The 25-year-old is 35.
Super Mario, the best-selling video game franchise of all time created by Japan’s Nintendo in the throbbing 1980s, turned 35 on September 13. But its central character Mario, the mustachioed, Italian-American plumber and carpenter, will always be 24 or 25 years old. The game’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto said this in an interview some years ago.
“I think it was fortuitous that we didn’t put any restrictions on Mario as a character,” Miyamoto said in an interview on a Nintendo platform in 2005, on the game’s 20th anniversary. “Normally when you create a character and present him to the world, all the details get filled in: what’s his favourite colour? What kind of food does he like to eat? Aside from the fact that he’s about 24-25 years old, we didn’t define anything else”.
The franchise has earned revenue of approximately $36 billion since its launch. It has made Miyamoto, 67, a pop culture idol all over the world. The career and life tips he gave in the interview are still relevant, perhaps more than in 2005.
Miyamoto studied industrial design and was passionate about manga art and music. This combination helped him succeed in the video game world.
Asked for advice for aspiring game creators, he said, “Games are created via technology, so naturally you’ll want to equip yourself with some technical skills. In truth, there’s no such job as ‘game creator’. There’s programming, sound, graphics, and so forth… you must become proficient at one of these.”
Miyamoto then said, “Also, although you should of course play games, it’s absolutely critical that you do other things too. You need to know what people find fun and interesting in life. And to do that, you’ve got to try a lot of things yourself. Sports, music, anything is ok, just so long as you expand your own horizons. I think it’s also important to have many friends. It’s important to actively seek people outside of your own circle, so you can see more of the world.”
For a guitar-strumming creative superstar, Miyamoto did not hate meetings. Asked when and how ideas came to him, he said, “It’s very ordinary, but the most common time is during staff meetings. At meetings, you get a variety of different team members assembled, and that’s very important. There will be some people there who don’t understand what’s going on, and it gives you a chance to explain things to them—and in doing so, you clarify many things for yourself. So I like to have a diverse group at meetings. And I think it’s very important to have people there who can frankly speak their minds, too.
“Ideas also come together for me when I’m taking baths. The ideas I get when I’m taking a bath are usually correct… in contrast, the ideas I get when I’m lying in bed are very unreliable.”
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