Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto doesn’t think the company will change after his inevitable departure.
The veteran Nintendo creator was recently interviewed by NPR (opens in a new tab), who asked Miyamoto how the company might change when he leaves one day. “You know, I really feel like it’s not going to change,” Miyamoto replied. “It will probably be the same.”
Miyamoto points to other people in leadership positions at Nintendo “who create Mario” and “everyone has this sense of what it means to be Nintendo”. The veteran doesn’t think there will be ‘a lot of different opinions coming and going’ and clashing once he’s gone; instead, everything will be a clear vision.
“We have this incredible, almost kind of scary shared vision about it,” Miyamoto explained, adding that it “just isn’t going to change.” Miyamoto, at least, seems incredibly confident about Nintendo’s future as a creative force when he finally leaves the company.
It’s not unreasonable to expect Miyamoto, now 70, to leave Nintendo for the foreseeable future. The designer has been with the company since 1977, helping to create internationally recognized hits like The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Donkey Kong. However, in recent years, Miyamoto has slipped away from the spotlight a bit.
While the creator appeared regularly at Nintendo Direct presentations, he ceded those duties to others, only showing up to provide updates on projects he’s personally close to, like Pikmin 4 or the Super Mario movie. Bros.
Although he has faded from the spotlight, Miyamoto remains synonymous with Nintendo and its games, both for older generations and more modern gamers. When Miyamoto finally retires from Nintendo, there’s no doubt the industry will lose one of its leading figures.
go to our next switch games guide to taking a look at everything that’s on Nintendo’s radar in the immediate future.