Shigeru Miyamoto is a video gaming industry legend. Nintendo's iconic video game designer is responsible for creating the Mario and The Legend of Zelda franchises. It's safe to say that Nintendo would be nowhere near as successful as it is today without the involvement of Miyamoto. Fans have known of Miyamoto due to his many funny antics during game announcement events but very few know about his history with Nintendo.
Inspired by the competition
In a recent interview, Shigeru Miyamoto shared his world view and his inspirations as a game creator. He stated his desire to “create a kinder world,” and how his kids playing SEGA games growing up inspired him to improve immensely. I guess that's one way the longtime Nintendo-rival SEGA helped Nintendo. It may have not been intentional but SEGA inadvertently sparked the legend behind the company that has since completely overshadowed it.
It's been a long road since Miyamoto joined Nintendo in 1977 at the tender age of 24. He finally released the first entry of the Donkey Kong franchise in 1981. Now, Nintendo stands dominant on the home console market with the Nintendo Switch leading the charge. Nintendo has faced many challenges in the past but they continue to look forward along with Shigeru Miyamoto and many amazing people.
The way of Miyamoto
Miyamoto shared his interesting take on handling video gaming in his household. He urged parents to help their children develop and maintain a healthy video gaming habit. He acknowledged the role of video games in the current global pandemic. It's true that we have more time to play but we also need to be more careful.
“It’s important for parents to play the games, to understand why the child can’t quit until reaching the next save point, for example. It’s important to note that, in our household, all the video-game hardware belonged to me, and the children understood that they were borrowing these things. If they couldn’t follow the rules, then there was an understanding that I could just take the machine away from them. [Laughs.] When it was good weather outside, I would always encourage them to play outside. They played a lot of SEGA games, too, by the way.”
Being a parent has certainly helped the legendary video game designer see his own games in a different way. He's not only creating addictive video games to earn insurmountable profits, but he's also trying to help cultivate a healthy video gaming industry. Miyamoto even went so far as to allow his children to play games from a rival video game developer. That's a completely humble move especially in a time when the Nintendo-SEGA rivalry was at its peak. Miyamoto shared more with regards to his kids playing SEGA games that he was “not jealous so much as inspired to try harder so that they preferred the ones I made.”
Imagine having a parent that instinctively knows that you need to reach a save point before putting down the controller. Parents everywhere can certainly benefit from adopting Shigeru Miyamoto's video game parenting philosophy.
Game design and world design
Apparently, every single game developed by Miyamoto follows the seemingly simple idea of engaging trial and error. Players tackle in-game problems after thinking of solutions through repeated play. It's a simple idea but its impact cannot be understated. Shigeru Miyamoto sees this approach to crafting and playing games as “the true canvas on which we design – not the screen.” The Japanese game creator expressed his one wish for the world and how he hopes his games could help towards building his ideal world.
“I wish we were all a little more compassionate in these small ways. If there was a way to design the world that discouraged selfishness, that would be a change I would make.”
His kind world view is also apparent in how he views video games in general. Miyamoto was resistant to the idea that every monster in any game needs to be eradicated. He says that it's important for video game creators to see the significance of every character or creature that inhabits the world they have painstakingly crafted.
Final stage
It's been well over 30 years since Miyamoto joined Nintendo and started crafting the most iconic games in history. He has since gone on to lead large development teams of his own. Miyamoto describes his leadership style as decisive and output-driven. Rifts might form in the team when he pushes his team to go through challenges in the development process but that it's also a measure of a good leader.
Miyamoto remains true to his vision for games and a kinder world. He fosters creativity in his team and an open attitude that makes it easier for others to approach him. The legendary creator has his eyes set on the future of Nintendo as one of its indisputable pillars. He is still focusing on discovering new things and bringing smiles to millions of players around the world.
Shigeru Miyamoto is a true shining beacon and a paragon for game developers in an industry filled with shady developers and practices. Hopefully, many developers learn to take a page out of Miyamoto's book. They can't deny the success the legendary developer has achieved despite not resorting to greedy practices.
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