Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto is one of the most famous and groundbreaking creative types across all of entertainment, but the man himself doesn’t agree that he’s a genius. As part of Nintendo’s latest earnings briefing, Miyamoto pushed back against the suggestion that he’s been able for decades to turn out hit after hit because he’s a “genius.”
“You referred to me as a ‘genius,’ but I consider myself quite ordinary,” he said.
Miyamoto went on to say he gives a speech each year to Nintendo’s new hires, and the feedback he gets from these people is that he is “surprisingly ordinary.”
Making great games allows Miyamoto to have an easier career, he said. “I often think it would be fun if I didn’t have to work, so I’m always thinking about things like, well, if I have to work, how can I do it more efficiently. And if I am going to do the same work, how can I make it more of a hit, because when a project is a hit it makes future work easier,” he said.
Miyamoto went on to reveal more of what he tells new hires coming to Nintendo. He said many people come to work at Nintendo and aspire to make “upgraded versions” of games they’ve played before. But Miyamoto pushes back against this idea and encourages them to think differently.
“[Game design] is about observing the world around us and figuring out how to assemble those elements into an engaging video game,” he said. I explain that game design is about planning. That is, it is about assessing what hardware and development environment to use to create the game, whether the desired game can be realized with its available processing power, and engaging in trial and error to bring it to life.
Miyamoto has had a long and illustrious career at Nintendo. The 71-year-old started at Nintendo all the way back in 1977 and helped create Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda. He’s remained a key player at Nintendo to this day in his “Creative Fellow” position, contributing to all manner of Nintendo game franchises. In addition to his work on Nintendo’s game franchises, he was an executive producer on 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie and will produce the upcoming live-action Legend of Zelda film. He’s also involved in the Nintendo theme parks.
Miyamoto has no plans to retire, but has admitted he has spent time thinking about who may fill his shoes one day.
As for Nintendo’s hardware business, the Switch is now in its eighth year on the market. It’s sold more than 146 million units worldwide, and all eyes are on Nintendo to reveal the Switch 2 by April 2025.