Shigeru Miyamoto (Japanese: ‹{–{–Î, Miyamoto Shigeru, born
November 16, 1952) is a Japanese electronic game designer. He is the creator of the Donkey Kong, Mario, and Legend of Zelda video game series for
Nintendo. He is widely considered to be one of the world's most celebrated game designers and is often called one of the fathers of modern video-gaming. His titles are characterized by refined control-mechanics and interactive worlds in which the players are encouraged to discover things for themselves, as well as basic storylines, which had been almost unheard of before he introduced one of the first, featuring Mario.
He is currently the Director and General Manager of
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD), the corporate sector of
Nintendo of Japan. In 1998, Miyamoto became the first person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.
Employed by
Nintendo (then a toy/playing card company) as an artist, in 1980 he was given the task of designing one of their first coin-op arcade games. The resulting title Donkey Kong was a huge success and the game's lead character, Jump Man, later renamed Mario has become
Nintendo's mascot. Miyamoto quickly became
Nintendo's star producer designing many franchises for the company, most of which are still active and very well-regarded.
Shigeru Miyamoto has two children with his
wife, Yasuko Miyamoto, who was general manager of Nintendo of Japan in 1977; both parents have worked for Nintendo, but neither of their children have expressed any desire to go into the family business.
