Miyamoto: Nintendo must prepare for my retirement

Shigeru Miyamoto is helping foster a new generation of games developers within Nintendo as age begins to catch up on the talismanic games designer.

Months after Nintendo tried to calm investors from anxieties over Miyamoto’s retirement, the games designer has again been questioned on his long-term position.

"We all get older. I’m already about to turn 60,” he told Spanish national paper El Mundo.

“In recent years I’ve been telling people within Nintendo [that] I’ll have to retire at some point. We must be prepared. That’s why I given more responsibility to younger colleagues.”

But Miyamoto reiterated that he is not yet ready to quit, and that previous claims suggesting otherwise were the result of a “misunderstanding”.

“I keep active,” he said.

Japan state officials are currently debating raising the pensionable retirement age to 70, while currently in the process of increasing it from 60 to 65.

Miyamoto, who turns 60 in November, has worked at Nintendo for more than 30 years. As his employer prepares to reveal its next games console, the games designer is overseeing key IP for the system, such as Pikmin and Mario.

He also suggested he has an interest in returning to the Wii Music IP.