In Dec. 2011, a report surface claiming that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto said he was retiring. Nintendo quickly commented, saying the report was a “misunderstanding” and “absolutely not true.” See, Shigeru Miyamoto is apparently always saying he’s going to retire.
https://lastchance.cc/nintendo-denies-that-marios-creator-is-retiring-5866218%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
According to Miyamoto, he is giving his staff more freedom to develop as game developers and is trying not to give too much direction as that could hold back their independence and growth.
“I end up using less of my energy and, as a result, I am starting to have time that I can spend for myself,” explained Miyamoto at the same meeting. “Now, I am spending more time than before on finding new ideas for new developments rather than focusing my energy on work in my (development) teams in order to solidify the contents of (existing) franchise titles.”
With Miyamoto overseeing one division and Iwata overseeing another, the work environment at Nintendo sounds like it is undergoing a new (and positive) change with work assigned to new people to see what ideas they come up with and how they handle their tasks. According to Iwata, the initial results are better than expected. Let’s hope this approach not only means new games, but that Miyamoto can stop threatening retirement.
Corporate Management Policy Briefing/Third Quarter Financial Results Briefing [Nintendo]
(Top photo: Victoria Will/AP Images for Nintendo of America)
