Shigeru Miyamoto1

Every Nintendo fan knows about Shigeru Miyamoto and his vital role for the company. The gaming legend is or has been responsible for timeless franchises such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong. He has been at the forefront of Nintendo's creative endeavours for years, and a recent interview with TIME shed some new light on the creator. The interview was composed to reveal seven facts about Miyamoto-san, touching upon everything from upcoming titles like Splatoon to his reputation within the industry.

He started off by revealing that Mario had, at one point, superseded the inklings as the star of Splatoon. This was because the team had difficulty-creating characters that had a level of uniqueness to them.

Miyamoto-san clearly has a reputation throughout Nintendo - and the industry as a whole - as a revolutionary. He is aware of this and strives to make sure it does not intimidate or influence his design teams, saying, “What I am trying to do is not to create an atmosphere where they feel like, 'I will do better than Miyamoto does' or 'I will make a game just to please Miyamoto.'"

While gaming takes up a significant portion of his life he does not see it as the most powerful creative medium. To him novels win out over games because, due to their passive nature, they can control what happens next, despite what the audience thinks should occur.

Another revelation came in the form of his thoughts on profits. “I have explained—in regard to entertainment in general—that if development of products that thrive on creative uniqueness is dictated by those who prioritize sales and profits, the possibilities for the future of entertainment will be limited". While this goes against the very nature of most large business organizations, he stresses that Nintendo continues to focus all of its resources towards innovation.

The interview concluded with the gaming legend's views on hardware. He clarified that Nintendo shall remain in the console business and shall strive to create new ways to play, with each new platform revealing new methods. With regards to past Nintendo consoles his favourites to work on were the Nintendo DS and Wii because of the challenges presented with the new styles of play.

Miyamoto shows no sign of slowing down and continues to bring us incredibly creative new ideas each year. Which of these facts was the most surprising to you? If you could ask Miyamoto one question, what would it be?

[source time.com]