Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, Creator of Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and More, Denies Being a Genius

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of beloved video game franchises such as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, and more, has denied being a genius.

Miyamoto was given such a title by a Nintendo investor who asked how the company would carry forward the 71-year-old’s creativity and practices when he eventually retires, in a question and answer session translated by Automaton.

The “genius” title was dismissed by Miyamoto, who said new Nintendo employees excited to meet him have often called him “surprisingly normal,” and he agreed.

“I think I am a pretty ordinary person,” Miyamoto said. “If possible, I’d prefer not to work at all, but if I’m going to work, I want to do so as efficiently as possible. I’m always thinking about how to make what I’m working on a hit, because If I make a hit, this makes my next job easier. I talk about these creative dilemmas at the [new employee] seminar every year.”

Miyamoto expanded a little by explaining what this seminar entails, as it reflects his own philosophy for game development.

“Among the game developers who have just joined Nintendo, many of them often play games themselves, and their thinking is that they want to create a fancier version of the last game that they played.” he said.

“However, I explain to them that game design is not about this. It is about looking at the things around you and putting together the aspects that you think would be interesting in a video game.”

It’s these ideas that led Miyamoto to develop some of the most beloved video games of all time such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 64, and many more.

Nintendo is of course on the cusp of announcing its Switch successor, which Miyamoto will have been heavily involved in creating. Little is known about the console, but this week Nintendo confirmed it is backwards compatible with Switch games, and Nintendo Switch Online carries forward. Expect a reveal before April 2025.

Image credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

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