Update: Reuters has obtained a denial from Nintendo Co Ltd; specifically, a spokesperson stated, "This is absolutely not true [...] 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." Reuters' write-up has also noted that shares in Nintendo had fallen by two percent.
Shigeru Miyamoto intends to resign from his current role within Nintendo but will remain an employee of the company.
"Inside our office, I've been recently declaring, 'I'm going to retire, I'm going to retire,'" Miyamoto told Wired. "I'm not saying that I'm going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position."
Miyamoto is currently the general manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development branch. He's best known as the creator of the Donkey Kong, Mario, and Zelda series, and has been employed by Nintendo for more than 30 years. His list of credits is extensive; he's played a major role in the development of everything from Pikmin to Nintendogs to Wii Music. He even has an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to the games he's helped develop.
According to the interview, Miyamoto is now interested in working on smaller games, possibly including some he alone would develop. "What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself," he said.
He'd also like to work with "even younger developers;" he has spent recent years mentoring some of the staff at Nintendo and handing off the reigns of the franchises he created (such as Zelda with Eiji Aonuma).
"In other words, I'm not intending to start from things that require a five-year development time," he said, referring to the lengthy development cycles of games like the recently-released Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
"The reason why I'm stressing that is that unless I say that I'm retiring, I cannot nurture the young developers," he said. "After all, if I'm there in my position as it is, then there's always kind of a relationship. And the young guys are always kind of in a situation where they have to listen to my ideas. But I need some people who are growing up much more than today."
Miyamoto has been an iconic figure within Nintendo, and the industry as a whole, for years. He has made Time's top 100 most influential people list several times, including being voted number one in 2008 (though it's important to note that year was voted on by the public). Also of note is the Lifetime Achievement Award he received at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2007.
Leaving his current role could give him the time to focus on things like besting the inventor of the Rubik's cube.
"For quite some time, I have viewed Professor Rubik, who created the Rubik's Cube, as a sort of rival," Miyamoto said last year. "I've always thought it would be cool to create something like a Rubik's Cube. I've told lots of people about that.
"For 20 years, I've always thought that Rubik's Cubes are great and I want to make something like them, but I still haven't tried to," Miyamoto added. "So I must be taking it easy. Regardless of whether I can or cannot do it, I could at least give it a shot, but I never have."
An exact timeline for leaving his current role wasn't mentioned, only that he's hoping to begin working on a game in 2012 he'll be able to show before the end of the year.
0 comments :
Post a Comment