Miyamoto no longer leading key Nintendo franchises, but still has 'final responsibility'

It's no secret that Shigeru Miyamoto's role within Nintendo has changed over the years. In a new interview, Miyamoto-san has outlined how he no longer plays quite such an in-depth role in key franchises in order to nurture new talent at the company, but he still has the final say.

Interviewed in the 100th issue of Official Nintendo Magazine, Miyamoto-san talks about how a series of trusted producers are taking key Nintendo franchises forward, while he oversees their progress.

"As you saw at our presentation at E3, Mr Aonuma chased me off stage… he doesn’t need me any more!" says Miyamoto-san. "The final responsibility for the title still comes down to me and I’m still involved in the games, but I’m definitely able to leave the series up to him in a way.

"I don’t have to look at every minute detail of every game any more. I know there’s going to be the level of quality that we expect under his supervision."

He adds, "Similarly we have Koizumi-san, who’s the producer or the Mario series and it’s the same type of situation. And certainly Konno-san with Mario Kart, too. And Mr Eguchi, producer of the Animal Crossing series. These are the main producers that we’ve trained who are talented enough and we can allow them to oversee the project and manage all the details and still maintain the Nintendo level of quality."

It's a process that seems to be working, as recent Nintendo offerings have been well-received. Animal Crossing: New Leaf on Nintendo 3DS has shifted well over 5 million units worldwide. Although it's difficult to imagine Nintendo without Miyamoto, these would certainly appear to be the first steps for preparing for his eventual retirement.

The 100th issue of Official Nintendo Magazine is available now.

Thanks, Nintendo Life.