Industry giants hail Nintendo talisman Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto, likely the most well-known game developer in the world, the progenitor of the Mario phenomenon, the architect of the Zelda franchise, the mastermind of 3D platformers and numerous blockbuster Wii family titles, has been hailed by some of the biggest names in the industry.

Celebrating twenty-five years since the launch of the seminal Super Mario Bros, several outstanding game designers – themselves having changed the course of the games industry – have serenaded Miyamoto with the utmost praise.

"The reason I entered the industry was because I encountered Mario and learned how interesting games can be. Thank you, Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto,” said Capcom head of development, Keiji Inafune, in a new Famitsu article.

“Shigeru Miyamoto’s Super Mario Bros changed the future not just of games, but for all of entertainment, and for myself as well,” said Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima.

Longstanding Sega producer Toshihiro Nagoshi said Super Mario Bros is “the game that made me enter the game industry."

The list of tributes continued. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi remarked: “A quarter century; amazing, isn’t it. Congratulations."

Warm words spread from the west, too. Todd Howard of Bethesda Softworks declared: “Nintendo didn’t just make Super Mario. They made the genre where the hero always follows the correct path. Congratulations on Super Mario’s 25th anniversary.”