Miyamoto on Cats

About time for a followup, wouldn't you say?

You might have heard recently that Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has taken an interest in cats. The Mario creator apparently revealed this during a Q&A session at Nintendo's earnings briefing last week.

Nintendo posted a full transcript of the Q&A session yesterday. Here's how Miyamoto brought up the cat talk in the first place.

An investor asked Miyamoto to list the genre, platform, and other details about the game that's most getting his development attention right now. The investor, noting that Miyamoto came up with Pikmin while gardening, also asked for the influence behind the new title.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata first jumped in and said "Miyamoto could reveal Nintendo's future software developments, so we ask him not to speak about his interests."

Miyamoto took over and said, "I am unable to speak in any way about future developments."

He went on to discuss two sides of DS gaming that is getting his focus: a DS game that's played in the home, and a DS game that's played in a public space. There are actually a lot of people who use the DS in the home, he explained. On the other side, thanks to Dragon Quest IX's "sure chigai" information exchange functionality (keep the game in sleep state, and it will exchange data with players whom you pass on the street), the number of people who carry their DS around has greatly increased. Miyamoto is interested in exploring the possibilities for doing more unique things in this area.

Closing off, Miyamoto said, "Also, I've recently been caring for cats. That is all."

Iwata added, "He just gave a big hint."

It's unclear if Miyamoto's cat comment and Iwata's response were jokes or not. Miyamoto made his mention as just an aside, and it sounds like he might have just been joking. It's hard to tell from just the textual transcript without seeing and hearing the comment in person.

On the other hand, it is about time for a Nintencats, wouldn't you say?