Shigeru Miyamoto

Born in November 16^th, 1952, Shigeru Miyamoto was raised in the town of Sonebe, in the countryside outside Kyoto, Japan. As a child, Miyamoto mostly played outside among the numerous hills, canyons, and rivers. His hobbies included reading, drawing, and painting, as well as storytelling with puppet shows and creating toy designs. Miyamoto desired to work in the design field after college, and applied to Kanazawa College of Art at the age of 18. After graduating in 1977, Miyamoto asked his father to call on an old friend, Hiroshi Yamauchi, to grant him an interview for employment. Yamauchi was the current president at Nintendo, and after scanning his portfolio; he hired Miyamoto as an apprentice in the planning department where he would analyze new ideas for production. Thus began the initial step in Miyamoto’s considerable career.

Work

When Miyamoto was a child, he loved to explore the countryside of his hometown. One day he found a large opening, which turned out be a cave. Afraid at first, Miyamoto would return to this same cave numerous times until he found the courage to explore inside. Armed with a lantern, Miyamoto ventured into the cave, and to his delight found another opening that led to a smaller cave inside. And so goes one of the most repeated stories of Miyamoto’s life. Other stories include Miyamoto finding a lake while hiking or being lost in the sliding doorways of his home as a child. Miyamoto describes himself as an adventurer, wandering the streets without a guide, waiting for the unexpected to happen. His vision is that of a curious, childlike wonder, in which every corner of every crevice can hide a black hole, a mystery, an unopened treasure. If one looks for adventure, such as a child would do when exploring the woods, or playing with his toys, the penchant for stories become an inevitable feature of one’s imagination. Miyamoto’s trademark is to find inspiration in his memories and experiences, such as the Chain Chomp in Mario being related to a bad experience he had with a neighbor’s dog, or The Legend of Zelda, in which one plays Link, a hero who must explore a wide level of areas in order to reach his goal. Even as a child, Miyamoto said he always had a desire to amaze the world, to always strive to accomplish what others cannot. His vision for games is to be constantly fresh and creative, feeding on the imagination of the player, and bringing a surprise like an unexpected ending. Miyamoto describes himself as his character Lakitu from Super Mario, because he is “very free, floating in the air, going anywhere.” Miyamoto never hesitates to explore the unknown, and the whimsical worlds he create, encourages us, as the players, to continuously challenge ourselves in our vision to seek to make the impossible, very possible.

Project

Kid Icarus​

Developer: Nintendo R&D1

Publisher: Nintendo (1986)

Miyamoto acted as producer alongside Gunpei Yokoi in this platform game in which the player is Pit, an angel warrior trying to recover the Three Sacred Treasures in order to save the Light Goddess Palutena from the Dark Goddess Medusa, currently residing in the Underworld. Kid Icarus uses the same engine as another popular game, Metroid.