

So if you ever got to play Splatoon during the prototyping phases, you would have controlled

就如同超級瑪莉歐64

a big white block. The designers came up with the squid kids afterwards, when they needed

與薩爾達傳說：時之笛

to find a character that could swim in ink, and would clearly separate the inking and

這可能也包含用新奇的內容來重新包裝舊有的機制

swimming mechanics.

像是超級瑪莉歐銀河，雖然還是在「跳」 但增加了迷你星球重力

And entire characters can come about as extensions of the mechanics themselves - like Navi, who

或像皮克敏3還是在指揮皮克敏

is a personification of the z-targeting system in Ocarina of Time. Or this Lakitu, who carries

但這次添加了同時操作三位主角的挑戰

the new-fangled camera in Super Mario 64.

有些時候任天堂注重於影響玩法的遊戲系統

Or the Luma who hides in Mario's hat and shows the player when Mario's spin move is recharged.

例如穆修拉的假面的三天限制 與銀河戰士(Metroid)的中互相連接的地圖

In this way, gameplay needn't be abstract systems but organic parts of the game world.

無論如何，必須透過新的玩法來給予契機與動力

Splatoon's producer also revealed that because shooting ink is a bit like spraying graffiti,

不然─任天堂說─做這遊戲就沒有意義

the game got its punk rock music and 90s aesthetic. Similarly, the only reason Super Mario Sunshine

當宮本得知粉絲想要全新的F-Zero時，他說

is set on a tropical island is because the water pistol gameplay made the designers think

「我想要請教這些玩家，為什麼想要全新的F-Zero?」

about summer.

「還有什麼是你們想要而我們還沒做出來的?」

The mechanic can even drive the narrative. Sorry to burst your bubble but the story in

對於宮本而言，「為更好的畫面而再做一個競速遊戲」

the Zelda games isn't part of some grand overarching narrative but it's simply there "to bring

這個想法是沒有辦法理解的

out the best of the fun and interesting gameplay elements", according to late Nintendo president,

任天堂的遊戲設計師皆有相同熱愛的設計原則

Satoru Iwata.

形式服務功能

A Link Between Worlds has a mad artist for an antagonist because Nintendo needed some

簡單來說，物件的外觀取決於物件的功能

reason for why Link can turn into a painting. And even Ocarina of Time's beloved story came

這應該是宮本在大學期間從工業設計中領會的

from a process like this. Miyamoto wanted both young and teenage Link in the same game

這就是為什麼布布(Boo)被你盯著時會害羞地遮臉

so the writers had to come up with a time travel plot to make it happen.

為什麼超級瑪莉歐世界中衝向你的敵人長得像四分衛

This might seem like a crazy way to come up with a story, but it can help ensure that

同時也是為什麼任天堂重製元祖瑪利歐兄弟時

there's a deep connection between what you do in the game, and what happens in the story.

會把遊戲中的烏龜換成刺龜

Consider Yoshi's Island, which has a narrative about protecting baby Mario, and gameplay

因為每個人的直覺反應就是「踩扁他」

mechanics about protecting baby Mario.

任天堂並沒有就此滿足

Most developers come at the other way round. They dream up stories, characters

他們還以新的玩法作為本體，決定遊戲的美感表現

and worlds, and then work backwards to figure out what gameplay mechanics might fit. It's

當漆彈大作戰的遊戲機制確立後，製作人野上恆說

no surprise that they're rarely very successful.

「我們接下來才確定搭配玩法的角色與遊戲世界」

But, okay, I shouldn't paint Nintendo as some game design gods and every other developer

所以如果你有機會玩原型階段版本的漆彈大作戰

as just getting it completely wrong. Though, maybe...

你會發現你控制的是一塊大豆腐

No, no. Nintendo gets it wrong sometimes. And other developers get it oh so right - indie

而為了可以清楚區分噴墨型態、游泳型態的遊戲機制

developers, for example, are particularly good at building their games around unique

設計師才決定出「墨靈」這個角色

gameplay. And I loved how the new Doom completely orbits around the melee mechanic - it's at

有些角色的創作源自於遊戲機制的衍伸

the heart of the combat system, it gives you health, and it ties into movement. You even

像是將Z鎖定功能進行擬人化，成為時之笛中的Navi

use the melee button to open doors, just like how Samus opens doors by shooting them. Doom might

或是在超級瑪莉歐64中這個帶著全新攝影機的雲龜

be the most Nintendo game that Nintendo would never, ever make.

又或是Luma，平時藏在瑪利歐帽子裡面 當旋轉攻擊補充完畢就會跳出來提醒

And then you get a game like Portal, which is so beautifully built one super smart bit

這樣的話，玩法並不單單是個抽象的系統

of interactivity that it's no surprise Miyamoto has said that game was "amazing".

更可以成為遊戲世界中不可或缺的一部份

Because for Nintendo, the way you play a game is simply more important than anything else.

漆彈大作戰的製作人也揭露說 因為噴墨汁就像是噴漆塗鴉

So it's not just the jumping off point for a new project, but every other element - the

遊戲便帶入了龐克搖滾的音樂與90年代的風格美術

enemies, graphical style, locations, music, stories, and characters - are picked and produced

類似的，之所以陽光瑪利歐地點發生在熱帶小島

to frame the most fundamental aspect of a game.

僅是因為射水槍這個機制讓設計師聯想到夏天

And when every aspect of the game is suggesting the way you play it, it becomes effortless

遊戲機制甚至會影響到故事演出

to pick the game up and get stuck in. And so this is one big reason why Nintendo's games

很抱歉讓你心碎，但薩爾達傳說系列的劇情

often feel quite different to everything else on the market.

從來都不是什麼巨大的故事盛宴

They're more playful and toylike than most other games. They're more accessible and inviting - but no less

而是更加單純

complex. And, quite frankly, they're some of the most elegantly designed games ever

「為了帶出最有趣的遊戲元素與最棒的遊戲體驗」

made. And so, even after missteps and miscalculations, we're there. Ready and waiting for whatever

已逝世的任天堂社長岩田聰這麼說

this iconic Japanese developer comes up with next.

眾神的三角神力2中之所以有一個瘋癲的畫家擔任惡役

Hey there, thanks so much for watching. This episode was a pretty big undertaking but I

是因為任天堂需要可以讓林克變成一幅畫的理由

hope it sheds some new light on what makes Nintendo such a fascinating game developer.

甚至受到眾人愛戴的時之笛，故事來由也不過如此

I wanted to say a huge thank you for helping me reach 100,000 YouTube subscribers, and extend another

宮本茂想要在同款遊戲中玩小孩與少年版的林克

thank you to everyone who has taken the time to translate the subtitles on these videos

所以劇本家只好掰出一個時空穿梭的梗

into other languages.

雖然這種故事創作方式聽起來很扯

Game Maker's Toolkit is proudly funded by its fans, over on Patreon. Who don't just

但可以確保玩家的作為與遊戲故事有深刻的連接

get a fuzzy feeling in their tummy for helping support independent games criticism but also

用耀西島來考慮，故事是在保護瑪利歐寶寶

tonnes of goodies like bonus videos, video recommendations, game reviews, and more. And

而遊戲機制也是在保護瑪利歐寶寶

those donating 5 bucks get to see their name at the end of the video like... this!

大多數的開發者從別的角度出發