Shigeru Miyamoto: Creator of Mario

Zara Ali

Shigeru Miyamoto created countless iconic video games such as Donkey Kong, Zelda, and the famous Mario Bros. But what was this man´s story? The “Spielberg of Video Games” was born in the town of Sonobe, Kyoto, Japan. After graduating Kanazawa Municipal College, he had originally sought a career as a manga artist, but thankfully he had chosen to begin making video games, or we would be seeing Mario in anime form! With the help of his father he had impressed Nintendo with his skills. He began with small jobs such as creating game art for the arcade game, “Sheriff” and more.

Following the failure of Nintendo's Radar Scope, Miyamoto was given the task to create a whole new game, which was a first for him. He was a first-time video game designer, the boss was taking huge risks if his potential wasn’t fit. Surprising everyone, Miyamoto created Donkey Kong, a famous hit even to this day! As well, when he pitched the name to Nintendo, they laughed, but the name had stuck. Soon later, as Donkey Kong was still going strong,  Miyamoto put in a new character in the game, a carpenter, “Jumpman” trying to save the ‘Damsel In Distress' from Donkey Kong. After a while, when this character had gained a fair share of popularity, the original Mario Bros. was created. 

As well, the first Mario games were created in a time where high score games were mainly popular, not running, jumping, ect. The Legend of Zelda, a puzzle and riddle game, created after Mario Bros., was also made in a time when this type of game was irrelevant to the trends. Despite their drastic differences from the trending games, both were incredibly successful later on.

In summary, Shigeru Miyamoto is a creator of some of the most iconic video games like Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda, and the notorious Super Mario Bros., all still going strong. From humble beginnings the man raised his spot and continued forward. So before you pick up your controller, remember the story of this man who gave you the chance to play it.