Who is Shigeru Miyamoto?

A belated “Happy Birthday” to Shigeru Miyamoto! The bad news is we’re a day late (insert snide remark here about how QJ is “always” late), the good news is that the rest of the world greeted Miyamoto yesterday and promptly moved on, QJ is still celebrating his birthday – in our own way and never mind if we get flamed for being late!

That’s the kind of optimism, lateral thinking, guts, and panache that has made this man great.

Miyamoto is the creator of Donkey Kong, where one of the characters named “Jump Man” eventually became Mario and Nintendo’s mascot. Miyamoto also designed Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda (notice that Link is left-handed – Miyamoto is ambidextrous), Star Fox, and Pikmin. In other words, he’s one of Nintendo’s most important game creators, and when he speaks, people must listen.

He is also Director and General Manger of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (Nintendo EAD). That’s the corporate branch of Nintendo of Japan – you’ll find that many games credit “Nintendo EAD” as the developer while “Nintendo” will be credited as the publisher. You know Nintendo’s habit of delaying or even canceling games? Miyamoto is partly to blame – and he’s the one to praise – because “a delayed game is eventually good; a bad game is bad forever” (kinda reminds you of Perrin Kaplan’s explanation for why Metroid Prime was delayed: “it’s cooking to perfection”).

Shigeru Miyamoto turned 54 yesterday (so doing the math, he was born November 16, 1952). His honors include being the first inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame and having a star in the Walk of Game at the Metreon in San Fransisco.

For a (somewhat) full list of his creative accomplishments, you can always check out his IMDb entry.

A belated “Happy Birthday” to Shigeru Miyamoto! The bad news is we’re a day late (insert snide remark here about how QJ is “always” late), the good news is that the rest of the world greeted Miyamoto yesterday and promptly moved on, QJ is still celebrating his birthday – in our own way and never mind if we get flamed for being late!

That’s the kind of optimism, lateral thinking, guts, and panache that has made this man great.

Miyamoto is the creator of Donkey Kong, where one of the characters named “Jump Man” eventually became Mario and Nintendo’s mascot. Miyamoto also designed Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda (notice that Link is left-handed – Miyamoto is ambidextrous), Star Fox, and Pikmin. In other words, he’s one of Nintendo’s most important game creators, and when he speaks, people must listen.

He is also Director and General Manger of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (Nintendo EAD). That’s the corporate branch of Nintendo of Japan – you’ll find that many games credit “Nintendo EAD” as the developer while “Nintendo” will be credited as the publisher. You know Nintendo’s habit of delaying or even canceling games? Miyamoto is partly to blame – and he’s the one to praise – because “a delayed game is eventually good; a bad game is bad forever” (kinda reminds you of Perrin Kaplan’s explanation for why Metroid Prime was delayed: “it’s cooking to perfection”).

Shigeru Miyamoto turned 54 yesterday (so doing the math, he was born November 16, 1952). His honors include being the first inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame and having a star in the Walk of Game at the Metreon in San Fransisco.

For a (somewhat) full list of his creative accomplishments, you can always check out his IMDb entry.