Immortality: TIME awards Miyamoto with “Asian Hero” title

In the whole history of gaming, we’ve come across a whole plethora of characters and video game icons. From loyal sidekicks to evil lords, item shop vendors to sky pirates, talking flowers to gun-wielding femme fatales; the range of all these characters great and small have an impact on our game, and essentially, even our lives.

Starting from his first work on Donkey Kong and down the road through Super Marios Bros. and The Legend of Zelda among others, Shigeru Miyamoto was just named as one of Asia’s heroes in the recent “TIME” magazine 60 Years of Asian Heroes issue. He hasn’t just created a whole cast of lovable and memorable characters, but in fact, infected the whole world with his gaming philosophy.

Miyamoto’s body of work is remarkable because he has always remained focused on what actually matters in a game: the player’s experience. Other designers may obsess about testing the limits of the hardware; Miyamoto specializes in testing the limits of imagination. His insistence upon simplicity and his appeal to our inner child recognize that play is an important part of being human.

While the industry is continuously expanding, Miyamoto tries to break barriers by changing the rules. Also called the Walt Disney of the video gaming arena, he’s pushed the envelope of creativity being the Director and General Manager of Nintendo EAD. From the touchpad of the NDS and the Wiimote of the Wii, he’s revolutionized our concept of gaming and took risks with unconventional interaction.

Now, he might be Asia’s hero. But is he also yours as well? As much as the Zelda and Mario games are all revered by most Nintendo (and non-Nintendo) fans, Miyamoto could be considered everyone’s hero, whether you’re an Italian plumber in suspenders or a perpetually kidnapped princess.

In the whole history of gaming, we’ve come across a whole plethora of characters and video game icons. From loyal sidekicks to evil lords, item shop vendors to sky pirates, talking flowers to gun-wielding femme fatales; the range of all these characters great and small have an impact on our game, and essentially, even our lives.

Starting from his first work on Donkey Kong and down the road through Super Marios Bros. and The Legend of Zelda among others, Shigeru Miyamoto was just named as one of Asia’s heroes in the recent “TIME” magazine 60 Years of Asian Heroes issue. He hasn’t just created a whole cast of lovable and memorable characters, but in fact, infected the whole world with his gaming philosophy.

Miyamoto’s body of work is remarkable because he has always remained focused on what actually matters in a game: the player’s experience. Other designers may obsess about testing the limits of the hardware; Miyamoto specializes in testing the limits of imagination. His insistence upon simplicity and his appeal to our inner child recognize that play is an important part of being human.

While the industry is continuously expanding, Miyamoto tries to break barriers by changing the rules. Also called the Walt Disney of the video gaming arena, he’s pushed the envelope of creativity being the Director and General Manager of Nintendo EAD. From the touchpad of the NDS and the Wiimote of the Wii, he’s revolutionized our concept of gaming and took risks with unconventional interaction.

Now, he might be Asia’s hero. But is he also yours as well? As much as the Zelda and Mario games are all revered by most Nintendo (and non-Nintendo) fans, Miyamoto could be considered everyone’s hero, whether you’re an Italian plumber in suspenders or a perpetually kidnapped princess.