Mario and Zelda legend Shigeru Miyamoto says Nintendo’s “generational handover” is “progressing smoothly,” with “developers that are young and brilliant”
Miyamoto says Nintendo’s old guard is gradually handing over the torch
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Shigeru Miyamoto, a man who probably doesn’t need an introduction but who I will nonetheless remind you created The Legend of Zelda and Mario series, has responded to concerns about his age.
During Nintendo’s 2024 shareholders meeting (viaAutomaton), Miyamoto was once again reportedly asked to comment on his own age and whether he plans to remain at the helm. At 71, Miyamoto has been with the company since 1977 andsaid as recently as December that he isn’t retiring any time soon, but it’s natural for the question to come up more and more frequently as he ages.
Miyamoto had a different answer this time. Although he said nothing about retirement, he did acknowledge that there’s a “generational handover” happening and suggested there’s already plenty of talented new blood at the Big N.
“I consider (Nintendo’s) generational handover to be progressing smoothly,” he said. “We have developers that are young and brilliant.”
It’s hard to imagine a single game developer with as much sustained influence as Miyamoto, having created several of the industry’s most enduring mascots and having been involved in the design of every piece of Nintendo hardware from the NES to the Switch. To say Nintendo’s new developers have big shoes to fill is an enormous understatement, but it’s encouraging to know they’re doing so under Miyamoto’s stewardship.
Automaton reports that Miyamoto said during the same meeting that “most of the practical development” on new Nintendo games is relegated to younger developers, but “he is not detached from the process either.” He added that he’s still “fully involved” in the development ofPikmin Bloom, the mobile adaptation fromPokemon Godeveloper Niantic.
It’s never a bad time to play something from our list of thebest NES games.
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After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar’s west coast Staff Writer, I’m responsible for managing the site’s western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I’m too afraid to finish.
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