Miyamoto is Stepping Down

The Wooster

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Jul 15, 2008
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Miyamoto is Stepping Down


Legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto is stepping down from his current management position at Nintendo, but staying within the company to work on smaller, more personal projects.

"Inside our office, I've been recently declaring, 'I'm going to retire, I'm going to retire,'" he told Wired.com. "I'm not saying that I'm going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position."

"What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself," he continued. "Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small."

Miyamoto's legendary status is well earned; there's a scant few videogame genres he hasn't influenced in some way during his thirty-plus years at Nintendo, but he understands his reputation can be intimidating.

"The reason why I'm stressing that is that unless I say that I'm retiring, I cannot nurture the young developers," he said. "After all, if I'm there in my position as it is, then there's always kind of a relationship. And the young guys are always kind of in a situation where they have to listen to my ideas. But I need some people who are growing up much more than today."

Miyamoto said he felt comfortable stepping away from the franchises that are practically synonymous with his name, Mario and Zelda, because of the great work his staff had done on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D Land.

"I was able to nurture the developers inside Nintendo who were able to create something like this or something like that," he said, gesturing to banners that showed the respective games.

Miyamoto is hoping to start work on his new project in 2012, and have something to show the public before the end of the year.

"I'm not intending to start from things that require a five-year development time," he said.

Source: Wired [http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/miyamoto-interview/]

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Mr. Omega

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Jul 1, 2010
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To repost from a similar thread:

He's provided great wonder for us all. But it's not like he's retiring, he's just not going to work on the biggest projects. This could lead to something interesting. Honestly? Working with the younger minds could be beneficial for both them and for him. Here's looking forward to the new project!
 

Seriin

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Jun 4, 2009
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A personal Miyamoto project? Maybe he'll finally bring back Pikmin, another of his personal interest projects.
 

PlasticLion

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Nov 21, 2009
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He's done enough for me already. I think most 80's kids owe a lot to him. Goombas and Moblins, King Koopa and Gannon, so many ideas that made video games what they are today. That said I can't wait to see exactly what a small project is.
 

chaosyoshimage

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Apr 1, 2011
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I almost had a heart attack and thought that Miyamoto was leaving the industry. Yeah, this is actually great, this means he can work on stuff that might evoke that same classic feel of his original games, as opposed to refining his previous formulas.
 

AstylahAthrys

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Apr 7, 2010
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すべて宮本さんをありがとう!(Is that right? My Japanese is super rusty.)

I hope he enjoys a less hectic life working on the projects he wants to. He's done a lot for the industry.
 

coolkirb

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Jan 28, 2011
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He has made a good team and I think he has left the classics in good hands as the recent mario, zelda and kirby have shown. I am sure he will come up with some great interesting new IP's now that he is taking a step back and I look forward to them.
 

Ghengis John

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Dec 16, 2007
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In a surprise to all his new game will redefine the concept of acceptable levels of video game violence, earning Nintendo's first AO rating. While it's 8-bit punk soundtrack will be treasured by the movement it creates for years, even after "Miyamoto Rock" has blossomed into a sub genre of it's own.

Fellow Japanese developer Suda 51 will state the game "scarred me for life." while Tomonobu Itagaki declares it "too sexualized and way too over the top". Meanwhile in the west, Mojang's Notch will be heard to claim: "The game gave you so much freedom, I took one look at minecraft and wept at how far I'd missed the mark."
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

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Sep 28, 2009
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So... looks like he's deciding to make another game other than Mario and various iterations of Zelda?

This I look forward to...
 

duchaked

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Dec 25, 2008
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as much as I loved the Mario and Zelda games, the franchises ended at the Wii for me
Miyamoto has done some great stuff though. maybe this will be his chance to bring out something new? if anyone could do it... :]
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

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Aug 5, 2009
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Well, as long as he's still working with games I'm happy. I just hope the talent that takes his position can do a good job too.
 

isometry

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Mar 17, 2010
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"After all, if I'm there in my position as it is, then there's always kind of a relationship. And the young guys are always kind of in a situation where they have to listen to my ideas. But I need some people who are growing up much more than today."

Growing up much more than today? It seems like he kind of wishes for designers that he can pass the torch to but hasn't found such people yet, i.e. the ones he has worked with aren't "growing up" enough.

The NES, games like Mario and Zelda, were so far ahead of what had come before, creatively and in terms of technical quality. Miyamoto was central to the whole thing, but it took more than that, the Nintendo executives were also emphasizing high-quality production, and it really showed, they weren't just trying to make a quick buck.

How great it would be for the industry to have that again, a major executive who believes that emphasizing quality will lead to the highest sales, and a creative revolutionary that makes it happen.
 

Trishbot

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May 10, 2011
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This man is the greatest game creator to ever live! We love you Shiggy! You gave me so many adventures and so many joys as both a child and adult!
 

darkbshadow

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Nov 9, 2006
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It finally happened he got tired of making only Mario and Zelda Games. Good for him that he is planning on working on something new... Who knows we might just get a new Iconic character