Shigeru Miyamoto

Early Life

Family Life

Nintendo (1977-Present)

Dog Fashion Show

Nintendogs

More on Miyamoto

• He understands spoken English well, but can only speak a few words. 

• Donkey Kong, Mario and Zelda games have collectively sold over 350 millon copies.  The Mario series has sold over 200 million copies alone, making it the single most successful franchise in gaming.
• When making a character, he designs the game play systems and mechanics first, and builds the character around the experience.
• Mr. Miyamoto grew up listening to Western Music like the Beatles and Lovin' Spoonful.  He is a fan of bluegrass and plays the piano and banjo.
• He doesn't own a cell phone, nor has any intention to.
• He is ambidextrous and prefers using his left hand. He has designed Mario and Link with his left-hand.
• Does not play a lot of games in his free time.  When he does play games, they are quick hand-held games that he plays with his family. 
• When he started making games he didn't like computers and other electronics at all because they used electricity, which he didn't trust.
• Instead of receiving a larger salary, he insists on having a normal payroll, in order to prove an equal to his fellow designers.
• He rides a bicycle to work every day.
• He is a former smoker.
• He swims regularly, and his fascination with exercise spawned Wii Fit (2008) and its balance board counter part, itself inspired by the dual-scale method Sumo-wrestlers use to measure their weight.
• He generally focuses on evoking broad emotions from players.
• Some consider him the "Walt Disney" or "Steven Speilberg" of video games.
• Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer of Gears of War and Unreal Tournament III, has cited Miyamoto as his primary influence.
• Both Hideo Kojima and Will Wright consider Miyamoto to be the greatest video game designer of all time.
• Miyamoto believes in delays in order to polish his craftmanship.  He attributed the quote," A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."
• He was a key personelle in designing of Wii.
• Shigeru claims to have designed many of his games for the intention of impressing and interesting his wife.  During his GDC 2007 keynote, he revealed this to be measured by his personal "Wife-o-Meter."  Should her interest blossom into designing a game of her very own, Shigeru says he can finally retire.
• He says that the game, Portal, is "an excellent game", which is a much higher compliment than he has given to even most of his own best selling and popular game creations.
• Miyamoto made a guest appearance on a Mega64 skit titled " Mega64: New Super Mario Bros. Video" in which he played himself.

Movies and Television Shows

Super Mario Bros.

The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters

Movie Poster

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3: The Complete Series

Super Mario Bros

Captain N The Game Master: The Complete Series

Legend of Zelda: Ganon's Evil Tower

Super Mario Bros. 3: The Ugly Mermaid

Super Mario Brothers: King Koopa Katastrophe

Video Game Industry Accolades

• First person inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 1998.
  
• A star on the Walk of Game in San Francisco's Metreon Center
• Finished first in the Time Magazine reader choice 100 most influential people of the year (2008)

Quotes:

• “I think I can make an entirely new game experience, and if I can't do it, some other game designer will.”
• “What comes next? Super Mario 128? Actually, that's what I want to do.”
• “Well, for over a year now at my desk, a prototype program of Luigi and Mario has been running on my monitor. We've been thinking about the game, and it may be something that could work on a completely new game system.”
• “We don't pay a whole lot of attention to the Internet until people have played the game - then we pay a lot of attention to whether people liked it. We read through it and see it, but we don't take it into consideration. ... [The Internet] is not going to dictate the direction of where the game goes.”
• “If it turns out that Mario doesn't really fit into the type of game I want, I wouldn't mind using Zelda as the basis of the new game.”
• “Throughout the Zelda series I've always tried to make players feel like they are in a kind of miniature garden. So, this time also, my challenge was how to make people feel comfortable and sometimes very scared at the same time. That is the big challenge.”
• “I think Zelda 64 is utilizing about 90 percent of the N64 potential, ... When we made Mario 64 we were simply utilizing 60 to 70 percent. So we have come a long way I believe.”
• “We had been making arcade games up until that point, ... Our objective with the Nintendo entertainment system was to create the ultimate family entertainment system for the home.”
• “I am not Link, but I do know him! Even after 18 years, the Legend of Zelda never stops changing and this game is no different. We are now taking you to a world where Link has grown up--a world where he will act different and look different. In order to grow, Link must not stand still and neither will I.”
• “There are big lines between those who play video games and those who do not. For those who don't, video games are irrelevant. They think all video games must be too difficult. We want to remove that barrier. It's very simple. There are dozens of different questions. It's a very unusual experience.”

"Nintendo is the company which makes the most innovative products. I am not sure that I would be able to make games like that elsewhere. At Nintendo I can make the games which I want."

"Video Games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock 'N' Roll."

“I would say that over the last five years or so, the types of games I create has changed somewhat,” he said. “Whereas before I could kind of use my own imagination to create these worlds or create these games, I would say that over the last five years I’ve had more of a tendency to take interests or topics in my life and try to draw the entertainment out of that.”

“I see the Miis as the most recent character creation from Nintendo.  What’s interesting is that regardless of the user’s age, if they’re looking at a Mii, it’s their Mii. Before, when you’re playing as another character, it’s more typical of more passive entertainment, and by creating a Mii you’re becoming more a part of the entertainment experience.”

"A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever."