Miyamoto Still Looking for "One Big Hit"

Where does he get those wonderful ideas?

UK, January 31, 2012

What legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto does at Nintendo is rather unclear. Back in December this lack of clarity led to rumours of him stepping down from his role as Senior Managing Director and General Manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development Division.

He was quick to dismiss the rumour, however, saying that he was actually stepping back to help nurture new talent at Nintendo.

Now, through one of the regular Q&As held for investors, which take the form of a dialogue between Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata and Miyamoto, we now have a clearer idea of what Miyamoto is actually up to these days. Sort of.

Miyamoto said, "the ideal situation is one in which I do not need to give any direction. If we look at such a situation from one perspective, my giving directions may hold back my subordinates' independent and voluntary growth. Accordingly, sometimes I intentionally give them freedom. Of course, I do not let everyone go totally unchecked. I supervise whenever necessary."

But what keeps the creator of Mario and Zelda going after all these years and so many successes? Well, it's the lure of one more big hit. "I am spending more time than before on finding new ideas for new developments rather than focusing my energy on work in my (development) teams in order to solidify the contents of (existing) franchise titles. After all, developing big hit titles must be the solution. I am acting with the understanding that one big hit title can change multiple phases of a situation in the entertainment business, and I feel that finding such one big hit is my basic job."

So what's the next big thing we can expect from Miyamoto and his team? Hopefully, it'll appear on a 3DS or Wii U sometime soon.