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Shigeru Miyamoto Is Doing Something, We Just Don’t Know What Yet


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?The biggest news to hit the videogame industry in ages broke last night when Wired magazine previewed a new interview in which Shigeru Miyamoto — the man who, amongst many other jaw-dropping achievements, gave us the Super Mario franchise — announced his plans to retire from his current executive position within Nintendo to work on smaller projects within the corporation. Given that he is that company’s equivalent of Steve Jobs, any move he makes is obviously a huge deal and as a result will be heavily scrutinized. It’s a fascinating story to be sure, but what exactly is going on here? After Nintendo stock shares fell this morning, the following statement was issued to Reuters:

“This is absolutely not true,” said a
spokeswoman for Nintendo. “There seems to have been a misunderstanding.
He has said all along that he wants to train the younger generation.

“He has no intention of stepping down. Please do not be concerned.”

It remains to be seen if this statement is just PR damage control on Nintendo’s part or if the company’s resident rock star is indeed shifting his focus. As a gaming fan, it will be fascinating to see exactly how this plays out in the months ahead. What are these “smaller projects” that he wants to work on? How will his actions impact the company as a whole? Does anyone else have a headache thinking about all of this and just want to play some Super Mario Galaxy? Time will tell my friends, time will tell.