The secret of Miyamoto's success

Sept 18, 2007

He's created some of the biggest, most important games in the known universe, but what is the secret of Shigeru Miyamoto's success? In a hefty 'chat' with old friend Shigesato Itoi (the creator of RPG series, Mother), Nintendo president and self-confessed researcher of Miyamoto studies, Satoru Iwata, offers a fascinating insight into some of the magic that makes the Mario man so special.

From Miyamoto's unique approach to game design to his "left-prefrontal-oriented elaborate logic", Iwata talks fondly of the Nintendo ace and in the process highlights some of the key reasons why Shigeru Miyamoto is so damn good at what he does. We've extracted some of the choicest Iwata-on-Miyamoto quotes from the transcript for you here...

Iwata on Miyamoto's genius:

"The majority of people think he's the person of art, full of inspiration, with a natural talent coming up with ideas one after another, as if he was guided by God [but that's not how it is]... He's extremely logical, but that's not all. He creates a mixture of left-prefrontal-oriented elaborate logic, and dramatic ideas that people are blown away by. To be honest, I have to say I envy this."

"I think those people who can continue doing what people don't like, or what may be too tiresome for others, are those people you call a genius. This is something I found through my relationship with you [Shigesato Itoi] and with Mr Miyamoto."

Iwata on Miyamoto's background:

"I think it's a huge factor that he used to study ID (Industrial Design). It's not about how artistic it is, it's all about how the product meets its objective."

Iwata on Miyamoto's ability to accomodate all viewpoints:

"He can examine something very closely, and the next second he can switch to a macroscopic point of view, and make a fresh start from there."

"I think the "idea which solves multiple issues at once" can't be found when you're looking at something real close. You need to be able to switch your point of view. That's not an easy thing to do. Mr Miyamoto can do it easily. He's the type of person that can come up with a solution that can truly save someone when he/she's in danger, and not rescuing him/her at the cost of another."

More quotes on the next page...